One Broke Girl (12 page)

My panties were soaked from the hunger careening through me.

Gavin pulled back and looked me in the eyes. His eyes were dark, the green just a thin ring. His lips were swollen from our frantic kisses. “I’ve been aching to touch you since I first saw you.”

My core tightened with need. I felt him harden even more beneath my hand, and I began to stroke him through his pants. Gavin ripped off my sweater, then my bra, and his mouth closed on one aching nipple. I sighed and pressed closer to his hot mouth, his teeth nibbling, his tongue sucking.

Oh God, this was amazing.

Then I felt his fingers at the button of my jeans, and anticipation flooded my senses. His hand slipped beneath my panties and stroked my wet flesh, and he gasped and then brought his damp fingers to his mouth.

As he tasted them, he closed his eyes and sighed.

I grew heady with desire, reaching for his mouth again to capture it in another deep, soul-rending kiss. I detected the faint musk of my own flavor on his tongue. His fingers went back to my core and he flicked, stroked, teased the swollen folds until I felt my orgasm building.

I panted against his mouth, rubbed his hardness. “I’m going to come.”

“Yes, Anna, give it to me.” His voice was so sexy that, combined with those fingers, my orgasm crested, and I cried out against his jaw to smother the sound. I was flying, my body trembling from the heat enveloping me.

As the overwhelming sensation faded, Gavin withdrew his hand from my jeans, drew me into his arms and covered my cheeks with sweet kisses. My limbs were liquid in comparison to his body, which was still a tight line. I could feel the sexual need simmering off him.

I reached down to unbutton his pants, but he stilled my hand. “I couldn’t resist touching you, but I want to do the rest of this the right way,” he said softly.

I bit my lip. “I’d like to make you feel good too.”

The corners of his mouth turned up in a crooked smile. “Then let’s go on a real date. Not as friends. As more.” His eyes smoldered, and he shot me a look filled with promise. “We can see what happens then.”

I swallowed. Already I could feel my sex swelling once more from the tone of his voice. “A real date.”

He nodded. “Say yes.”

“Yes.”

His mouth took mine in another steamy kiss, our tongues stroking, fingers tangling in each other’s hair. Then he backed away and pressed one last lingering touch to my mouth. “Tonight,” he murmured as his lips brushed my chin.

I sighed with pleasure. “Yes. Tonight.” I didn’t want to wait any longer than that. I craved more of him.

“I’ll pick you up at seven. Be ready.” He paused, and his look seared me to the bone. “Oh, and wear those red heels.”

I practically floated out of school.

My euphoria lasted the whole ride home. Gavin had invaded every inch of my brain. That had been a tremendous orgasm he’d given me—with just his fingers, and in a classroom, of all places. Wow. His lips felt like sin, and his caresses made me want to kiss and touch him for hours. Give him the pleasure he’d given me.

It was crazy, but I didn’t care. I was falling for the guy. And tonight we’d spend time together, baring our emotions to each other now that our romantic interest was out in the open and nothing was in the way. I couldn’t wait.

Dead brown leaves crunched under my bike wheels. For a moment, I kicked my legs out to the sides and coasted. The breeze tore at my hair, chilled my cheeks, and I flew down the quiet street. My heart soared with glee.

I was…happy.

How long had it been since I’d felt this good? I had genuine hope for a real chance at happiness with Gavin. He’d kissed me like no man had ever kissed me before. Like he was drunk on my taste. And I was addicted to him too. I wanted to know everything about him. I wanted to sit up all night, learn the way he breathed when he slept. See his sleep-mussed hair and early-morning grin.

I wanted to feel him inside me, watch his eyes on me as we moved together in mutual pleasure.

I couldn’t wait to talk to Natalie and Bianca about him—not that I’d tell them
all
the dirty details, of course. They’d probably bust my balls a bit, but I knew they’d be happy for me.

I turned down the street and my feet slowed in their pedaling as I saw a sleek red car parked in front of our duplex. I didn’t recognize the car, but unease worked its way down my spine. Was it someone from New York? My dad’s attorney maybe?

Could it be Mom?

I pulled the bike into the garage then went in the house. My pulse kicked up and roared in my ears. “Dad, are you home?” I flicked on the hallway light and plodded down the hall, peeking in the empty kitchen then the living room.

The air flew from my lungs in a surprised gasp. A massive bouquet of what looked like two dozen roses mingled with baby’s breath was parked on the scuffed coffee table. And right behind the flowers was Steven, sitting on our ugly-ass couch, his eyes wide and excited as they fixed on me.

My whole body went up in flames.

He jumped up and ran over to hug me. “Surprise!”

I froze in horror. His arms wrapped around me and he pressed kisses to my face. When he tried to kiss my lips, I gave an awkward laugh to cover my discomfort and wiggled from his embrace. I could still taste Gavin on my lips and feel the heat of his hands lingering on my body, in my most private places. Anxiety made my hands shake.

Shit.
Shit.
What was going on here? How had Steven found us, and why was he here?

It finally sank in that he didn’t look devastated from my voicemail.

Dad came out of his bedroom, his smile wide with excitement for me. He had on his painting clothes. “
Someone
came by to pay you a visit, Anna. I’m heading out to work for a couple of hours, so don’t wait on me to have dinner. You two behave now.” He shot me a wink.

Oh God. I wanted to run in my room and hide until this whole situation went away, but I managed to crack a weak, halfhearted smile at Dad. I hadn’t told him about my breakup since it had just happened. And given the look on Steven’s face right now, it seemed like some
major
wires had been crossed. “Bye, Dad,” I said as he left.

Steven and I stood there for a moment, him beaming, me cringing on the inside.

I shuffled into the kitchen then grabbed a soda in an attempt to buy a little time. My brain wouldn’t stop screaming at me about how I’d screwed things up. “I’m, uh, thirsty,” I told him over my shoulder as I resisted the urge to scratch my arms; my skin felt like it had shrunk three sizes. “Need anything to drink?”

Large hands planted on my hips, and I was drawn from the fridge against Steven’s crotch. “I missed you,” he said as he tugged me to standing and nuzzled the crook of my neck. I tried to duck away, but his grip grew tighter. “I needed to see you. Do you know how much I had to pay my lawyer to find your address?” His voice was light and teasing, but he probably wasn’t joking about the cost.

I broke out in a nervous sweat. Biting my lip, I turned around and extracted myself as gently as I could. “Didn’t you get my call today?”

He crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. “Some asshole stole my phone Sunday afternoon out of the gym locker. I was going to call you on my new phone, but I realized I didn’t have your number written anywhere else.” He gave me a sheepish smile. “So I decided to surprise you with a visit instead. I got a flight and rented a car to drive from the airport.” His frown deepened. “You seem a little…off. Is this a bad time or something?”

Was it ever. I sat in the kitchen chair and waved for him to do the same. Played with the lip of my soda can as I digested this information. So Steven hadn’t gotten any of my calls. He didn’t know I’d broken up with him just over an hour ago.

He thought we were still dating.

I closed my eyes and smothered a groan. Wonderful. Now I was going to have to do this the hard way. He’d spent all this money and time to come here and surprise me, only to get dumped. And while I’d been making out with Gavin, Steven had been sitting in my house, waiting for me to get home.

My stomach flipped over itself, and I rubbed my brow.

“Anna,” Steven said, and the worry lines between his brow increased. “I don’t mean to sound like a snob, but what is going on here? Why are you living in this kind of a place? It’s…not your style, and the neighborhood is… Well, I thought I had the wrong address at first, to tell the truth.”

“It’s not the wrong address, obviously.” My throat closed up, and I chugged soda. The can shook in my hands. How did I get myself in these messes? Technically, I’d just cheated on Steven. I’d set a date for tonight with another man I’d already kissed, who’d given me an incredible orgasm.

And here was my soon-to-be ex, staring at me with confusion and concern in his eyes.

I felt like an utter heel.

I scrubbed a hand across my face and took a few seconds to gather my strength. First things first, it was time to own up about why I’d left New York. “My mom abandoned us,” I told him bluntly. “She took most of the money and ran off with some guy. I got the call from Dad when I was at your birthday party, which was why I left like that. Dad sold his condo, and I moved out of the apartment with Fiona. We hawked a bunch of our stuff and came back here to start over.”

His jaw dropped. “What? Are you…okay? Why didn’t you tell me any of this? I’d have given you money, Anna, if you’d told me the truth.” Hurt and disappointment shone in his eyes and he leaned back in his chair. The way he studied me made it seem like he was seeing me for the first time. “You’ve been living here over two months now but you didn’t say a word the whole time. Just let me think this was a regular divorce.
Why?
”

Tears stung my eyes, and I blinked them away. I wanted to be mad at him for some irrational reason, but this wasn’t his fault. It was mine. “I was afraid to tell you what had happened,” I said, my voice breaking. “And I was embarrassed. I had to take a job as a lunch lady in a school cafeteria, and I’m delivering pizza on a bike and cleaning offices. I didn’t want you to know.”

The hurt in his eyes was replaced by awareness as he absorbed my words. Then I saw anger flare in his pupils. “So you thought I’d judge you? That I’d make fun of you behind your back? That’s pretty crappy—and judgmental of you.”

I thrust my chin in the air and peered at him through tear-clotted lashes. “You have to admit, Steven, none of us ever had anything nice to say about the working class. How many times did we make welfare jokes while going out to eat at an expensive restaurant? How much shit had we bought in our massive shopping trips without one concern of money? What charity did we donate to for those who needed real help?”

He frowned and his eyes narrowed but he didn’t say anything.

“Yes, I should have told you,” I continued in a softer tone. “I know that. But I couldn’t. I didn’t want anyone gossiping about me and my dad. It was hard enough having Mom leave us in such a terrible, sudden way. It still hurts. We haven’t heard anything from her yet. She’s basically fallen off the face of the earth, probably living it up in some tropical island while we’re barely making it every day.” Emotion surged, and I couldn’t stop talking now. “Do you know how awful it feels, knowing your own mom doesn’t want to be around you anymore? It’s shaken my trust in everything.”

He huffed a sigh and rested his forearms on the table; in that moment he looked years older, tired. He rubbed the back of his neck, and the band of his Rolex glinted in our overhead kitchen light. “Shit, Anna. How could I have known any of this? Have you hired a detective to find her or gotten the police on it? What can I do?”

The fact that he was offering to help, despite the awful situation between us, made me feel guiltier. “I don’t think the police can do anything, because it was voluntary and there wasn’t a crime involved. But I have someone working on it. Thank you for offering.”

His hands reached out to grab my chilly fingers. There was a deep sadness in his eyes. Then he let my fingers go, and caution filled his face as he leaned back to stare at me. His voice was quiet as he spoke. “You asked me earlier if I got your call. What was it about?”

My heart battered against my ribs. I dropped my eyes to the table and clenched my fingers in my lap. The silence stretched between us, thick with unspoken words. Neither one of us spoke for a couple of minutes. I heard the clock ticking in the living room, the soft, even cadence of our breaths. God, this day had gone from great to shitty in record time. I didn’t know what to say to ease the pain of what I was about to do to Steven.

He made a small huff of disgust. I looked up.

“Ah. I see,” he said in a flat tone. A pulse throbbed in his temple, and his gaze tripped around the room like he couldn’t stand to look at me right now. “So…you were breaking up with me? Over the phone?
Seriously?
”

I sucked in a breath and steadied myself. “To be fair, I hadn’t heard from you in days. I tried to call you and I left several messages for you to call me back. How was I supposed to know
you
weren’t trying to dump
me?
”

He stood. “You assumed I’d dump you by not talking to you anymore? That’s the kind of guy you think I am? What the hell, Anna? I feel like I don’t even know who you are anymore. And it’s apparent you don’t know jack shit about me. I get nothing from you but a lot of faulty assumptions.”

I stood too and planted my hands on the table. Anger and guilt fought for control in my stomach. He was right, in a way. Yes, I’d made assumptions. But they weren’t based on nothing. “Come on, now. You’ve done a fine job not talking to me much until today, when you show up out of the blue after days of silence. And when’s the last time we had a real conversation on the phone and not just a few generic text messages? How many pictures of shoes and parties and Broadway shows are you going to send me to rub in what a wonderful time you’re having in the city without me?” More tears flew down my face and I swiped at them with shaky hands.

He reeled back at my words; his golden brow furrowed. “Wow. I wasn’t rubbing anything in. I didn’t even know about your situation! And we’ve shared pictures of stuff we’ve bought before. How would I know this was any different?” He raked a hand through his perfect blond hair, mussing it. “God, do you think I’m a total asshole or something?”