Love Love (25 page)

“
Gabby, I’ve missed you. I
thought we had such a good time together and then suddenly you
pulled back. Did I do something wrong?”

“
Why do you keep asking me
that?” I ask, completely irritated.

He crosses his arms over his muscular
chest. “I don’t know, Gabby. Maybe because you keep
disappearing.”

I pull my thoughts together and take a
deep breath. “Dane, you’re a great guy. I’ve really enjoyed our
time together, and the sex was great.” He furrows his brow, but I
continue. “But, whatever this is we’re doing, I just don’t see it
going anywhere.”

Before I can say anything else, Dane
chimes in. “I think you’re lying to yourself, Gabby. Your body gave
you away. I know you have feelings for me. Maybe you’re scared, but
whatever we have here is worth exploring, don’t you
think?”

My eyes meet his. “No, Dane, I don’t.
We had sex, nothing more.”

Without hesitation, he says, “I don’t
believe you.”

My feet are tiptoeing
backwards when they need to be running full speed ahead. “Dane, I’m
interested in someone else.
Very
interested in someone else.”

He’s just about to say something when
he glances over my shoulder. His eyes grow wide and his face turns
pale. When I look over my shoulder, I see a leggy blonde with blue
eyes and a body to die for, heading towards Dane. Everything that
happens next is almost as if I’m watching a movie play out in front
of me. She runs up to Dane, throws her arms around his neck, and
kisses him passionately. When she finally takes a breath, I hear
her whisper, “hey, sexy, I missed you.” What the hell?

Feeling the need to pick up
my mouth off the floor and control the anger that is bubbling
inside, I take a calming breath. “Aren’t you going to introduce me
to your
friend
,
Dane?”

Without hesitation, the woman whips
her head around and extends her hand to me. “I’m Susan, Dane’s
fiancée.”

I passed my hearing test
with flying colors, so I’m pretty sure there’s no mistaking what
she said. My anger bubble pops. “His
fiancée
?!” I practically shout, pure
contempt drenching my voice. With a look of absolute horror, Dane
starts to speak but I cut him off. “Well, I certainly wish you two
the very best of everything.” The desire to spit on him almost
overtakes me but I don’t want to ruin my new shoes. Instead, I turn
on my heel and head towards the door.

I rush down the street to the subway,
wanting to kick every brick wall I can find. It all makes sense to
me now; the brief periods of not hearing from him, the mysterious
phone calls. Even though I didn’t want anything more from Dane, the
simple fact that he could screw me while he was engaged to someone
else is pathetic…and mess around on his fiancée, the bastard. Not
to mention, he told me he wanted more. The word “asshole” keeps
playing over and over in my mind. He’s lucky I don’t go back and
kick his ass. I just keep shaking my head. Unbelievable; he had sex
with me while he was engaged to be married. If that doesn’t shout
jerkoff, I don’t know what does.

When I finally arrive back at the
apartment, it’s empty. Fran’s at Kyle’s again tonight. I just want
to see Brad. His phone rings several times before he picks
up.

“
Hey!” I say, my voice
rising at the thought of him.

“
Hey yourself. I was just
thinking about you.” He sounds so sincere, so real.

“
You were?” That gets me
curious.

“
Well, I’m always thinking
about you. How did it go with Dane?”

“
Let’s just say it was
interesting.”

“
What do you mean? What
happened?” He sounds edgy now, almost a little angry.

“
I discovered something
about Dane tonight. Kind of an important tidbit he left
out.”

“
What’s that?”

“
He’s engaged,” I drawl,
“to be married.”

“
What? Wow, what a jerk.”
Brad sounds appalled but relieved.

“
Yup, my sentiments
exactly.” Talking to Brad helps lessen the sting.

“
Want me to kick his ass?
Because as a superhero, it’ll be fairly easy.”

I snort. “I considered doing it
myself, but he’s not worth it. I did almost spit on him
though.”

He chuckles. “Now that’s something I’d
pay money to see.”

“
I’d really like to see
you. Do you want to come over?” I close my eyes and cross my
fingers. The desire to see him is overwhelming.

“
Hmmm…I’ll have to think
about it.”

“
Take too long and I’ll
rescind my offer,” I warn.

He snickers. “I’ll be right over. I
can’t wait to see you.”

I push all thoughts of the world’s
greatest asshole away and let all thoughts of Brad in. He’s on his
way over! I run to the bathroom and brush my hair and my teeth,
twice. I’m so excited to see him; I feel like a school girl with a
big crush. I find myself pacing the living room when I frantically
start cleaning anything that looks remotely dirty. By the time I’ve
finished, the kitchen counter is sparkling, the brown carpet
actually looks relatively clean, and there aren’t any crumbs under
the sofa cushions. I run in the bathroom and slather on a bit more
deodorant, then brush my hair again and dab some perfume behind my
ears. Oh no! I realize I have my butterfly undies on, so I bolt
into my room and pull a pair of purple lace ones out of my drawer,
then slide them on…just in case.

After about half an hour, I hear the
doorbell ring and let out my new signature Brad squeal. Thankfully,
it’s one he can’t hear. When I see him, it’s like an instant
charge. He has a wide grin on his face and mine lights up from the
sheer sight of him. In fact, I’m smiling so big, it hurts; in a
good way. Brad comes in and drops a brown bag on the
counter.

“
Hey,” he says as he walks
up to me.

“
Hey,” I greet him with a
shy smile.

“
I already said
that.”

“
Yeah, I have this weird
tendency to repeat what you say. Must be because you’re so
cool.”

He tucks a strand of hair behind my
ear. “I’ve been thinking about you all day.”

“
Yeah?” I stand on my tippy
toes so I can look into his eyes.

His eyes meet mine as his fingers
graze the curve of my cheekbone. “I’ve been thinking a lot about
the color blue for some reason, about a cute little nose, and lips
that I hope I get a chance to kiss again.”

I look up into the many hues of brown
I see in his eyes. “Well, if you play your cards right, you might
just get another chance.”

“
Lucky for me then, I’m an
ace at cards.”

“
Oh
yeah
?”

He inches closer. “Yeah.” He brushes
his lips against mine, teasing me with his tongue. I open willingly
and he slips inside for a taste then pulls back with a knowing
smile. “Mmm…you brushed your teeth for me?”

I’m mortified he knows. “It was really
for the first guy who showed up here, you just happened to be the
lucky one.”

A mischievous sparkle alights his
eyes. “You’re right, I’m damn lucky.”

I look over at the brown paper bag
resting on the kitchen counter. “What’s that?”

Brad opens the bag and hands me a
large glass jar covered with a red bow, containing hundreds of
Swedish Fish. “For you,” he says with a sweet smile. “I wanted to
feed your addiction.”

He’s so freaking adorable. I lick my
lips and eye his. “I can think of other ways you can feed
it.”

He lets out a small chuckle and closes
the gap between us. Settling his long fingers around the nape of my
neck, he brings me in close and sweeps his lips over
mine.

“
Thank you,” I whisper
quietly against his mouth.

He threads his fingers through mine
and walks me to the couch. We sit, thigh to thigh; I rest my head
on his shoulder while he quietly strums his fingers through my
hair. After a moment, he looks down at me. “Do you want to talk
about what happened?”

“
Well, let’s see. There’s
not really much to tell. I met Dane’s leggy fiancée and discovered
he was a complete asshole. But, not before I told him I didn’t want
to see him anymore because I didn’t feel anything for him. He kept
pushing the issue, so I told him the truth…” My voice trails off
and I squeeze his hand, “I told him that I was
very
interested in someone
else.”

I feel him smile against my temple.
“Really? And who might that be?”

“
Oh, I think you know,” I
flirt, a wide smile encompassing my face.

“
No, I think you might have
to spell it out for me,” he responds playfully.

Tilting my head back so I can look
into his eyes, I grab handfuls of his hair, pull him close, and
give him a chaste kiss on the lips.

He just shakes his head. “I think I
need a bit more convincing.”

Slowly, I rise up and place my knees
over his legs so I’m straddling him. My hands cup his sweet face
while my lips tease the corner of his mouth then duck inside to
capture his tongue and stroke it against mine.

Eventually, we come up for air, both
of us short of breath. He pushes a few long strands of hair away
from my face and looks into my eyes. “Do you have any idea how
beautiful you are?”

I smile shyly and shake my head from
side to side.

“
Well, you are. You’re the
most beautiful girl I’ve ever laid eyes on.” He gently presses his
lips to mine and I melt against his mouth.

We end up watching
Bridesmaids
and laughing
until our stomachs ache, eating popcorn, all the while snuggling
together on the couch. It feels good. When the movie’s over, I
don’t want him to go. I look down at my hands and make my
move.

“
What would you like to do
now?”

He bites his lip, something I’ve never
seen him do before. “Gabby, I’m not…I just…” Taking a deep breath,
he says, “Can I just stay and hold you?”

I have no idea what that means. Does
he want to hold me naked or with clothes on? Shit. My voice grows
quiet. “Okay.” I have no idea what I just agreed to.

We shut off the television and the
lights and make our way to my bedroom. I’m shuffling my feet and I
think I might throw up. Not a good idea, even though he’s already
seen me do that. The nearness of him is making me crazy. Why am I
so nervous? I head to the bathroom and change into a tank top and
sweatpants. When I return, Brad has his t-shirt and jeans still on,
but no socks. Is he going to take them off? I hope not, or I hope
so; I don’t know which one. He pulls back the covers and motions
for me to join him. Nestling my head on his chest, I inhale his
intoxicating scent, and he rests his chin against my head. Being
this close to him is harder than I thought. I want to wiggle nearer
to him, but I don't. Instead, I lie very still, afraid he can hear
my heart pounding into my chest; afraid he can read my thoughts. He
has no idea what I'm hiding, what I'm thinking, what I'm feeling.
If he only knew how much I want to let him into my heart, into my
life, in between my legs. I can almost feel him tracing my curves
with his slender fingers. It's driving me crazy. A frustrated rush
of air leaves my mouth and lands on his muscular chest.

I see the light of the moon peeking
through the pale blue curtains, casting a shadow on Brad’s face.
I’m not sure what suddenly comes over me, but I lift my leg and
hook it over Brad’s waist, resting my crotch right on top of his
apparent erection. He stirs and I grab courage from somewhere and
climb on top of him, straddling his groin and feeling his hard-on
between my thighs. I lick my lips, then lean forward and press them
against his mouth.

He makes a strange noise in his
throat. “Gabby, what are you doing?”

I press myself harder against him. “I
think that’s pretty obvious,” I breathe against his
lips.

He props himself up on his elbows. “I
can’t, Gabby. I can’t do this.” His words sting and I push myself
off of him, stunned.

“
You don’t want me that
way?” I ask with a voice full of hurt.

He runs his hands through his shaggy
hair, as he so often does. “My God, you have no idea how much I
want to be with you, or how long I’ve wanted you. I’m so hard for
you right now it’s driving me insane. I want nothing more than to
bury myself inside you and sit in between your thighs all night
long. But I want all of you. I want your body and your heart, and I
won’t accept anything less. I want the whole of you, Gabby.” His
hand finds my face in the darkness, and he holds me in place. The
moonlight is shining in his eyes. “You’re not ready for me yet, as
much as I wish like hell you were. But I’m patient. I’d wait
forever to be the one who gets to hold your heart.” He kisses me
like I haven’t been kissed in a long time, feeling his every word
with his every breath. Breaking away, I go back to resting my head
on his chest, and he kisses my hair and whispers,
“goodnight.”