Love Unclaimed (12 page)

“He was n….”

“Yeah, he was.”

“If it bothered you so much, why didn’t you…”

“Did I say it bothered me?” He met her eyes. “Did you want it to bother me? Is that why you were doing it?”

“I was dancing, Gavin.” She was stunned by his questions and hoped her lie didn’t show on her face.
Did I want it to bother him? Was I dancing differently with Scotty? Was I doing it to get at Gavin?

“Okay.” He pulled her closer and tightened his hold around her waist.

They spent the next two songs pressed against each other, and for those two songs, Audree forgot about Scotty and everyone else in the room. It was just her and Gavin.

“Do you want to get a drink?” Gavin asked sighing into her ear as the band started a faster song.

“Um…” she pulled out of her dazed dream state, lifting her head from his chest. “Oh, yeah, sure.” She tried to compose herself when she saw the smirk on his face. “Water would probably be good, before we hit the dance floor again.” She smiled when she heard his groan and he turned back toward the bar still holding her hand in his.

“Hey you’re back.” Scotty appeared out of nowhere behind her. “Hey, I’m Scotty.” He held his hand out to Gavin and smiled when Gavin just looked down at it.

“Gavin, this is your brother’s friend Scotty. Scotty, this is Travis’ older brother, Gavin.” She smiled when Gavin begrudgingly turned around to face Scotty who stood eye to eye with him. “If you gentlemen will excuse me, I’m going to the ladies’ room.” She slid between them, intentionally brushing her breasts against Gavin’s chest. “Be nice.” She looked up at him through her lashes and smiled as he sighed. “I’ll be back in a bit. Does anyone see Ruby?”

“She was hanging with Harry.” Scotty looked around.

“Found her.” Audree giggled when she saw Ruby in a back corner making out with Harry. “That’s my girl.” She shook her head and made her way to Ruby. “Ruby.” Audree quietly approached the couple then leaned down and whispered into Ruby’s ear making her jump.

“That wasn’t very nice.” Ruby pulled back from Harry breathlessly.

“Sorry, but I called you like six times.” She giggled when Harry blushed. “I’m going to the ladies’ room, come with,” she raised an eyebrow letting Ruby know it wasn’t a request.

“I’ll be back.” She smacked a quick kiss on Harry’s lips. “Go save your friend from the torture of Gavin.” She pointed to the bar where Gavin and Scotty still stood measuring each other up and then laughed when Audree pulled her arm.

“Having a good time with Harry? I mean it’s not like you just met him or anything.” Audree laughed at Ruby checking her swollen lips in the mirror as Audree used the stall behind her.

While Clint and Gavin were still in high school, the barn seemed to be party central so with his father’s permission, Clint recruited Gavin and Travis to help him put an extension on the back of the barn to house full bathrooms. There were three stalls in each bathroom, and people had, hopefully, stopped using the yard as a bathroom and they wouldn’t try to hike up to the main house. As she watched Ruby in the mirror, she was thinking that maybe they needed to add an updated bathroom to the list of improvements she had to talk to Travis about tomorrow, right after she talked to Ruby.

“He is hot as hell and a great kisser.” She winked at Audree when she stepped up behind her to use the sink. “What about your guy? Did you get anywhere with him?”

“Are you kidding?” Audree ran a hand down her shirt and turned to check her clothes in the mirror.

“You said yourself that you and Gavin are not exclusive, so why hold yourself back? If the guy likes you and wants to spend time with you, what’s the harm?” She laughed when Audree glared at her. “What? I’m not saying marry him or fuck him right there in front of Gavin, but maybe he needs a little push to see that he is not the only man in the world. Besides Scotty isn’t from around here, so he doesn’t know the ‘hands off Audree rule’.” She shook her head. “Do you really think that Gavin is celibate when he’s not here with you?”

“Don’t really want to think about that, thank you.” Audree rolled her eyes.

“Well, in the past eight years, you’ve had sex with Gavin when he comes home, on
his
schedule.” She emphasized ‘his’. “And then there was Brooks and Tyler and the one guy after him. Not a lot of dating going on outside of Gavin. Did you even have sex with either of them? How many women do you think…?”

“Stop!” Audree put her hand up. “You know I really don’t need to think about that. I don’t know what our relationship status is. I know that when we are together we are like magnets and cannot keep our hands off each other
when we are alone
, but…” Knowing that Gavin didn’t show the same attention and affection to her in public that he did in private caused her a great deal of private pain.

“That is bullshit and one of you has to decide to shit or get off the pot, sweetie.” She put her arm around Audree’s shoulder and smiled at their reflections in the mirror to help lighten the sting of her comment. “Damn, we look good,” she said, making them both giggle.

“I love you.” Audree kissed the side of Ruby’s head.

“I love you, too.” Ruby turned and kissed Audree’s lips, much to Audree’s shock. “That’s probably the most action you’ll have at this party-” She laughed out loud and scooted out the door ahead of Audree who smacked her on the ass.

“You are such a bitch.” Audree laughed.

“Yet, you love me anyway.” Ruby laughed as they made their way back to the barn.

Audree spent the rest of the night either sitting or dancing with Ruby, Harry, Travis, or Scotty while Gavin moved around the room, glaring daggers at Scotty and Audree. Scotty never seemed to acknowledge Gavin’s daggers, however, Ruby and Travis did. Although Audree tried to ignore him, she did ask him to dance a couple of times and asked him to join the group. Each time he declined and slipped back into the crowd or he stood against the wall and watched. Each time he walked away, Audree thought of the times he left the room after they had sex, leaving her wondering if he was coming back or not. Harry noticed a couple of times and made comments to Ruby, but she just waved him off and smirked at Gavin. She would then encourage Audree to go dance with Scotty.

Scotty was not aggressive or pushy with Audree; he never tried to kiss her or hold on to her after the song ended. He did hold her hand when they walked back to the group and he did have to talk into her ear over the music playing so that she could hear him. He was a good- looking man. He was close to Gavin’s height, with very light brown hair, compared to Gavin’s darker hair. Scotty had beautiful green eyes that reminded her of the stem of a pepper plant, unlike Gavin’s brown eyes which made her think of a mug of warm hot chocolate. While he had a nice build, and she could tell he worked out, he was nothing like Gavin with his farm earned muscled physique.

By the end of the night, Audree definitely started to feel the beers she had consumed. She realized, as she said goodnight to some of the people, that not only had she lost count of how many beers she’d had, but her head had begun to throb to the rhythm of music that had stopped playing.

“Are you okay, Audree?” Scotty asked, stepping up behind her and grabbing her waist to hold her body still as she slightly swayed.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m okay. I think I’m just feeling the effects of the beer and the exhaustion of the day.” She turned around and placed her hand on his chest for balance after turning too fast.

“Why don’t I walk you back to your house?” He smiled down into her blurry eyes. Even though she had danced with him several times, she was just now realizing how much taller he was than her 5’3’’, the top of her head was just barely level with his shoulders. She also realized that Gavin had a few inches on Scotty; her head reaching lower on Gavin’s chest. She shook that thought from her head just as the air around her seemed to change and her body tensed.

“I’ll walk her,” Gavin’s deep voice said from behind them. “I’m on my way back to
my room
at the house, so I’ll take her.” He looked right into Scotty’s eyes, the corner of his mouth turned up just slightly.

“Okay by you?” Scotty ignored the smirk on Gavin’s face.

“Yeah.” She rolled her eyes at Gavin. “Gavin will make sure I get to bed safe and sound.” She then realized what she had said when a wicked smile spread across Gavin’s face. “I meant home safe and sound so
I
can go to bed.” She threw her own daggers at Gavin. “I’ll meet you outside, Gavin.” She watched him walk away, smiling, and shaking his head.

“See ya around, Scotty.” Gavin waved his hand without turning around.

“Yeah, you will.” Scotty shot at Gavin’s retreating back. “What is his problem? Travis always had such great things to say about his brother, but he seems like kind of a douche bag.” Scotty turned back to Audree who was collecting some red plastic cups and tossing them into a garbage can near the bar. “You want some help cleaning up this place?” He turned back toward her.

“No, I was just biding my time until the pissing contest ended.” She turned to find Scotty right behind her, a little too close behind her. “Gavin is a great guy, just having a difficult time figuring out some stuff going on in his personal life.” Audree pushed the lid down on the garbage can.

“Does that personal life have anything to do with the fact that he wants you?” He laughed when Audree looked up at him. “I’m not blind, Audree.”

“He has been my brother’s best friend since they were little. Travis is like a brother to me and Gavin is…” she tapered off.

“Gavin is either in love with you and knows it but can’t or won’t do anything about it, or he won’t let himself admit he is in love with you,” he said as he followed her to the door. “He kept quite an eye on you all night and the look in his eyes…” he helped her close the door that Gavin left open when he disappeared into the dark outside of the barn.

“Our relationship is…” she stopped short when she realized she didn’t know what she and Gavin were and that the beer was giving her very loose lips.

“Are you his girlfriend?” Scotty asked, taking a step closer to her.

“Ah, well, I…”

“Come on, Audree,” Gavin appeared out of the dark in front of the barn. It took Audree a second for her eyes to adjust to the darkness and see him moving closer. “Let’s get you back to the house. Your mom will probably have Eva back early in the morning. I promised to take her riding tomorrow after breakfast.” He stepped closer.

“Scotty, are you okay to drive? There are spare rooms in the house if you need to stay. I’m sure Travis and Ruby are already in theirs.” She smiled, knowing it would piss Gavin off if Scotty was also in the house with her.

“Thanks but, I’m okay and Harry is passed out in my car.” He gestured toward the area where all the cars had been parked.

“Well, then I guess we’ll be seeing you around.” She smiled at him and took a step closer to him. “It was very nice meeting you.” She put her hand out to him and he took her and carried it to his lips.

“You, too and yes, you will be seeing a lot of Harry and me over the next couple of months.” He kissed her knuckles and smiled into her eyes. “Gavin, again, it was nice meeting you. Goodnight.” He waved his hand and headed toward his car.

“He wants in your pants.” Gavin reached out and took Audree’s hand.

“Be nice. He is Travis’ friend and he’s a nice guy. Did you see Ruby with Harry?” she asked with a laugh, trying to change the subject.

“Yes, I did.” He chuckled. “Scotty might be a nice guy, but he still wants in your pants,” he squeezed her hand in his. “Not that I blame him.” He stopped walking and moved in front of her. “It is one of my most favorite places to be.” He leaned down and took her mouth before she could respond. Audree’s head started to spin, and she couldn’t pull away from him. Like she had told Ruby earlier, they were like magnets, drawn to each other. And Audree knew she was going to give into the flames that had been lit earlier in the kitchen and smoldered all through the party this evening.

“Gavin.” She pulled her mouth away from his, out of breath.

“Ssshhhhh,” was all he said, before capturing her mouth again. “Just feel it. Audree, don’t think about anything, just feel.” All of the sudden Gavin lifted her off her feet, and she automatically wrapped her legs around his hips. Gavin carried her to the house and up the stairs without ever releasing his hold on her body or her mouth.

Even though Audree felt somewhat foggy, she knew where she was, who she was with and exactly what she was doing… she was giving into her desire for Gavin. Just like she always did. She would do what he had said, and think of nothing except for what she was feeling, of what he was doing to her body right at that moment. They hadn’t seen each other for almost three months, and it seemed Gavin planned to make up for every day they hadn’t been together by driving her crazy with desire.

As soon as he stepped into his room, her legs still tightly wrapped around his waist, he kicked the door closed with his foot and pushed her back against the closed door while he locked it. His tongue pushed harder into her mouth and she ran her nails through the hair at the back of his head. Gavin tilted his hips up to meet the heat between her legs, heat that was pressed against the front of his pants.