The Heartbreaker Series: Books 1-3 (13 page)

Chapter Thirteen

Jasmine

Oh my God, I can’t believe I told Gabe that I love him. I’ve been absolutely mortified. After my little slip up, I had a hard time concentrating the rest of the day. After work, I swung by the store to grab some ice cream so I can drown my sorrows in Ben and Jerry’s. Well, it won’t be enough to completely drown my sorrows, but it’ll help me forget my slip up.

As I drive home, I think about what I said and it hits me that what I said is true. Panic starts to pool in my belly. I’ve never been in love before. The idea of love scares the hell out of me. That’s the reason why I stopped doing relationships. Maybe it seemed like a cop out, but every man in my life has let me down or hurt me in some way.

Now I’m standing in my kitchen, scooping bite after bite of Cherry Garcia into my mouth. Am I going to get the brush-off now? Did my words scare him off? This is probably for the best. It’ll take some time, but after a while, the pain will go away and I’ll go back to my original plan. Stick to dating simple, boring men who do nothing but keep me from getting lonely. I look down and see that I’ve eaten almost the whole pint of ice cream.

“Just great,” I mutter to myself as I throw the rest of it into the garbage.

I enter my bedroom and change into a pair of knit shorts and a tank top. I pile my hair on top of my head and go into the bathroom to wash my face. I hear keys jiggle and the sound of my door opening. “Hey, Jordan, I’m in the bathroom. I’ll be right out.”

He doesn’t answer me, so I hurry and finish my face. When I open my bathroom door, I scream.

Gabe covers my mouth. “Babe, what the fuck?”

My heart rate starts to slow down and he removes his hand. “You scared the hell out of me. I thought you were my brother.” He has that freaking smirk on his face. “What?” I ask.

He doesn’t answer me. He just grabs me by my hair and tips my head back roughly. His eyes are so dark. I swear he’s seeing everything I’m feeling right now. Did he come here to break things off? Why am I feeling so self-conscience?

“I want to hear you say it.”

His words shock me for a second. I play dumb because I’m not going to say it. No way, no how. “I’m not sure what you’re referring to.” I bat my eyelashes for added effect.

“Oh baby, we’re not playing that game. You know what you said. I. Want. To. Hear. You. Say. It.” He punctuates each word with a kiss to my lips.

I shake my head as I bite my lip. He pulls me to him so my body is against his and brings his hand down, hard, on my ass. I yelp, jump, and try to push him away from me.

“What the hell was that for?”

“Why won’t you say those three little words to me? Does it matter that I may feel the same exact way? I love you, Jasmine. You’re sweet, funny, smart, and beautiful and I fucking love you.”

I don’t even get the chance to respond before his lips are on mine and he’s lifting me onto the bathroom counter. I spread my thighs so he can fit between my legs. I grab him by his belt loops and pull him so his dick pushes against the apex of my thighs. My heart beats rapidly after his declaration. I want to scream that I love him too, but I just deepen the kiss to distract him.

I moan into his mouth and his tongue brushes against mine. I wrap my legs around his waist and deepen the kiss. I pull back just a tiny bit and then nip at his bottom lip. He growls while grinding his dick against my core.

He grabs the hem of my tank top and pulls it off me. He leans down and sucks my bra-covered nipple into his mouth. I cry out as his teeth nip roughly against my flesh. I grip his hair in both fists and hold him against my breasts. Back and forth, he nips and sucks them. He slides his hand down inside my shorts. I moan incoherently as he strokes my clit in tiny circles.

“Please make me come.”

He chuckles against my breasts at my pleading, I’m sure, and continues to torture me. The pressure is building inside of me and I can’t take much more of this. I’m writhing against him as he massages my clit. I undo his pants, shove my hand inside, and wrap my hand around his dick. It pulses in my palm and he grunts against my neck.

I moan and arch my back as he thrusts two fingers inside of me. He pumps them in and out as I rock against his palm. The sound of his fingers pumping in and out of my wet pussy echoes in my small bathroom. I’m wound so tight and need to come so bad. He rips the cups of my bra down and latches on to one nipple while pinching and pulling the other.

It takes about two seconds before I’m coming apart. My screams fill the room as I ride out the orgasmic wave. I watch Gabe reach into his back pocket, pull out his wallet, and grab a condom. I let out a surprised laugh when he lifts me off of the counter while I’m still wrapped around him. He carries me into my bedroom and crawls on the bed. It amazes me that this man is able to move me around like I weigh nothing.

He flips to his back and I quickly shimmy out of my shorts. Then I grab his jeans and pull them the rest of the way down. I begin to kiss up his legs, toward his dick, but he grabs me from under my arms and hoists me up. He kisses me with an intensity that makes my toes curl, my pussy tingle, and my nipples ache.

“Ride me,” he whispers against my lips. I straddle his lap, grab his cock, and sink painfully slow onto it. I do what he says and ride him.

***

It’s been a week since I slipped and told Gabe that I love him. I haven’t said it again, but I’ve showed him how much I love him, or at least I hope I have. He has no problem telling me that he loves me. I know it’s shitty of me because I am in love with him too, but I’m just scared. I know that’s not the way to live, but I can’t help it. I see what love can do to a person when things get messed up.

I think of Jill, who has had her heart repeatedly broken by the man she loves, but she doesn’t stop loving him. One good thing to come from that mess is the beautiful little baby she’s going to have late this fall. I can’t wait to be an auntie.

My thoughts drift back to my fear. Too often, I’ve associated love with pain. So I avoid it, or at least I have, until now. That man has crawled so far deep inside my soul that I know I’m never going to be the same.

I pull in front of the home I’m doing a welfare check on. I take a deep breath and focus on the task at hand. I’m just checking in on a mom who lost her child last year due to drug use and an arrest. Six months ago, her daughter, Poppy, was finally returned to her. I’m here to make sure Mom’s not using and Poppy looks well taken care of.

I walk to the door of a home that looks like its seen better days. Paint is peeling off the sides and the shutters need to be rehung. I knock on the door and hear a muffled voice yell out, “I’m coming.” The door swings open and a short blonde greets me.

“Hi, are you Jasmine?” she asks.

I reach out and shake her hand. “I am, and you must be Randi. It’s nice to meet you.”

I can tell by the way she’s fidgeting that she’s nervous. She stands back and I step inside. I’m embarrassed to say that I figured the place was going to be a dump, but I’m pleasantly surprised to see that it’s clean, tidy, and decorated adorably. Her stuff is all mismatched, but it gives the house a quirky feel. A tiny blonde comes running up to us.

“Who are you?” She looks up at me with big brown eyes. “Are you taking me away?”

My heart breaks into a thousand pieces. I get down on my haunches in front of her. “Absolutely not. I’m here to help your mommy with anything she may need to help her take care of you. Your mommy asked me to come help her, so here I am.” I don’t want to lie, but the girl is only four and I don’t want her upset the whole time I’m here.

Poppy stares up at me with her big brown eyes and gives me the most breathtaking smile. “Okay.” She turns to look at her mom. “Can I show her my room, Mommy?”

“Go ahead, baby.”

Poppy grabs my hand and drags me down the hall to her room. When I step inside, my breath catches. The walls are covered with drawings of Disney characters. Her little twin bed is adorned with
Frozen
sheets and a
Frozen
comforter.

“My mommy drew on the walls.” Poppy’s giggle is completely adorable.

“Your mommy is very talented.”

It’s the truth. I’ve never seen such intricate detail before. She shows me the rest of the stuff in her room before we head back out to the living room. As I enter, Randi is coming back in from outside. She holds up a pack of cigarettes and a lighter.

“I don’t smoke in the house,” she says.

I tell her that’s fine and have a seat on the couch while she washes her hands. When she joins me on the opposite end of the sofa, we talk about her job and how it’s going. Her drug counselor was able to get her a job at a grocery store not too far from home. She works while Poppy is at preschool and they’re flexible with her schedule. She tells me she likes it and has thought about going back to school, but she doesn’t know what degree to pursue since she’s got a record.

“Next time I come, I can bring some brochures for you.” Randi doesn’t have a car, so she depends on public transportation to get around.

“That would be great,” she tells me.

I don’t stay too much longer. I just make note of her clean urine test and mark that everything else is in order. I say a quick goodbye to Poppy, who surprises me when she rushes to me and gives me a hug.

On my way back to the office, my phone rings. It’s Jordan. “What’s up?”

“Nothing, just heading back to the office. Hey, I have a question,” I say. “Do you think about Dad or think about what you’d do if you saw him?” There is silence on the other end and, for a second, I think he may have hung up until his voice comes through the line.

“I do sometimes. Sometimes I think I’d like to find him, but I don’t know…I guess I’d like to know what his life is like now.” In seconds, he changes the subject and that’s the end of the Dad conversation. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever. Mr. Sex Machine is hogging you and I don’t like it. I miss you. I thought Friday night we could go to Debauchery. You think your man will let you come out with me for a little bit?”

It would be good to go out with him. I guess I really haven’t seen him much lately. “Yeah, okay. Let’s go out.”

I let him go after I tell him I’ll touch base with him tonight, after I check with Gabe. I want to make sure he doesn’t have anything planned.

***

I stand on Gabe’s front step and wait for him to answer. I hear footsteps and then the door pops open. I come face to face with a tall, leggy blonde. She’s everything I wish I was. I want so badly to curl into myself and hide, but I don’t. Instead, I square my shoulders. “Hi, is Gabe here?”

What happens next surprises me. She throws her arms around me and hugs me tight. “Oh my gosh, you’re Jasmine!” She pulls back to look at me from head to toe. “He said you were gorgeous and he’s not lying. I’m Savannah, Tommy’s wife.”

I have no clue who this Tommy is. She grabs me and pulls me into the house. Before I can even find out what the hell is going on, she’s grabbing my purse and tossing it on a side table. She loops her arm through mine as we head to the kitchen. I can hear Gabe’s deep rumbling voice. We round the corner and my man is standing there with a tall, blond man who is just about as big as Gabe. They turn to us and Gabe comes to me with a big smile on his face.

“Hey, babe. I’m glad to see that Savannah didn’t scare you off.” He pulls me away from Savannah and kisses my lips gently. “This is Tom. We played together in Chicago and then we both lived out in California. They’re actually the ones I spent time with when I was out there for work. Tom, this is Jasmine.”

I reach out my hand and the other man’s hand engulfs mine.

“It’s nice to meet you.”

“You too. Savannah wanted to come and see if you were actually a real person. We’re glad to see he’s not a liar or delusional.”

Gabe shoves Tom in the shoulder and then we all head outside to the patio. The guys immediately go to the grill and Savannah and I sit down together. I’m terrible at small talk, especially with people I don’t know. Fortunately, she doesn’t give me a chance to feel awkward.

“Gabe tells us that you’re a social worker. I bet that’s rewarding. I’m a teacher. Of course, Tom has said I don’t need to work, but when he and I started dating, I told him I wasn’t going to be one of those rich girlfriends or wives who goes to the spa all of the time or shopping. Don’t get me wrong, because I love to go get pampered and I love to shop, but teaching is my passion and I’ll never stop. Well, maybe I’ll stop once we have kids, but that’s because I don’t want some nanny raising them.” Wow, she didn’t even pause to take a breath.

“What grade do you teach?”

She tells me she’s a Kindergarten teacher. The more I talk to her, the more I can see it. Sure, she’s gorgeous, but she’s funny and sweet and I can totally see why she’s a teacher. The passion in her voice matches mine when I talk about my job. I find out that they’re only in town until the morning, but we exchange phone numbers and e-mails.