“Hey.” The door pushed open. Gabe walked himself right in and shut the door behind him. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Not the time, Gabe.”
“The hell it isn’t!” He grabbed me by the shirt, not a smart move considering I had at least five inches on him, but whatever. I was too weak to care. “What the hell are you taking? Oxy? Meth?”
I laughed. Not because it was funny, but because for a second I wished it was a drug problem. Damn, how pathetic was that?
“No.” I bit down on my lip. The nausea was finally passing, the feeling returning to my extremities. “Nothing like that.”
“You better not be messing with her.” Gabe released me and hit the door with his hand. “I swear I’ll kill you if you hurt her.”
“I just want to be her friend. Honest.” I lied. I wanted more. But people didn’t always get what they wanted.
The nausea came back full force, causing me to double over in pain as, I swear, knives started attacking my stomach. “Hold on, give me a second.”
“Dude.” Gabe put his hand on my back. “What’s wrong? You got the flu or something?”
“Or something,” I said through clenched teeth. “I’m fine, I just get… episodes.” It was the best I could do without lying.
“Like nervous episodes?” Gabe asked.
“Yeah, like that.”
“Sorry.” He swore. “I just… that girl is important okay? Don’t ask me how or why I know she is, I just know. There’s something about her. She’s frail and I don’t want you messing with her just because she’s a hot piece of ass okay?”
“I swear…” It hurt like hell but I stood to my full height. “…that I’m not messing with her. I want to help, and I want to be her friend.”
“Friends don’t kiss.”
I forced a laugh. “You sound like her.”
Gabe didn’t join in the laughter. Great, I’d pissed him off again.
“Look.” I crossed my arms and tried to concentrate on anything but the pain in my chest and stomach. “I like that girl. I won’t hurt her. Hell, I won’t even touch her again. I’m not going to steal her virginity. I’m not going to make her promises I can’t keep.”
“How do I know I can believe you?”
“Tell you what.” I put my arm around his and opened the door. “Why don’t you just trust me, and if I do something that royally pisses you off or I screw up, you can beat the shit out of me. Deal?”
Gabe was silent and then he held out his hand. “It will be a pleasure kicking your ass.”
“Too bad you won’t get the chance.” I shook his hand just as Lisa walked through the door.
“Uh, everything okay?”
“Perfect.” Gabe’s grip tightened against mine. “We were just talking sports.”
Lisa snorted. “Fine. Can we start the movie?”
“Sure thing.” I released Gabe’s hand. He gave me a swift nod.
When we made our way back into the room, Lisa was sitting on one end of the couch and Gabe maneuvered next to her, leaving just the love seat for me and Kiersten. At least the night was going to end on a good note.
Lisa pressed play.
“Wait!” I yelled, holding up my hand. I grabbed the drinks Lisa had brought in and pulled a tiny paper umbrella from my pocket. Grinning, I dropped it onto the side of Kiersten’s drink. “A fruity drink with an umbrella.”
“You got any more of those in there?” Lisa asked.
I laughed, finally feeling more relaxed now that the date was well on its way and Kiersten knew my plan. “Sure.” With a tug I had about five different colored umbrellas set out on the coffee table. “Okay, now we can start the movie.”
“Thank you.” Kiersten’s lips grazed my ear, making me horny as hell during the opening credits. “For my best first date ever, my umbrella, my kiss, and my book. The way you’re blowing through the list we won’t have much to do in a week.”
My stomach clenched.
Hell, no.
What was I thinking?
I needed to go slower.
I shrugged and whispered back, “Well, the other tasks are a lot harder. It may take a while.”
“Fine by me.” She reached for my hand and didn’t let go.
I looked up.
Gabe was watching us intently, his eyes narrowing as he looked at her hand then back at my face. I felt stuck. I wanted to date her. In a normal situation I would have flipped him off and thrown her into my bedroom without a second thought.
But now?
I wanted to treasure the feeling of her fingertips against mine, because I was pretty sure in a few months… I wouldn’t have that luxury.
Chapter Twenty-Four
I hate how much I like him. Almost as much as I hate it when I’m not able to be with him all the time. I am falling way too hard and fast. Someone catch me, stop me, call me crazy, slap me — geez, just don’t let me get my hopes up.
Kiersten
It was officially two months since I met Wes. Ever since our first date, I’d seen him almost every day for lunch and at least twice a week for movie nights at our place.
Basically, he was everywhere. A permanent fixture in my life. So regular in fact, that people no longer stared, they just seemed to expect it.
The only thing I couldn’t put my finger on was the fact that he was losing weight. I mean, he still looked hot, but his muscles seemed more defined, his jaw even sharper than before. When I mentioned it, he just laughed off my concern and said practices were hell.
“So what chapter we on?” Wes dropped his lunch onto our regular table and took a swig of water.
I grinned. “Last one.”
“No way!” He pulled me in for a hug. “Killer job, it only took us over fifty days to finish one book.”
“You know what that means?” I bit down on my lip and moved closer to him, scraping my chair against the floor.
“What?” He leaned in and flicked part of my hair. Good Lord, the boy was obsessed with hair, or maybe it was just with red. I didn’t know which, but he was always touching it as if somehow my hair was going to fall out or disappear.
I swatted his hand away. “Just means we need another book when we finish. I’m thinking Mansfield Park or…” My voice trailed off. His face turned pale as he broke eye contact and fidgeted with his food.
“What?” He licked his lips and spread his salad around his plate like he wasn’t sure if he wanted to eat it or just torture it.
“We don’t have to read anymore. I mean, I know you have other friends, and it has been every lunch and—”
“Stop.” He rolled his eyes and gave me that sexy grin I was so used to. “I was just upset about Mansfield Park. I don’t really like that story. How about you pick something else and we’ll get started in on it after Thanksgiving break?”
“Okay.” I smiled when he looked at me, but it was hollow. I could feel that it didn’t reach my eyes. “Are you okay?”
“Of course,” he said, almost too fast as he gave me another fake grin and cleared his throat. “Just got a lot of work to do before break, you know?”
“Oh.” I tried not to sound disappointed. “Right, yeah, I have a lot of homework too.”
“Between that and practice…” A shadow fell over his face. “I don’t know. You know how you have rough days?”
“Yeah.” I reached out and placed my hand on his arm. “We all do. It’s good to know you’re not perfect.”
“So far from it.” He reached for my hand and kissed it. “I uh, do sort of have a favor to ask you though.”
“Okay.” I shifted in my seat, suddenly nervous that he was going to ask me to not see him again or do something crazy and start dating, which actually wouldn’t be the first time he’d suggested it. A month ago he jokingly encouraged me to go on a date. I’d slammed the door in his face, and he spent the afternoon apologizing. So right, I overreacted, but it hurt my feelings. I mean, guys weren’t that dense, were they? Couldn’t he tell I liked him? As in, a lot more than he liked me?