Chapter 33

Bentley

Gage didn’t message me back after I turned him down. The temptation to call him was strong. Even knowing that seeing Gage would be a mistake, I felt bad about refusing to meet up with him. There was part of me that regretted my decision. I wanted to see Gage again—all of Gage. How was I supposed to find a man to compare to him? Even worse than my inability to put my night with Gage behind me, I was jealous. I was certain he didn’t have any problems finding women on tour, and there was no reason he should spend his nights alone. While I’d heard he was avoiding groupies, that didn’t mean he’d been celibate since our night together. Why should he be? We weren’t dating. I’d made it clear I wasn’t interested in dating. So, why did the thought of him with another woman bother me so much? I knew the answer. I was crazy.

After parking, I walked to the Thai restaurant where I was meeting my sister for dinner. The place was a dive, but the food was fantastic. When I walked in the door, my mind was still focused on Gage. As I scanned the dining area, I was sure my eyes were playing tricks on me. Gage couldn’t be sitting at a table with my sister. I was looking at the back of his head, so it could be someone with the same shade of blond hair.

When Gage turned my way, his eyes met mine and held. I couldn’t look away. His expression held a mix of irritation and hunger. He looked like he was about to stand and stalk toward me. I had the strangest desire to turn and make a run for it. Gage’s lips curled upward, and he shook his head as if guessing my intention.

I hadn’t even noticed she’d stood and moved from the table until Mercy spoke from my side. “I’m going to head out now. Have fun!”

I caught her arm and turned to glare at her. “Don’t you dare leave me! What is going on here?”

“You’re having dinner with Gage,” she explained. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. In fact, you might want to ease into this by only doing about half the things I’d do.”

“Mercy,” I ground out. “This is a very bad idea.”

“Be bad, Bennie,” she said with a giggle. “Be very bad.”

On those words, my sister sashayed out of the restaurant. I was seriously going to get her for this. My traitorous body seemed to think this was a great idea. My nipples were already hard, and I felt the dull ache of arousal between my legs. I could already smell his spicy cologne and feel the heat from his body. When I turned back toward the dining area, I came face to face with Gage’s chest.

“Why do you look like you’re going to run from me?” Gage asked, placing one finger under my chin to get me to meet his gaze.

“I’m not going to run,” I scoffed.

“But you want to,” he stated.

“A little,” I admitted.

“Why?” he asked.

“I honestly don’t know,” I replied. “Even as I was considering running, I recognized how ridiculous I’d look.”

“Would you think less of me if I told you I kind of wanted you to run so I’d have an excuse to chase you?” he asked with a lopsided grin.

Oh. My. God. That image turned me on even more.

“This is such a bad idea,” I muttered.

“Me chasing you?” he asked as he looped his fingers through mine and led me to the table.

“Me seeing you,” I admitted.

“No,” he argued. “That is an excellent idea. Chasing you could be fun, too. We should try that some time. First, we need to talk.”

I could do this. Gage would be going home soon. My behavior was ridiculous. He was my friend. Yes, he was also a very hot guy who’d made me scream his name more times than I had thought possible in one night, but I could still be around him without stripping my clothes off and begging him to take me. I needed to focus on our friendship and stop allowing thoughts of that night to creep into my mind.

Damn, he looked good in his gray t-shirt and worn jeans! My fingers itched to slide under the edge of his shirt and touch his smooth skin again.

No! Focus! We were friends. I sat at the table and much to my surprise, Gage sat right beside me rather than taking a seat across from me. His proximity definitely wasn’t helping my resolve to keep things platonic.

“When are you heading home?” I asked as I grabbed my menu to give me something to do with my hands that didn’t involve touching Gage.

“That’s one of the things I wanted to talk to you about,” he began. “I’m moving up here. Actually, I already have a place. Colin helped me arrange things while I was on tour.”

“You bought a house up here?” I asked, slowly drawing out each word as if they’d make more sense that way.

“For now, I’m renting,” he replied. “I plan to buy a place soon.”

“Why?” I asked.

His lips twitched. “Real estate is a good investment.”

“Don’t be a smartass,” I told him.

“It’s partly because of Austin,” he began. “We don’t need to live in LA, and Austin has wanted to move closer to his family. As for me, I can’t handle being so far from my mom. My aunt and uncle were able to move down here from Portland. My mom wouldn’t have moved without my aunt. This puts me and my mom closer to Colin.”

I nodded. “That makes sense.” I stared down at my menu as if trying to decide what I wanted to order. I already knew what I was ordering, but I needed to focus on something besides Gage while I processed this new information. Gage was moving up here. That meant my long-distance relationship argument was out the window. I still had plenty of good reasons to avoid getting involved with Gage. If I told myself that enough times, I was certain I’d believe it.

“There is another reason for my move up here,” he stated, taking my menu and setting it to the side so I’d look at him.

“What’s that?” I asked, looking over at him and trying to sound unaffected.

“You,” he stated. “I moved up here for you. I can’t get you out of my mind, Bentley. One night with you could never be enough.”