Chapter Eight
“I thought you and Gates broke up,” Avery whined.
Bryna rolled her baby-blues to the ceiling. Why the hell did she have to keep having this conversation? She and Gates were over. Just because she hadn’t blabbed about it to People magazine didn’t make it any less true.
“We are,” Bryna snapped.
“Then, why is he signing autographs outside of school?”
Bryna jerked her head to the front of the parking lot, and her eyes bulged.
Fucking hell! What the fuck was he doing here?
This would not do.
This would not do at all.
She reeled in her state of shock. Breaking up with Gates had given her the leverage she needed. She was too good for Gates Hartman.
But maybe she could spin this. If it looked like he was chasing her…well, all the better.
“Gates Hartman,” she said idly. She languidly strolled down the stairs and out of Harmony Prep as if seeing her ex-boyfriend outside of the building was an every day occurrence.
Avery trailed behind her, and she would bet anything that Tara was close by. As Bryna walked forward, the sea of girls in front of Gates parted like she truly was royalty. Too bad Gates wasn’t her Prince Charming. But he would do for now.
He smiled that gorgeous grin solely for her, and all the girls sighed as they dreamily stared up at him.
Good luck if they ever thought they would get someone like Gates.
Dear Lord, he was handsome. No wonder he had won America’s heart on the big screen. That face was downright delicious. She didn’t want to be distracted from her mission, so she purposefully avoided looking at anything but his liquid blue eyes.
“Hey, Bri,” Gates said completely nonchalant. “You ready to go?”
She placed a curious smile on her face and planted her hand on one hip. “Where exactly are we going?”
He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the hood of his fire red Porsche convertible. The look on his face screamed loud and clear: don’t-start-this-shit-with-me.
She just arched an eyebrow in a silent rebuttal. You started this, and I’m going to finish it.
“I’ve been gone on set for too long. Came straight here to see my girl.” He straightened and reached a hand out to her. He was so matter-of-fact as if she hadn’t broken up with him while he had been gone and she hadn’t fucked some other guy.
She looked down at his hand and debated. Honestly, what did he expect her to do? There was no way she was giving into this so easily. She kept her face firmly blank as she returned her eyes to his. “But I haven’t been your girl in three weeks.”
The crowd shifted awkwardly and looked around at others in disbelief. They were surprised that anyone whether Queen bee or not would turn down Gates Hartman. People gasped and started whispering behind their hands to each other.
Let this be a lesson.
Gates appeared oblivious to everyone’s reactions. Though she knew that he was enjoying the attention. He had always been comfortable in front of crowds. “Yeah. Okay, Bri,” he said, disbelievingly. He even rolled his eyes for good measure. “We’re together. You know it’s true. I know it’s true. Everyone else here knows we’re together. That’s not stopping because of a phone call. You’re my girl. Now let’s get out of here.”
Everyone glanced at her expectantly. She wondered if they thought this had all been a stunt. It wasn’t, but they probably thought so. She had legitimately broken up with Gates for Jude, the asshole who had never called her back. But she wasn’t about to tell them about Jude. In fact, she hadn’t told anyone about Jude. She couldn’t trust anyone with that information. Only Gates knew that she had gone home with someone that night and that was the way it was going to stay. Not that it really mattered anymore since Jude still hadn’t bothered to call.
With a resigned sigh, she finally placed her hand in his. It wouldn’t matter if she spent time with Gates if there was no one else in her life. Plus, it would look good to leave with him. “Fine. We’ll talk about this later,” she admonished.
Gates pulled her close, planted a kiss on her temple, and then helped her into the passenger seat of his convertible. He nodded at the girls still gawking at him, walked around the car, and then hopped over the door into the driver’s seat.
Show-off.
They pulled out of the parking lot, and she immediately turned to him in frustration. “That was a dirty trick you pulled.”
He smirked. “How else was I going to get you to come to my place?”
“Your place?” she asked. “I am not going to your place.”
“Oh? We’re already on our way. And it’s for the better, right? Otherwise, I would have had to throw you over my shoulder and tie you to my bed to get you to talk to me,” he said, his blue eyes shining with glee. “Now, I know you would have just hated that. Wouldn’t you have, Bri?”
She glared at him harder. The goddamn man knew her too well. “Don’t fucking kid yourself, Gates.”
“Well, you’re coming to my place whether you want to or not. So, you can wipe off that eat-shit look on your face.”
“Whatever. We’re not even together anymore.”
“A phone call three weeks ago at four o’clock in the morning isn’t enough to end things with me, Bri. I’m not one of your pets or one of your goddamn followers.”
She huffed and looked away from him. Her hair whipped all around her head as Gates navigated the traffic into Los Angeles in silence and then pulled into the gated community where he lived.
Once his car was parked, he guided her straight up to his bedroom and shut the door behind her. She beelined for the bathroom to check out what the convertible had done to her hair. As she’d suspected, she looked like a hot mess. She finger-combed the tangled tresses.
“Bri,” Gates groaned, leaning against the doorframe.
“What?” she asked. She definitely needed a brush to fix the rest of the damage.
“I’ve been gone a long time.” He walked up behind her and slid his hand across her stomach. She shouldered him aside as she worked on her hair some more.
“And?”
“Too damn long,” he murmured. He ignored her attempts to dislodge him and kissed along her shoulder.
“What do you want, Gates?” she snapped.
He grabbed her by the arm and swung her to face him. “I don’t think you’re listening, babe.”
“No, I don’t think you’re listening! If you think that cornering me at school and dragging me to your house is going to change what I said, then you’re wrong. I told you, we are through. I don’t care if it was on the phone, where you were, what time it was. It’s over.”
His hands slid down her arms and wrapped around her waist. “I shouldn’t have to fight this hard for you to want this.”
“Just because you can’t get other pussy doesn’t mean I can’t get other cock,” she said, arching an eyebrow. It was a low dig, even for her. Hardly even true, but she couldn’t help herself.
But he smirked insufferably. “Bri, cut the shit. You and I both know, pussy is easy to come by.”
His hand went to the front of her skintight black jeans. He snapped the button, dragged the zipper down, and had his hand inside her panties before she could move away. A moan escaped her lips as he swirled his finger around her.
“But you’re different,” he whispered into her ear. “I want you.”
“Fuck, Gates.” She stumbled back a step and shook her head. “You’re not listening.”
“No, I’m not fucking listening.” He easily cleared the distance and scooped her up into his arms.
Christ, when had he gotten so strong? He’d been able to lift her before, but now, he carried her as if she weighed no more than a feather.
He tossed her back on the bed, and as he stripped his shirt off, she really took notice.
He looked like he had been in the gym every waking moment when he wasn’t filming. She knew that the film needed him to be bigger, but fuck, he had sculpted abs, built arms, and that wonderful V leading—
No, she was not going to look lower.
Okay. So, she looked lower. And damn.
Fuck, he had always been good-looking, but now…he was off the charts.
His eyes turned into molten lava when he caught her watching him. He was one cocky motherfucker. His pants followed his shirt, and then he was yanking her jeans off her body.
She should have stopped him and made him reconsider. She had fucked Jude three weeks ago. She had wanted it. She still wanted it. But she had put the ball in his court, and he hadn’t called her. No one did that to Bryna Turner. Of course, he didn’t know who she really was. That didn’t matter though, because they’d had an amazing time, and she had put on a spectacular performance. Now, she was left wondering why the hell he wasn’t interested.
“Wait,” she cried, realizing Gates’s lips were crawling up her leg. “I slept with someone else.”
Gates sat back and fixed his gaze on her. “I gathered that, based on our conversation.”
She glared at him. “Why don’t you care about that?”
“Because I fucked some other girl after.” He shrugged. “Didn’t fucking mean anything, Bri. Just made me miss you. So, now, I’m home, and I want you. I want my girl.”
Bryna slapped him across the face. “You said we never broke up!”
He grabbed her hand and pushed it down. “And you fucking said we did.”
“You can’t have it both ways, Gates! You can’t fuck some bitch and claim that she didn’t mean anything, and then come crawling back to me. That’s not how this fucking works, you prick!” She wriggled out of his grasp and sat up on the bed. What an arrogant ass!
“What?” he growled, grabbing her wrists again. She tried to move away from him but he held her steady. “You think you can decide when we’re over and fuck someone, but as soon as I do, you decide to slap me? Fuck that, Bri. I’ve known you for too damn long not to know your games when I see one. I’m not a game. You break up with me to fuck some other dude, then you have to fucking know I’m going to do whatever the fuck I want.”
She shook her head furiously. “Let me go, Gates. Let me go, and get the fuck off of me!”
“You are never going to find anyone who gets your insanity as much as I do.” He wasn’t just angry. He was pissed. She could see him gaining momentum in his argument. “And I don’t just like it. It fucking turns me on. So, get it out of your head that this changes shit.”
“I know exactly how much this changes things.” Her breathing was heavy, her chest heaving, as she pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes.
He looked murderous. His eyes were blazing, and his hands were tightening around her small wrists.
Then, as if the dam broke, his lips were on hers. Their bodies tangled together, and a heated fury seemed to sweep over them, pounding through their veins and overtaking their senses.
Gates ripped her shirt over her head and then removed the remainder of their clothing. Suddenly, the air was thick in the room, and she had trouble breathing. The sexual tension was high. Thoughts shattered as desire took over.
He surged into her, and there was only feeling.
The feel of his body pressed against her, driving into her. The feel of their skin damp with sweat. The feel of him sliding in and out, bringing her to new heights, with the practiced ease of someone who knew her body.
Then, the feel of release, and everything else came back.
The sound of her screams and his grunts of ecstasy. The look of victory that shot across his face. The taste and smell of sex in the air.
Gates rolled over next to her and sighed. “That’s my girl.”