Chapter
Twenty-Nine
I wish I could say that I was a gentleman, that I let her sleep it off and then very tenderly drew her bath and asked, “Where does it hurt?”
Instead, I’d officially lost my damn mind.
And made love to her three more times before finally collapsing halfway on top of her.
I was in such a deep state of exhaustion that I’m sure if the world had somehow ended between five and six a.m. and the only way to save it was to join forces against the zombies with Channing Tatum, I would have said, “Pass,” yawned, and turned on my side to get a few more minutes of sleep.
Hours later, the sun was starting to seep into the room. I stretched across the bed and felt an empty cold spot beside me.
Another first.
I jerked up and came face-to-face with a very pissed-off best friend, who was holding a pillow above her head as a look of pure hate crossed her features.
“Gabs.” I held up my hands. “Were you going to suffocate me?”
“Thought about it,” she said through clenched teeth. “For at least ten minutes.”
“Shit.” I rubbed my eyes, my voice hoarse from sleep. “Are you telling me you hovered over me with a killer pillow and contemplated murdering me for a whole ten-minute period?”
“Yes.” She didn’t look apologetic. Her eyes were wild; her auburn hair was pulled back into a baseball cap. She looked like she’d just returned from her morning run.
I glanced down at her pink Nike Frees. “Cool shoes. Those new?”
“Don’t!” Her nostrils flared. “Don’t you dare change the subject.”
“Ah, yes.” I sighed. “My impending death. Well, get it over with.”
“How could you!”
“How could I . . . live? Breathe? Well, it’s simple. I’m sure our mutual best friend, Lex, could explain the mechanics behind the human body if you’re so inclined.”
“Ian.” Gabi slammed the pillow into my face.
Repeatedly.
Every time I tried to get a word in, she slammed me again.
“Stop!” I tackled her against the bed and tossed the pillow to the side, only then realizing that I was still naked.
“NO!!!!!” Gabi shouted so loud my eardrum nearly burst and fell out of my ear.
“Oh, please!” I hurried to cover myself. “Like you’ve never seen a penis!”
“It’s yours!” She pointed.
My lower appendage had the good sense to be mortified that it was getting yelled and pointed at.
“Gabs . . .” Once I was safely covered, I tried again. “Why are you pissed?”
“My roommate!”
“You do realize Lex screwed Serena within twenty-four hours of her moving in, right?”
“But that’s Lex! He’s a horrible human being!”
“I’m sure he’ll be happy to know you approve.”
“Blake’s a friend.” Gabi sighed. “And now it’s going to be awkward. Not to mention she’s your freaking client! What the hell were you thinking?”
“Easy.”
“She’s not easy!” she shouted.
“Let me finish.” I leveled her with a glare. “I was thinking, easy, I really like her, I care for her, David’s a freaking douche, and I’d rather die than let him even touch her. And if you must know, I was also thinking, ‘Damn, she’s hot. Hell, I want her—’”
“You mean you aren’t bailing?”
I frowned. “Do I look like I’m jumping out the window and making an excuse about my sick dog right now?”
“You don’t have a dog.”
“Even so, if I regretted last night, which I don’t, I’d be in a hell of a hurry to make sure old Fido made it after that Honda hit him overnight.”
Gabi was still frowning at me. “She likes you.”
“Oh, thank God!” I shouted. “And here I thought she hated me when she started screaming my name—”
Gabi glared.
I stopped talking to offer her a teasing smile. “Say, where is Blake?”
“Baking,” Gabi muttered. “She got up at the ass crack of dawn and went for a four-mile run, then decided to make pancakes for the slut in her bed.”
I was already out of the bed before Gabi could yell about my nakedness again. I dressed in record time, then launched myself down the stairs and into the kitchen. “Pancakes?”
Blake was facing the stove, her hair pulled into a wet knot on her head while she hummed and flipped a pancake into the air. “Only if you save some for Lex. I told him he could have one after he called Gabi this morning freaking out about you missing your normal meeting at the bench.”
“Shit!” I glanced at the clock on the microwave. “I didn’t mean to sleep in.”
Blake turned, her face flushed. “Sorry, you just looked exhausted.”
“Sweet cheeks.” In two steps, she was in my arms. “I am exhausted, but in the best possible you-should-probably-take-a-week-off-from-school way.”
“Why would I take a week off school?”
“Think of the possibilities—spending your days and nights in bed. It might change your life.”
“Hah,” Blake wrapped her arms around my middle. “Maybe it already has.”
I smiled down at her. It was a new feeling. Not waking up in a panic to leave, but in a panic to see her, to make sure she was okay, to kiss her again and again.
“I could get very addicted to your taste.” I kissed her lightly on the mouth. Blake moved her arms so she could wrap them around my neck and pull me closer.
“Not in the kitchen, guys,” Gabi said from the doorway. “We have to eat here.”
“I love eating,” I murmured against Blake’s lips. “And pancakes? You know that’s how Gabs kept me around, right? She fed me. That’s what you do when you want to keep a man. If you give him food, he’s yours for life.”
“Why else do you think I went to the store and bought sausage to go along with the pancakes?”
I groaned and kissed her again.
“I will seriously grab the pillow from upstairs.” Gabi’s irritated voice pierced my good mood. “Now break apart.” She clapped. “For once, I’m not cooking, so I want to sit and have my coffee without watching real-life porn.”
“Who has porn?” Lex waltzed into the kitchen, his grin lazy as he eyed Gabi. “Looking good, Gabs. Run out of makeup this morning, or are you trying to look twelve so you can pay less for a movie ticket?”
Gabi glared, continuing to sip her coffee. The glare had me stepping out of the way just in case she’d somehow discovered a way to kill people with a look.
Lex didn’t seem the least bit affected. If anything, he seemed to enjoy her hate.
“So who got laid last night?” Lex asked once he’d grabbed a cup of coffee and was sitting at the breakfast table.
Gabi pointed at me, while I pointed at Blake, who pointed back at me.
Lex frowned. “So you either both got laid or you hooked up. Which is it?”
“Uh . . . hooked up,” Blake announced, casting a shy glance my way and then winking. “And it was everything the girls write about on the bathroom stalls.”
“Ha ha.” I smacked her ass and started pulling out plates.
“Um . . .” Lex coughed. “You do realize you can’t hook up with clients.”
“Oh, that.” I nodded. “I’m pretty sure our contract was terminated the minute she screamed my name.”
“So”—Gabi eyed both of us—“no David?”
“No,” I said while Blake said, “Yes.”
All talking ceased.
I whipped around so fast I nearly collided with the open fridge door. “What the hell do you mean, ‘yes’?”
“He’s still a friend!” Blake laughed nervously. “I need to at least meet with him for dinner. Like I said, he’s a friend.”
“Um, I was a friend and we ended up screwing four times last night. Sorry if I’m not exactly confident in your ability to keep friends at arm’s length!”
Blake gasped.
Lex muttered an “oh shit.” And looked like he wanted to high-five me, or bow down to me, or maybe just challenge me to an endurance run.
Gabi cackled behind her coffee cup.
“Is that all it was to you?” Blake crossed her arms. “A quick hookup?”
“Hell no,” I yelled, stalking toward her. “Which is another reason the last thing I want is for you to hang out with Douchepants!”
“He has a name!”
“Yeah, it’s Douchepants!”
Blake rolled her eyes. “I’ve known him my whole life. It would be rude to suddenly cancel. Tell you what. If it makes you feel better, you can drop me off and pick me up.”
“Oooo, rent a minivan like a soccer mom!” This from Lex.
“Lex, not helping,” I said quickly. “Ask Gabs about getting fired.”
“How do you even know that?” Gabi yelled while Lex turned on her with venom in his eyes.
“Sleep with the boss?” Lex said in a harsh voice.
“Ah! I hate you guys!” Gabi smacked Lex on the arm while I turned back to Blake.
“Ian.” She said my name like she was disappointed in the fact that I was jealous. “I promise it will be fine, okay?”
She reached for my arms.
I didn’t budge.
With a sigh, she whispered in my ear. “You know I could take the day off . . . but I do still have to go to volleyball practice.” She finished the whisper with a slight lick on my ear.
The lick decided it for me.
I was locking her in the room with me.
And I was going to do everything within my power to make sure that when she did meet with David, my name was the only one on her lips.
“We’ll be back!” I yelled loud enough for everyone to hear and then tossed her over my shoulder and carried her up the stairs into her room.