A Perfect Ten (Forbidden Men #5)(97)

“Ten?” Gamble waved his hand in front of my face.

I blinked. “Sorry. I was...I was playing catch with Colton. He wanted me to come over.”

“Oh.” Gamble’s shoulders slumped, then his eyebrows lowered. “I didn’t know he was into that. He’s never asked me to play catch with him before.”

“That’s because you still scare the shit out of him.” I shrugged. “Me, he thinks of as some kind of fun older brother.”

“But I am his older brother.”

With a sigh, I patted his shoulder. “Except you got a shit deal and had to be his parent too. He hasn’t had a great history with parents, so...naturally he’s going to be wary of you for a while.”

When Gam’s face filled with pain, I bumped his shoulder again, a little harder this time. “Don’t sweat it, man. He’s already starting to come around. I was telling him about a few of your amazing football highlights earlier while we were tossing the ball around, and he seemed pretty impressed.”

Gam’s lips tipped up, and hope entered his gaze. “Really?”

I snorted. “Fuck, who wouldn’t be? Just give him a little more time. All right? He’ll warm up to you.”

He nodded but had to add, “He took to Aspen almost immediately.”

“Probably because she’s a hell of a lot prettier than you are.”

This time, his mouth gave in to a full smile. “True.”

With a slug to the shoulder, I waved him away. “Now, get back to work, *. Your family is safe and sound inside. You have nothing to worry about.” Except maybe an * best friend who’s completely defiling your little sister behind your back.

Fuck, I was worse than Sander Scotini, wasn’t I?

With a nod, he murmured, “Thanks, man.” Then he turned and trotted off.

I watched him go, feeling like shit all over again. Okay, so I feared losing Caroline more than I feared losing him, but damn...I’d prefer not to lose either of them before this was said and done. Gamble was my best friend. And Caroline was my heart and soul.

But I didn’t see how I could keep them both.





Oren didn’t contact me after Sander’s visit. I expected a text, a call, something that night.

I’m sure there was plenty he wanted to say, like, “What the hell did you ever see in that douche?” Or, “Please, f*ck, tell me I’m better in the sack, or hung lower, than him.”

Anything! But, nope, he went radio silent.

I wasn’t sure what that meant. I wanted to talk to him, was dying to tell him that watching him toy with Sander had been sexy. He’d reminded me of a great lounging lion, or panther, one of those huge jungle cats, the type that didn’t just beat the shit out of its prey, but played with it first, picking it apart limb by limb. I have no idea why I thought that was hot, but I did.

So now, I wanted to know if he was so disgusted by my past choice of boyfriends that he was done with me now, or what. Why wasn’t he freaking talking to me? To go from multiple texts a day to nothing scared the shit out of me.

When he finally texted me fifteen hours after kicking Sander out of my backyard, I was a little too scared to read his message. What if it said something like, We need to talk? I didn’t want to have one of those talks. I wasn’t done with him yet.

But I pulled on my big-girl panties—or at least my college-girl panties—and cracked open one eye to read it that way. When it said, Let’s go out today, the other eye popped open.

“Huh?” Instead of texting back, I dialed his number. “What the heck are you talking about?” I demanded as soon as he answered.

“What do you mean, what am I talking about? It wasn’t a complex question. Do you want to go out or not?”

“What do you mean by go out?”

“Out,” he repeated, sounding stumped. “Like...out. Outside. Out in public. Just...out.”

“But...what...we can’t go out.”

“Why not?”

“B-because!” I sputtered. “What if someone saw us and told Noel? Heck, what if Noel saw us?”

“I swear, Noel is the only person left on earth who doesn’t know about us by now, and I’m beginning to wonder why he doesn’t.”

My mouth fell open. Had he just said what I thought he’d said? “What’re you saying? Do you want to tell him?”

“Well, eventually, yeah.”

“B-b-but do you want to tell him now?”

He sighed before answering. Then he said, “Let’s just say I’m ready to tell him whenever you are.”

Oh my God. My stomach churned with sudden nerves. I pictured Noel jacking Oren in the face and not stopping until my boyfriend landed in the hospital. Fear clutched my throat, and my palms went from hot sweat to cold panic. “So you’re ready to tell him?”

“No,” he said steadily. “I’m only ready whenever you are.”

I shook my head. “That’s not an answer.”

“Well, tough shit, because it’s the only answer I’m giving you.”

“Well, f*ck you. I don’t like being put into the position where I’m the one making this decision.”

“Well, I don’t like this conversation, period. I didn’t call you to fight. I just want to spend the f*cking day with you because I didn’t get to see you all f*cking night. I’m irritable and jealous as hell after meeting that f*cktard you used to date, worrying myself crazy that you’re second-guessing your relationship with me after seeing him again, and I just want to spend the goddamn day with you. Okay?”