Collide (Collide #1)(92)

"No. You're f*cking with your own head by thinking she doesn't love him. Listen to yourself, bro. Take a step back and honestly listen to what you're saying here."

Although he didn't speak, Gavin's eyes hardened like shards of glass splintering away from a broken mirror.

"Look, man, I'm just being honest. It's a bad situation. You know it, and I know it."

"I'm not denying that it's a bad situation!" he tossed his hands up, the words cracking like thunder. "Do I look like some kind of *? A snake is a snake, no matter how many times it sheds its skin! He's no f*cking good for her!"

Blowing out a breath, Trevor walked over to the door. He turned around and looked back to Gavin. "You're like a brother to me, dude, but I think you're trying to vilify Dillon for your own personal needs right now. And, to tell you the truth, you're putting me in a bad spot. I can already see this shit's gonna get crazy, and I don't want any part of it."

Sitting back down, Gavin looked at him from across the room, defeat playing in his eyes. "What the f*ck am I supposed to do?"

"You need to forget about her. The whole f*cking thing's a mistake. And, more importantly, you have to remember that Dillon's your friend." Trevor exhaled heavily and shook his head before walking out the door. "I'll call you later, bro."

The advice was so simple. Just forget her. The words couldn't be closer to the truth. This might have been a huge mistake, but the man at the receiving end couldn't see that. He outright refused to. Emily would never be a mistake to him, no matter how many people he hurt in the process - including himself. Everything he and Emily could be was real for Gavin. When he said that he felt she was supposed to be with him, it wasn't just a heated statement. It wasn't just an inclination. From the first time their eyes met, he felt it down to the lowest depths of his soul, right down to the bottom of his core. She had been made for him in every possible way. Even though she was the very definition of off-limits, his mind and heart screamed to throw it all to the wind and let the whole f*cking thing burn to the ground. Therefore, into the sea of uncertainty, he would plunge - trying to make her his - and he feared neither friend nor foe could stop him. He just prayed the woman that saturated his thoughts felt the same.

Emily awoke feeling as if she had swallowed a handful of nails. Her throat was burning raw as reckless images of the night before played throughout her mind. The thoughts, scattering around like marbles, only made her temples blossom into a full-blown headache. Guilt for what she had done to Dillon and their relationship burned almost as hot as her insatiable arousal for Gavin.

With thin and shaky breathing, she lifted her head and peered around the room. Dillon wasn't in the bed. She let out a sigh of relief when her eyes glanced over to the nightstand. Along with a note explaining that he would be back soon, he also left two aspirin and a glass of water that she couldn't consume quickly enough. The cool liquid and the magic little pills slid down into her stomach, eventually offering up some relief, but not nearly as much as she needed.

Groaning, she stared miserably at the drab light filtering in through the window shades. She whipped the blankets back over her head. She wanted the image of Gavin on top of her, kissing, touching, and tasting her to blur, melt, and recede away banished to a place she could never find again.

Nice try...

However, the more she rehashed the undeniable pleasure he produced in their all-too-short exchange, the more she craved him. His dominate yet soft kiss, his hard but gentle caresses, the way his fingers - oh God, the way his fingers tunneled deep inside her - had merely teased her senses with the sweet taste of what he was truly capable of. Not even the worst of hangovers could keep her body from yearning for more. The smell of his cologne still tangled in her hair did nothing to help ebb any of the thoughts that had her loins nearly teetering on the edge of orgasm right there alone in the bed.