On the Rocks (Last Call #1)(72)
Sasha may be full of herself, and she may be catty and scheming, but one thing I trust her on, for some odd reason, is that this shot for Hunter is far more important than I originally gave it credit. I think my own selfishness in not wanting him to leave, prohibited me from truly recognizing how special this opportunity is for him. As such, I need to do whatever it takes to give him that shot, because he won’t take it for himself if I’m involved.
It’s time for me to step up and make sure that Hunter is taken care of.
“All right,” I tell her as I step back and start walking around my truck to get in. “I know what I can do, but it will have to wait until after you and John leave town. I’ll talk to him tonight.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Don’t worry about it, but you can help out. The rest of the day until you leave, I want you to try to avoid Hunter. Don’t engage him in talk, stay out of his way, and be aloof if you can. Got it?”
She nods her head at me and softly says, “Sure.”
Sasha and I stare at each other for a moment over the hood of my truck. I wait for a look of triumph to enter her eyes, but it never comes. She just gives me a sad smile, tips her head at me, and heads back toward Hunter’s house.
Opening the door to my truck, I watch her as she walks up the stairs and disappears inside. I stare at Hunter’s cottage for a few more moments, sadness welling up inside of me that my times locked inside of there with him are coming to an end.
I try not to be bitter, but I can’t help it. It seeps in.
I finally got what I’ve wanted my whole life, only finding out that I don’t have the power to keep it. Moreover, I have the power to push it away.
The only thing I can do… the only way I can soothe the ache that has already started in my chest, is to remember that Hunter is getting what he needs and deserves and, God willing, maybe our time will come back around one day.
After opening my fridge and grabbing a beer, I check my watch for like the tenth time in the past hour and wonder where the hell Gabby is. I haven’t seen her since that unbelievably sweet moment this morning when she came over to bring donuts and snuggle with me for just a bit. Of course, I wanted to do more than just snuggle but I have a dick between my legs, so sue me.
Still… it was a side of Gabby that I very much liked seeing. The woman who used to be the girl that crushed on me, who is now very much the woman that sees this as way more than just a good time in bed. I’m not sure when I became this reflective, mushy kind of guy, but I’ll certainly blame Gabby for that.
I think today may be the first time since we’ve been together that I haven’t seen her for such a long period of time. She wasn’t at Last Call today, her crew saying she was off running errands while they worked on staining the outdoor area. I’ve tried calling her a few times, but just get her voice mail. For some reason, that just doesn’t sit right with me.
I distracted myself with packing John and Sasha off to the Raleigh airport. I hated to see John go. Sasha, not so much. While she was on good behavior for most of the visit, it was still just awkward. Even more awkward today for some reason, as she would barely look me in the eye. If I asked her a direct question, she would mumble a response while staring at the floor. So very weird, so I’m glad she’s gone.
Wandering into the living room, I twist the cap off my beer and take a healthy pull. For not the first time in the last few weeks, I wonder what it would be like if Gabby moved in here with me. It was something I had thought about a lot, especially when John and Sasha were here. Mostly because their presence meant that I couldn’t have much alone time with Gabby, and it made me think of all the things we could do together once they were gone.
Yeah, I thought of all the ways and places I could f*ck her in this house, but mostly, I thought of stuff that would completely have my man card revoked if anyone knew about it. I thought it would be only fair that if she cooked dinner, I would do the dishes. And I wondered if we would fight over the TV at night, knowing that if a football game were on, I would win that argument. I tried to figure out if I had enough counter space in my bathroom to hold all of a girl’s necessities, and I smiled to myself thinking that I would get to wake up every morning to her beautiful face.
Fuck, I’m not sure what I am turning into, but I’m not fighting it. No, I’m surrendering to it.
The minute I made the absolute decision to stay here, I made the decision in my mind that Gabby was the only one for me, and that there was no sense in slowing down where she was concerned. While I don’t believe the last five years without her were wasted, because let’s face it, I’ve had a pretty amazing career, I don’t want to waste another minute.
A knock at my door causes my adrenaline to spike, because I immediately know it’s Gabby, although for the life of me, I can’t figure why she doesn’t just walk in. She has a key.
Setting my beer on the coffee table, I hop the back of the couch and open the door with almost giddy excitement, man card be damned.
There she stands… golden-kissed skin, hazel eyes, and chocolate hair, framing the most beautiful face I’ve ever beheld.
“Hey baby,” I murmur as I snag her by the hips and pull her into to me. She steps forward, caught off guard, her hands coming up to my biceps. I bend down to touch my mouth to hers, but her head turns to the side and I end up grazing her cheekbone.