19
Gabe
I turned to Charli and cupped her cheek. She looked so sad, and I just wanted to pull her into my arms. But I wanted her to see my face when I spoke to her.
“Thank you for sharing that with me. I know that must be tough.”
She was always so happy, and I was surprised she was carrying such a heavy burden. I guessed that showed me that one could never assume what someone else was going through.
When she’d first brought up our lack of condom use last night, I couldn’t lie and say my brain didn’t do an immediate freak-out.
My mother had married my dad because she’d gotten pregnant with me, and I’d always kind of blamed myself for my parents getting together. If she hadn’t gotten pregnant, there was a chance they wouldn’t have stayed together, and then she wouldn’t have left my dad all those years later. Maybe he could have lived his life, happily married to someone else instead of pining after a woman who didn’t even have the decency to check on her children or pay him child support. The hardware store kept food on the table, a roof over our heads, and clothes on our backs, but we were far from rich. I knew there were times my dad had struggled to make ends meet.
It was one of the reasons I had stayed at my high-paying job in Boston after college for as many years as I did. I saved every extra penny I could so that when I came back home, I wouldn’t have to worry about how long it would take for my furniture business to take off, and I wouldn’t have to rely on my dad’s store to keep me afloat.
My dad still paid me like any other employee, but I never wanted to have to borrow money from him or have him risk his business for the sake of my own. Besides, I wanted Max to have the store for him and his family. I didn’t need my brother worrying about making enough money to support his family because his older brother wanted to do his own thing.
“I didn’t want to lie to you. When I was young, I used to tell guys I was on the pill because it was easier than saying I couldn’t get pregnant. But it’s a lie even if the outcome is the same.”
I rubbed my thumb over her lower lip. “Is it selfish of me to like the fact that I got to be inside you with nothing between us? Because I feel like a real asshole, and I hate that you have to go through this.” I might not plan to have sex again bare, but it didn’t mean I hadn’t enjoyed the hell out of it last night.
She smiled softly. “It’s not your fault I have PCOS. It’s not something either of us can control, so we might as well enjoy the side effects, right? God knows, I deserve to get something out of my condition.”
I leaned down and kissed her. I had intended it to be a sweet kiss. One of comfort, but it soon turned hot as she slid her tongue into my mouth.
I groaned and turned us so her back was against the side of the garage.
Charli’s free hand slipped under my shirt, and she scraped her nails down my back as she lifted a leg and rubbed her pussy over my erection. I remembered what she’d said about not wearing underwear, and I quickly had to confirm. I pushed two fingers inside her, where she was wet from both her desire and my cum.
And that was the breaking point for me. Knowing she still had a part of me inside her.
But even knowing that, I made sure and pulled a condom from my wallet before we had sex again.
I quickly undid my jeans enough to free my cock before I lifted her up and drove inside her.
She cried out and squeezed her pussy around me. The sound of glass breaking barely permeated my brain, and I ignored it, figuring I could worry about it later. I was too busy making her come.
Charli dug her nails into my skin as I pumped into her. Her breathy moans in my ear were enough to do me in, but I was holding out until I could make her explode again.
The distant crunch of tires on the gravel driveway was enough for me to take a slight notice, but I wasn’t going to stop fucking Charli now.
I had stopped her from coming into my workshop earlier because I didn’t want her to see what I was working on, but sex was more important.
I reached out and opened the door. I did a one-eighty as I moved us from the outside wall to the inside.
I didn’t even have time to close the door when Charli said, “Oh my God, I’m coming.”
“That’s it,” I encouraged her.
With two more thrusts, I pushed her over the edge with me right behind her.
I wanted to hold her in my arms for a little while longer, but we didn’t have time.
I lifted her off my cock and set her down on her feet. “I think my brother’s here.”
She pushed her hair from her face and gave me a panicked look. “What?”
I smiled. “I’m so glad you didn’t notice. It means, I was doing a good job.”
She snorted. “Men and their egos.”
I kissed her cheek as I removed the used rubber and threw it in the garbage in the corner. “Don’t worry. I brought us inside right away.”
She pulled down on her shirt. “What is he going to think about what I’m wearing?”
I leaned back to really inspect her choice of pajamas. They came to mid-thigh. “He’ll think you just got out of bed.” I lifted a shoulder. “It is the truth.”
“I can’t believe you’re being so blasé about this.”
I chuckled. “Blame the orgasm you just gave me. Besides, I can hear his footsteps. There’s nothing we can do about it now.”
“Gabe?” Max said from outside.
Charli and I stepped out.
“Hey,” I said.
“Did you know that you have a broken cup out here?” he said, looking at the ground.
Charli sucked in a breath so loud that I heard it. She put her hands to her mouth. “Oh shit. That’s my fault.”
Max looked at her and frowned. “What happened? Are you okay?” He looked down at her clothes—or lack thereof.
She noticed. “I’m fine. Just half-asleep still, I guess.” She smiled. “I’m going to go get dressed and clean that up.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “I got it.”
“But I’m the one who dropped it.”
“But it’s my fault.” After all, I was the one who had lifted her up and pulled her onto my dick.
“You sure?” she asked.
“Yes.” I nodded toward the house. “Go get dressed.”
Charli hesitated for a second and then walked to her back door.
After she was gone, my brother looked at me and asked, “How is the broken cup your fault?”
“Never mind that, but let me clean it up.” I grabbed the shop vac from the garage and vacuumed up the broken cup. I put the vacuum away and looked at my brother. “Okay, what did you come here for?”
It must be something important, or he would have called me.
“It’s about Dad.”
20
Charli
I walked back outside with a broom and dustpan just as I heard Max tell Gabe he was there because of their father. I was glad that I hadn’t taken the time to shower, resorting to only throwing on some clothes until after Max went home.
I wanted to take care of the broken cup as soon as possible.
“What about Dad?” Gabe asked when I reached the two men.
I looked at the ground and frowned, convinced my eyes were fooling me. “Sorry to interrupt, but what happened to the cup?”
“I already cleaned it up,” Gabe said, not taking his eyes off his brother.
“There was a cancelation at the neurologist’s office. We can get Dad in on Thursday.”
Gabe’s expression turned from worry to relief. “That’s really good news.”
“The only bad thing is, Lauren can’t take him. The kids have something going on at school that day, and I have to be here to run the store. Can you take him?”
Gabe groaned in frustration as his eyes darted to me and back to Max. “I’m supposed to install some built-in shelves that day. And I’ve already had to push back the appointment.”
He looked my way
again, and I almost felt like I was the reason he was late with his order. Which was ridiculous.
“Gabe, this is important.”
He ran his hand down his face and over his beard. “I know.” He clenched his jaw. “What time is the appointment?”
“Twelve thirty.”
“Fuck. It just has to be in the middle of the day. If it were early morning or later in the day, I could probably get both done.” He sighed. “Fine. I’ll call the Millers and tell them I have to reschedule…again.”
Poor Gabe. It was probably killing him to have to do that to his customers. But it would also kill him not to be able to help out his dad.
If only I could help.
Hmm…
“What day did you say the appointment was?”
“Thursday,” Max said.
“I can do it.”
The Hughes brothers both turned and looked at me.
Gabe opened his mouth and closed it.
“It’s not in town. You have to drive over the border into New Hampshire. It’s far. It’ll probably take an hour to get there.”
I laughed but quickly stopped when both men stared at me.
“Right. You guys are from a small town.”
“Whatcha getting at?” Gabe asked.
“I used to drive that far just to go to work. For almost three years. I think I can handle one doctor appointment.”
“I forget sometimes how different metro life is,” Gabe said.
“Didn’t you used to ride the subway when you lived in Boston?” Max asked his brother.
“Yes, I rode the T. But I literally just said I forgot how different metro life is.”
“You lived in Boston?” I asked.
“Hell yeah, he did. Gabe is a Harvard alumnus. He went to school for business. And during the summer, between semesters, he went to some other school for carpentry and cabinet and furniture making. That’s two different programs. Then, when he graduated, he had some fancy job, making a buttload of money.” Max snorted. “I just took online business courses so that I could help run the hardware store one day.”
Gabe was scowling at his brother, and he slowly turned his head to me, where I stood with my mouth open. “Max talks too much.”
“You went to Harvard?”
He shrugged. “It’s not that big of a deal. I did good on my SATs and got a scholarship, so I went.”
Max rolled his eyes behind Gabe’s back.
I covered my mouth to hide my laugh.
Gabe’s brow furrowed. “What’s so funny?” He jerked his head to look over his shoulder.
Max’s eyes went wide as he tried to pretend to be innocent. I doubted Gabe bought it.
And Max probably thought the same because he looked at me. “Could you really take Dad to his doctor appointment?”
“Sure. I don’t have anything else going on that day, except I was going to run some errands. But I can do that before or after I take your dad.”
“You, my dear, are a lifesaver.” Max pulled out his phone and started walking backward to his car. “I’m going to text Lauren right now and let her know. She’s going to be so happy she doesn’t have to worry about the kids that day.”
“I’m glad I can help. Tell Lauren hi.”
“Will do.” He spun around and walked the rest of the way to his vehicle, facing forward.
“Thanks for cleaning up the cup,” I told Gabe. “I’m going to go and take a shower.”
I turned around and headed toward my back door.
“Charli, wait.”
I looked back to see Gabe jogging up behind me.
“Yeah?” I asked. I waited for him to catch up and then continued to my door.
“I think we need to talk about what happened with us last night.”
I reached the back step and looked at Gabe. “Now, you want to bring up what happened last night? Not before you screwed me again this morning?”
I was teasing, but he winced.
“Gabe, it’s a joke.”
He rubbed his beard. “Here’s the thing.” He cringed. “I’m going to sound like a total dick,” he said under his breath.
“What else is new?”
“Charli, now’s not the time for anecdotes. I’m trying to be serious here.”
Whoa. “Okay. Sorry. Please continue.”
“I should have said something last night, and because I didn’t, I apologize.”
I had no idea where he was going with this. “You’re going to have to be more specific.”
He took a deep breath. “I’m not looking for anything serious. Not now and not in the future. I really like what happened between us. A fucking lot. But I don’t want to lead you on. I decided years ago that I was never going to get married or have children, and no matter how great you are in bed, that isn’t going to change. And I think you need to know this if we’re going to sleep together again.”
I studied his face for a second to make sure he was serious, and then I burst out laughing.
His eyes narrowed. “What’s so funny?”
“Oh my God, Gabe, we had sex. That’s it. I am not looking for a marriage proposal. I believe I told you that last night.” I shook my head at how silly his speech was and pushed open my back door. I stepped inside and put my broom and dustpan away.
Gabe followed me in. “You’re not offended?”
I gave him a look. “What kind of women do you date? No, I’m not offended. Where is this coming from anyway?”
I walked out of the kitchen and toward my bathroom with Gabe behind me. He seemed to have done a one-eighty from when he’d told me just a little while ago that we were going to get naked again.
“You’re taking my dad to the doctor. It feels like something a girlfriend would do.”
I spun around so fast that he almost ran into me. “It’s also something a good neighbor would do. It’s something a friend would do. And if it makes you feel any better, I just got out of a long-term relationship. I am not ready to jump into another one.” I patted his chest. “Don’t read so much into everything. Life is short. Enjoy it.” I changed my touch from one of reassurance to pleasure as I brushed my fingers down his six-pack. “Now, if you’d like to step into the shower with me and do some of the life-enjoying, you’re more than welcome to join me. But if you’re going to sit and ruminate on every single thing that has happened between us, you can go do that somewhere else. It’s my day off, and I don’t need a secondhand stress headache.”
I stepped away and pulled off my shirt, letting it drop to the floor.
Two seconds later, Gabe’s joined mine there.
21
Gabe
I stood in the doorway, watching Charli get dressed. I already had my clothes back on. It was pretty easy when all I had were jeans and a flannel shirt that I didn’t even bother buttoning. I also didn’t bother with underwear unless I was working out.
“What are your plans today?” I asked her.
I was still a little skeptical that all she wanted was to have no-strings-attached sex with me. I’d heard that before, but usually, the woman thought if she spent enough time with me, I’d change my mind.
That never happened, and it wouldn’t with Charli either, no matter how good the shower sex just was.
“I thought I’d maybe do some writing today.”
My ears perked up at this. “Oh? How’s that going for you?”
She grabbed a pair of socks from her dresser and walked over to stand by me. “I thought by living here all by myself with no friends, I’d have all this extra time, but stuff keeps coming up. The first day was the showerhead, and then last Wednesday, I came to pay you back at the hardware store.” She playfully narrowed her eyes at me. “Where you were a total dick, by the way.”
I winced. “Sorry. I know it’s cliché, but it really was me and not you.”
“You need to work on handling your guilt better.”
I sighed. “Yeah, I suppose.” Guilt and I never went well together. But the
n again, did anyone do well with guilt? “Keep telling me about your writing.” I didn’t want to talk about me anymore.
“Oh…where’d I leave off? Shower, paying you back,” she said to herself, like she was ticking them off in her head. “Wednesday, after I left the hardware store, I had to get groceries,” she continued. “Last night, I went out; this morning, I got fucked up against a wall and then again in the shower; and this Thursday, I’m taking your dad to the doctor.”
“Ah,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest and leaning back against the doorjamb.
But it sure made me feel better about her claiming she didn’t want anything serious either.
“Ah? Ah what?”
“You’re stalling.”
This was why she’d volunteered to take my dad to his appointment. Not that she was using him. I had a feeling she didn’t even realize what she was doing.
She put her hands on her hips. “How so?”
“You find other things that require your responsibility so that you can avoid writing. Because if you don’t write, then you can’t finish your book, and if you can’t finish your book, then you can’t fail.”
“Did you say you were a psych major at Harvard?”
I snorted. “No. I studied business.”
Charli rolled her eyes and walked away from me. “Duh, Ivy League boy. I know you would never be a psych major.”
I followed her into her makeshift office. It was so desolate. I couldn’t wait to show her what I was doing in my workshop to make it feel more like the real thing.
“I am offended by your assumptions,” I told her.
She looked over at me as she pulled out her chair. “No, you’re not. You were more offended when I suggested that you majored in psychology than when I said you wouldn’t.”
I leaned against the windowsill as she sat down. “What’s your game plan today?”
She opened her laptop and turned it on. “Why are you asking?”
“Because if you tell someone else, that will make you more accountable and more likely to follow through with your plan.”
Sidetracked (The Busy Bean) Page 8
