He pumped into me a few more times, wriggling our hips together before sliding out of me and falling to my side. I stayed on my back as he turned to his side next to me, his hand wrapping around my torso.
"Every time gets better with you, babe," he said, kissing my hair. “You always send me over the fucking edge.”
I smiled, feeling the same way. Even with my ex-boyfriend, I'd never felt that strong sexual connection like I had with Dalton, and my feelings with him weren't just about sex. The little things he did; kissing my hair, moving me away from Ivy and chasing after me against his dad’s wishes made me feel so protected.
I snuggled into his side. “What’s your biggest fear?” I asked, and he looked down at me curiously. “Come on,” I groaned. “I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours.”
His head fell back. “Ending up like my dad,” he answered. “I don’t want to be that man who puts business and power before everything, especially his family. I don’t want to be manipulative and sour. When I get the company, I’m going to change some shit, but I’ve got to ride it out until he’s done.” He bent down and swept my sweaty hair away from my forehead.
“You’re nothing like him,” I said, squeezing his hand.
He crushed his eyelids together, and a pained expression crossed his features. I waited for what was coming next but got nothing. “Your turn.”
I sighed. “Ending up like my mom.” It was strange. Our parents were so different but not what we wanted our future to look like. He drew up an eyebrow. “In regards to relationships, my mom’s track record is terrible. I have no idea who my dad is, and she’s slept with I don’t know how many married men wanting them to save her, be that knight in shining armor.”
"Have you ever tried looking for your dad?”
I shook my head. “No. I’m not going to go looking for someone who doesn’t want to be found. He knows I exist. He knows he has a daughter out there and is choosing to do nothing about it.”
“That’s his loss,” he whispered, trailing his hands down my arm.
“Growing up, my mom always had nice boyfriends, but they were never enough for her, you know? She always had to have the power-hungry, ambitious men who had money. The only problem was, men like that are always married. Kenneth wasn’t the only married man she’s been with,” I confided in him something I’d never told anyone else. Not even Cora. “My mom would insist over and over again that they were going to leave their wives for her and start a family with us, but it would never happen. False hopes and broken promises is all she got. I know I’ll never put myself in that situation, I don’t care who it is.”
His shoulders dropped and his face fell. “Sometimes it’s complicated for men like that. They get stuck in situations they can’t get themselves out of, and they coward up. My uncle is one of the most stand-up guys I know. Sure, it wasn’t cool that he had an affair, but he did the right thing in leaving my aunt. I know for a fact he wouldn’t go through all of that to hurt her in the end. Plus, he brought you to me, so I owe him a lot.” I grinned and he bent down to kiss me. “No one would ever be stupid enough to choose someone over you,” he added, giving me a forced smile, and I knew something wasn’t right. I shut my eyes, praying he’d live up to his words when it came time to pick his family or me.
"I have something to tell you, but no judging," I said, looking back and forth between the two girls sitting to each side of me. It was Sunday afternoon, and I'd just left Dalton's house before heading over to Cora's. We were having our weekly girl-time and laying out by the pool, soaking up the hot sun.
"Girl, you know we'd never judge you," my friend, Daisy, said, brushing her dark hair away from her face and stretching her olive toned legs against her lounge chair. Daisy had moved from Indiana during our senior year when her boyfriend got murdered during a school shooting. She’d been having a hard time dealing with it, so her parents shipped her to live with her aunt, who was also my mom’s boss at the interior design company she worked for. We instantly clicked, and I considered her one of my best friends.
There were times I wished I could move away and start over fresh like she did. No one knew all the shit she'd been through, except our inner circle. If I got out of Atlanta, no one would know about my mom’s scandal or how I’d moved up to upper class because my mom had spread her legs to a married man and talked him into leaving his wife. The only problem was I had no family to run away to; my mom was the only family I had. Like me, she never knew her dad, and my grandmother was a drunk who left her to take care of herself when she found out she was pregnant with me.
Cora clicked her tongue across the roof of her mouth and took a sip of lemonade. "I don't know," she replied, pushing her Chanel sunglasses farther up her nose. "The last time you said something along those lines, you admitted to losing your v-card to a Douglas. Now that you're working with said card-swiper Douglas, I'm afraid this has something to do with him."
I pursed my lips, slouching back against the lounge chair. "I hate how you know me so well," I grumbled.
She grinned, leaning over and kissing my cheek. "We're besties. That's how it's supposed to be. We're supposed to be able to read each other's minds. I know when you're upset, pissed, mad, turned on-"
My hand flew up to stop her words. "Uh, you have no idea when I’m turned on, freak."
Cora shot me a playful grin. "Girl, I've watched you during some of our shows. I so know when you get turned on."
"She's right," Daisy agreed. "Your breathing gets heavy and-"
I tucked my knees into my chest. "Okay, okay. I get it," I shouted, cutting her off and waving my hands in the air. This discussion was charting into unnecessary territories. We always discussed my friends' sex lives, but mine was hardly ever brought up. It was mainly based on the fact that the majority of the times I'd ever had an orgasm was when I’d given them to myself.
"Fine,” Cora groaned. “Someone isn’t in a fun mood today, so give us the scoop or we're going to continue talking about all the weird shit you do when you're turned on," Cora threatened, grinning.
I wiped my hands down my oily, sweaty legs nervously, setting up straight and mentally preparing my confession in my head. "Okay," I drew out. "Dalton and I pretty much hung out all weekend."
"Hung out or hooked up again?" Cora threw back.
I shrunk in my chair and chewed on my lower lip. "Kind of both."
Cora bent over and smacked my arm. "You dirty hooker! I knew there was a reason you weren't texting me our normal hundred texts a day. How the hell did you let that happen?”
My eyes focused on the deep-blue water of the pool ahead of us. "We had some work lunch with his dad, and it was mortifying. His dad seriously went on some wild tangent about how slutty my mom is. I got pissed off, said some choice words and stormed out. Dalton ran after me-“
Daisy’s hands clapped together. “He ran after you? Now that’s romantic,” she said, her voice bubbly.
Cora grabbed a grape from the table beside her and tossed it over my body at Daisy. "No! Not romantic. Dalton's not a prince charming." Daisy caught the grape and popped it into her mouth. The girl had recently found love with her boyfriend, Keegan, so she'd been all butterflies and candy hearts lately. I was happy for them. They’d both been through terrible shit in their lives and were perfect for each other. Plus, Keegan was a hot piece of ass, and Daisy got him to leave Dalton’s crazy-bitch sister, Piper, and settle down with her. That was my girl.
"Anyway," I continued. I wasn't going to listen to them go back and forth on how un-romantic my sexing it up with Dalton was. "We left. Dalton suggested we go back to his place instead of the office."
Cora snorted, rolling her eyes. "Of course he did. He obviously wanted to get his slimy hands in your pretty little panties. Damn, Gabs, I thought you were smarter than that." I knew Cora wasn't trying to give me a hard time. She was just looking out for me. Like Asher, she didn't want to see me get hurt. She knew Dalton's reputation wasn't a pretty one when it came to
relationships, or lack thereof. Plus, she knew how vicious the Douglas family could be when you got in their way. She'd had her fair share of dealing with Piper, who was our age and dated Lane for a week when they were on a break. That was three years ago, and we were still hearing Piper gloat about it, even though Lane didn't touch her evil ass.
I fiddled with the string of my bikini bottoms. "I think we've established that I make stupid decisions." You could call me the queen of bad decision-making. I blamed it on genetics from my mother.
"Okay, I thought you were smarter than that now after you'd given him your almighty v-card drunkenly."
"I just want to point out that he obviously liked what you gave him, since he was coming back for more," Daisy grinned, bringing up a hand and holding it up. "That's my girl."
I slapped my hand against hers, giving her a high-five. "Thanks, girl."
Cora groaned, stretching her legs out. "Did you two have sex again? We need to get to the point so I can have my lecture ready." Her question lingered in the air and her eyes bulged out at my reserve. "Gabrielle Nicole Taylor! You freaking gave him your goodies! You weren't supposed to hand over the goodies again! You were supposed to find a nice, good boyfriend who got along with Lane to give your goodies to!"
I pulled my hair up into a ponytail and snagged the ponytail holder around my wrist to wrap around my thick hair. "I know! The goodies are supposed to be protected and all, but I'm telling you he was pulling out all the give-me-your-goodies cards!" There was no way I would've been able to resist Dalton. There was no way any girl would've been able to resist him when he had his soft hands on her body and was whispering naughty words in her ear with his raspy, sex-filled voice.
“I'm sure she got his goodies, as well," Daisy laughed, grinning. “And from what I’ve heard, they’re pretty damn good.”
"Daisy, don't encourage it," Cora said, frustrated.
"What's so bad about her being with him?" Daisy didn't know much about Dalton, except for the fact that he popped my cherry, so she didn't know about his endless amount of hookups and playing the field. She also didn't know about the inner-Atlanta circle. Even though my stepdad was in the 'inner circle,' I was still considered an outcast to everyone else, especially Dalton's parents. They'd do everything in their power to tear me down if they found out about the two of us.
Cora's face turned serious. "Gabby's already under the crazy misconception that she's cursed. Her and Dalton being together," she shook her head, "terrible idea. They won't work out." She paused and gave me a sympathetic look. "Sorry, babe, just being honest."
"Thanks," I grumbled, forcing a smile. Why did the truth always suck?
She turned her attention back to Daisy. "When they don't work out, Gabby will be even more convinced about this stupid curse shit she's obsessed with. That will result in her not wanting to give another guy a chance, ruining the odds of us having a double wedding together. I want her to be happy, and Dalton Douglas will destroy her."
"Maybe they'll work out." Daisy looked at me and smiled warmly.
"Look, you two, I’m telling you right now there will be no wedding bells ringing in the near future for us. But I think we’re kind of dating slash friends with benefits. Dalton pretty much told me he wouldn't be messing with other girls while we're together, or whatever the hell we are. I believe him. Plus, we work together, so it would be pretty hard for him to hide a relationship from me."
"What about his psychopath family?" Cora grumbled. "Sorry to break it to you, darling, but Piper will not be allowed entry to my wedding."
"Dalton and I aren't going to be getting married," I choked out. As much as I cared for Dalton, I knew we'd never be able to be more than what we had now, some type of friends with benefits thing. "Let me just do the friends-with-benefits thing, okay? I've never done this before."
"Babe, a friend with benefits is a bullshit term. People can never be friends with benefits without establishing some type of feelings for the person. I can't see you giving your body up like that to someone just for a good time. You have feelings for him." My mouth parted, ready to argue, but her words ran over my chance. "You don't need to deny it; I get it. It's hard not to fall for guys with that much charm. I just want you to know I'll be here for you no matter what happens. If he breaks your heart, I'll be there with my best-friend glue gun, fixing you up."
I leaned over and gave her a sideways hug. "That’s why I love you."
"Then I'll be driving my pretty little car up to his house, and I’ll kick in his door to use my best-friend scissors to cut off his weasel cock."
"And that's also why I love you," I laughed.
[My knuckles gripped the weight bar as Leo stood behind and spotted me. "You going to tell me why you were MIA all weekend?" he asked, glaring down at me and looking for answers.
I grunted, pushing the bar up one last time before leveling it down into the stand. "You my babysitter now?" I growled, angling around on the weight bench. I wasn't in the mood for detective Leo's interrogation.
His lips tightened. "I ran into Sheldon this morning getting coffee."
I raised a brow. "Oh, did you?" I already knew what was coming; Sheldon had the biggest fucking mouth. That's why he could never keep a girlfriend, and none of us told him shit at the frat house. He didn't do it intentionally; the poor guy just had no filter and couldn't control what came out of his mouth.
"Sure did, and he mentioned something very interesting."
"And what was that?"
"You were at a concert with some hot chick you worked with," he said, squatting down next to me. "I'm curious on who this hot chick is because the last time I checked, Eva didn't work with you." He lifted the bottom of his old t-shirt and wiped the dripping sweat off his face.
I held my arms out and stretched. "I went to a concert, yeah. Is that okay with you, Dad?" I threw back, swiping the towel covering my water bottle from the floor and wiping my drenched face. This was the last damn conversation I wanted to be having.
"Was it Gabby?" he questioned, his face grim.
My lips pressed tight together. "You’re wasting your breath even asking that." I brought myself up from the hard, leather bench. "And quite frankly, it's none of yours or anyone else's damn business who the hell I'm spending my time with." I navigated around his perspiring body, snatched up my water bottle and dashed up the stairs to the cardio center, hoping he wasn't going to follow me. My brother didn't always finish his workout with cardio like I did, and I was hoping today was one of those days.
His footsteps were loud behind me, but I ignored him; I wasn't in the mood to hear one of his lectures. I'd had an awesome fucking weekend with Gabby, and I wasn't about to let his bullshit ruin my high. "Here's my next question," he called out as my foot hit the top stair and headed to the treadmills. "Why are you such a dumbass?"
I turned around swiftly and walked backwards. "Don't patronize me because I'm not acting like Mommy and Daddy's little puppet like you did, Brother." I halted at the last treadmill at the end of the row and hopped on. Pushing a few buttons, I began jogging while Leo jumped on the one beside me.
"Not cool," he scolded. "I'm just trying to help you. Dad came over last night for dinner and was bitching up a storm about you," he said, his jogging running in sync with mine.
"He's always bitching," I huffed, picking up my pace. Talking about my dad pissed me off, which meant I needed to push myself harder to get rid of all the pent-up frustration that he brought out. I wasn't going to let my dad dictate whom I spent my time with like he did my brother. If I wanted to hang out with Gabby, I was going to hang out with the girl who made me fucking happy.
My brother's speed slowed down. "He knows there's something going on between the two of you. I tried to detour his thoughts away from the idea, but our dad's not stupid." I didn't need Leo to confirm what I already knew. I knew the moment I decided to run after Gabby what the consequences would be; I just wasn't sure how severe yet. "You know he isn't going to allow whate
ver the two of you have going on to continue."
My feet slammed against the rubber, and I smacked a few buttons to increase my slope; running always helped me clear my head. "Dad doesn't control who’s in my bed."
Leo's breathing labored, and he slapped the handle on my machine. "Yet he does control your livelihood. Remember that."
My hands firmly gripped the safety grips, my knuckles turning white. "Fuck me, you're beginning to sound just like him, Wilson Jr." That was my parents’ trick. If you didn't go to the college they selected for you, they'd cut you off. If you didn't marry the person they wanted, they'd cut you off. They always hung money and our inheritance over our heads like a fucking game. Them cutting us off was worse than any spanking or grounding they could've threatened. We were identical reflections of them wrapped up in different skin. We wouldn't know what the hell to do without our money.
"I'm just being a realist and thinking with the right head. Obviously, the only one working on you is the one between your legs."
I grinned. "I can reassure you that both of my heads function extremely well."
"Your head below better find someone else to sink himself into because Uncle Kenneth will kill you. Find another chick, or better yet, screw your fiancée."
"I don't want to find another chick or fuck Eva."
He shook his head, looking down at the ground. "Damn, Dalton. There are plenty of other girls out there."
I grabbed my water bottle, taking a long chug. "Believe me, I've fucking tried."
Leo stopped dead on his treadmill, holding himself upright by the safety handles and breathing hard. His gaze fixed on me. "You have feelings for her, don't you?" he asked, unease lining his features. My eyes averted away from him and focused on the TV ahead of us. "Holy fuck me," he cried out, eyes wide. "You do." He slapped his side. "You had to pick the one person you're not supposed to like to actually have feelings for."
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