“Oh, I thought you left,” she mumbled, closing her eyes again.
“I told ya I was going in the other room, doll. Did you fall asleep for fifteen seconds?” I laughed, bending down, gathering her in my arms and lifted her up.
“Whoa, who knew you were hot and strong,” she whispered, resting her head on my shoulder.
“You weigh nothing, doll. I’m pretty sure I could pick two of you up.”
“Hardly, my butt is big and I got pudge.”
“Pudge?” I asked, not knowing what the hell she was talking about. I set her down on the bed, and she fell back, sprawling out on the bed.
She lifted her shirt up and pointed at her stomach. “This, is pudge.” She put her hand on her stomach and giggled it. “Jiggly pudge,” she laughed.
“You’re crazy. Give me a foot.” She held her leg up, and I quickly slid off her shoe and repeated the same with the other foot. “We need to get you out of these clothes. You OK with me undressing you?”
“Whatever, it’s not like it’s something you haven’t seen before,” she said, waving her hand around.
I just shook my head, not wanting to get into a fight with Gwen when she was drunk. “Sit up for one second, doll.” She held her hands up for me to grab, but didn’t make any moves. I grabbed her arms that were limp like wet spaghetti and pulled her up. “Hold on to my neck,” I ordered, lacing her fingers behind my neck.
She held on as I pulled the hem of her t-shirt up and lifted her arms from my neck as I pulled the shirt up. I tossed her shirt behind my back and pushed her back to lay down. I tried my hardest not to focus on her pale orange bra that pushed her breasts up, putting them on display. I popped the button of her jeans and slid the zipper down. Fuck me. Matching panties. I gritted my teeth and tried to focus on the task at hand. Get Gwen undressed and in bed.
“Who would have thought I’d be letting you into my pants this soon,” she giggled, smothering her mouth with her hand. Her eyes danced with laughter, and I had never seen a more beautiful woman in my life. Wasn’t it some shit that she was too far gone to even know what she was saying and doing right now.
She propped herself up on her elbows and watched as I slid her pants down her legs and over her feet. I threw them in the same direction as her shirt and pulled back the covers of the bed. “Slide in,” I ordered, holding my hand out to her.
She grabbed my hand and shimmied up to the top of the bed, and I pulled the covers over her. “You need to take some Tylenol, doll. It’ll help with the headache you’re probably going to have in the morning.
She sat up and took the three pills I shook out of the bottle and shakily grabbed the glass of water. She popped the pills into her mouth and drained the glass of water. After she had handed it back to me, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and fell back into the mound of pillows.
I set the glass of water back down and headed back into the bathroom.
“Do you like me, Gambler?” Gwen called.
Shit, I thought for sure she was going to pass out again. I bent over and unlaced my boots and tried to figure out what to say. “Um, of course, I do.” I did, I just didn’t need her to know how much I liked her. I had been fighting my attraction to her all night. Every time she would laugh, she would run her fingers through her hair, cascading it all down her back making my fingers itch wanting to feel how soft her hair was.
“I wish you had some food in here, I’m starving.” I was coming to find out that when Gwen was drunk, she was very random. I pulled my shirt over my head and kicked off my boots next to the shower.
“I can run and get you something from the kitchen if you’re hungry,” I called, running the water in the sink and splashed my face.
“There he goes being nice again,” she mumbled. “Do you think there’s ice cream?”
“I’m sure there is. Ever since Meg and Cyn have been hanging around, there’s always food. I’m sure one of them bought ice cream.” Gwen didn’t answer, but I left my pants on figuring I was going to head to the kitchen. I grabbed my toothbrush, squirting toothpaste on it and gave my teeth a quick brush. I looked in the mirror and wondered what the hell I was doing. Didn’t I say to myself this morning that I couldn’t be with Gwen, and now I had her in my bed and was going to get her ice cream because she was craving it?
This woman was getting under my skin, and I had no idea how to stop it. All night I had stayed close to her, not wanting to leave her side. Her laugh was contagious and she had the brothers eating out of her hand with her crazy stories from the salon and her smile that lit up the room.
I flipped the light off, not having a clue about what I was going to do about Gwen. The damn woman made me happy and I couldn’t tell you the last time that had happened. “You want me to get ice cream?” I asked, but Gwen didn’t answer.
Her eyes were closed, and she was lightly snoring. Her mouth was hanging open, and she had never looked more adorable. Her hair was fanned out on the pillow and the blanket was pulled down to her waist.
She was right when she had said that her being undressed was something I hadn’t seen before, but with Gwen it was different. She wasn’t some woman in my bed for a couple hours of fun and then be on her way, probably never to be seen again. Gwen made me feel things I never thought I could feel about someone.
When Evie had died, a part of me died with her. She was my only sister and was amazing. There were still days I would forget she was gone and I’d get the urge to call her. She wasn’t supposed to be taken away that soon. She was only twenty-five. She had her whole life in front of her when a semi had plowed into her on that icy morning. She was a bakery manager and she always worked early mornings. She was always out on the road it seemed before the plows could get out there.
She was driving on the highway, probably listening to that shitty pop music she always made me listen to when her life was over in a second. When I had gotten the call, I lost it. King had to drive me to the accident and hold me back when I saw her.
Her beautiful, bright, smiling face was pale and bloodied with pieces of glass scattered around her. Gwen’s smile and laughter reminded me so much of Evie. Maybe that was why I needed to be around her. She brought back a part of me that I had thought died.
Gwen rolled over, turning her back to me and hugged my pillow to her. Mr. T hopped up on the bed and burrowed under the covers with his human.
Enough standing over Gwen, watching her like a stalker. I took my jeans off, throwing them over the back of the chair and turned the light off. Just as I was about to slide under the covers, I remember that Gwen needs the light on. I padded over to the bathroom, flipped the light on and shut the door, leaving a sliver of light shining into the room.
As I slid under the covers, she curled into me, her head resting on my shoulder and she hummed quietly under her breath. She settled, resting her hand on my chest, and I breathed a sigh of relief when she didn’t wake up.
I shut my eyes, willing myself to fall asleep. It didn’t work. All I could think about was Gwen’s warm, soft body pressed against mine and how much I wanted to make her mine and never let anything happen to her.
I was falling for her and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*
Chapter 10
Gwen
I cracked on eye open and it felt like the whole world was spinning around me. What the hell had I done last night? I thought back, trying to remember, and all I could remember was Meg yelling shots all the time.
Oh Lord, shots had done this to me. I closed my eye, hoping that would make the world stop tilting back and forth. I moved my arm and felt my pillow move underneath me. I froze, realizing I wasn’t in bed by myself.
“How bad do you feel?” Gambler rumbled.
“Like death,” I croaked.
“I guess you’ll have that after drinking a bottle of Southern Comfort between the three of you. I’m sure Meg and Marley are feeling the same this mor
ning.”
“I blame Meg,” I groaned.
Gambler laughed and rolled towards me, his arm staying under my head. God dammit, this man even looked good right away in the morning. His hair was ruffled and sticking up, but his gorgeous eyes were shining brightly at me, a grin spread across his lips. “You want me to run and get you coffee?”
I blinked, surprised. Did he just offer to get me coffee? The almighty beverage of the Gods. “Hell yes, three.”
Gambler chuckled, his arm wrapping around my neck and he pulled me close. “How about you start with one and we’ll see how your stomach handles that.” He threw the covers back and rolled out of bed.
I glanced down and saw I was only in my bra and panties. How the hell did that happen? “Holy shit.” I grabbed the covers and pulled them up to my chin. “Where the hell are my clothes?”
“Somewhere on the floor. I was more concerned with getting you into bed, not where your clothes fell.
“We didn’t,” I pointed between Gambler and myself, terrified I had made a terrible decision last night.
Gambler grabbed a black t-shirt out of the dresser and pulled it over his head. “No, doll. All you did was talk, a lot. Scouts honor.”
“I really doubt that you were a cub scout,” I scoffed.
“I plead the fifth,” he turned around and winked at me. “I’ll be back with your coffee. You should probably take some more Tylenol, doll, it’ll help with that freight train that is running through your head right now.” Gambler walked out the door, closing it tight behind him.
OK, so we didn’t have sex. I think. But what the hell did happen last night? I remember having a hell of a time with Marley and Meg and the never ending bottle of Southern Comfort, but that’s it.
At one-point Meg and Marley had tried to do chicken fights on King and Troy’s shoulders, but both had ended up on the floor laughing their asses off when they couldn’t even get on the guy’s shoulders. Gambler had stayed close to my side the whole night, attentive and quiet. I figured he was staying close so I didn’t embarrass myself or him. I’m sure Marley, Meg, and I were quite a sight last night.
Now, I needed to remember how the hell my clothes came off. Mr. T hopped up on the bed, stretching as he walked, his tail wagging rythmacially. “Hello, pretty man,” I cooed as he bumped my hand I held out to him, rubbing against it. “Did you see how my clothes came off, pretty man?” T just purred as I rubbed his neck, ignoring my question.
“I didn’t know how you like it. I drink mine black, so I just made yours that way, too.” Gambler walked through the door, holding both cups in front of him.
“Black’s good.”
He walked over to the side of the bed and held my cup out to me. “Thank god you don’t drink it with all that sissy shit like Meg and Cyn do. I swear there are fifty different kinds of creamer in the fridge.” Gambler curled his lip in disgust and took a sip of coffee. He stared down at me, his eyes scanning me. “You still trying to figure out how your clothes came off?” He smirked.
“I’m hoping I was the one who took them off, but from what I remember, it would have been amazing if I had.”
“You gonna drink that coffee, or wait till it turns cold?”
I had stuck one arm out from the blanket to grab the coffee but was afraid the blanket would fall if I made one wrong move. I know Gambler had seen me last night, but now it was different. I was sober and would remember everything. “Um, of course.” I hesitantly raised my arm, and leaned forward, my chin pressed down on the blanket, praying it wouldn’t fall.
“That’s an interesting way to drink coffee,” he laughed, walking toward the bathroom. He shut the door behind him, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I set my coffee on the bedside table and tossed the covers back and jumped from the bed. I grabbed my suitcase from under the bed and tossed it open, frantically trying to get dressed before Gambler came out of the bathroom.
I grabbed my favorite faded Def Leppard shirt and a pair of black leggings. I pulled them on quickly, thankful the shirt was baggy and covered my ass. I grabbed a hair tie, finger combing my hair and pulled it back. “I see you found some clothes.”
I whirled around at Gambler’s words, my arms over my head, tightening my ponytail. “Um, yeah. I plan to remember how these come off, too.”
“Then I would stay away from Meg and her bottle of Southern Comfort.”
“Truer words have never been spoken,” I moaned as I lowered my arms.
“You got any plans today?”
“None that I know of. I normally do laundry and read on my days off.”
“Well, Meg and Cyn got this crazy fucking idea that they need to go to the pumpkin patch today and wanted me to ask you if you wanted to come with.”
“Are you going to come?” I wanted him to come, but I didn’t.
“I think we were all going to ride out there on our bikes. Make the day of it before Meg and Cyn need to go to work.”
“Isn’t it too cold?”
“Just make sure you put on a coat and you’ll be fine, doll. Riding in the fall is one of the best times to go.” Gambler walked over to the end of the bed where he had kicked his boots off and picked them up and grabbed a pair of socks out of his dresser. “You’ll be behind me so the wind shouldn’t be too bad.”
“OK, I guess that sounds like fun. Are Marley and Troy coming along?” I grabbed a pair of socks out of my bag and pulled my other suitcase out from under the bed that had all my shoes in it. Thankfully I had packed a black pair of boots and had second thoughts on my decision to wear leggings. “I’m gonna change my pants,” I mumbled, walking back over to my other suitcase and pulled out a pair of jeans.
“Whatever you say, doll. I’m gonna grab another cup of coffee before we take off. You want anything to eat?” He stood up, his boots already laced.
I needed to hurry the hell up. “Um, just some toast or something.”
Gambler nodded his head at me and walked out the door. I pulled off my leggings, tossing them towards my open suitcase and pulled my jeans on. I traded my t-shirt for a long sleeve Henley I had packed. I took my hair down from the messy ponytail I had thrown it up and walked into the bathroom.
“Holy fuck,” I moaned when I looked in the mirror. I couldn’t believe that I was actually going to leave the room looking like this. I grabbed my makeup bag off the tank of the toilet and rummaged through it looking for all the necessary tools to make me look presentable.
I wiped off the makeup that was still smudged all over my face and started fresh. I forgoed foundation and moved on to the heavy bags under my eyes. I smeared on concealer praying the make-up gods were on my side and topped it off with powder.
By the time I was done, I had been in the bathroom for twenty minutes and looked like I was ready to join the human world again. I grabbed my jean jacket out of my bag, shaking it out, and threw it on.
I scratched Mr. T behind his ears, checked to make sure his food bowl was full and jetted out the door, down the hall to the main room.
“It’s about time you got your ass out here,” Meg called as she walked out of the kitchen.
“I woke up looking like ass. It’s a miracle how I look now.”
“I doubt you could ever look like ass. Come on. Gambler said you needed to eat, but we all decided to stop at the diner on the way out of town and eat there.” Meg threaded her arm through mine and we walked over to the group that was gathered around the bar.
“Bout time you came out, doll.” Gambler walked over to me, his eyes scanning me up and down. “Although, it was worth every second,” he mumbled. I blushed under his gaze and clasped my hands in front of me.
“Um, thanks,” I mumbled, unsure of what else to say.
“All right, let’s hit it. Meg and Cyn need to be back by three to get to work,” King called and headed to the door, Meg tucked under his arm. I didn’t have a chance to ask her if she was hung over, but it didn’t appear that she was. How the hell did she manage that?
&nbs
p; “Are Marley and Troy coming with us?” I asked, glancing around trying to get a glimpse of them.
“Marley isn't used to how people from Wisconsin drink. She’s nursing one hell of a hangover right now. Her and Troy are staying behind,” Cyn laughed as she walked past, hand in hand with Rigid.
“Oh, that sucks. Although it is true. I don’t know how ya’ll drink so much and still function as a human being the next day.” Gambler grabbed my hand and led me out the door following Cyn and Rigid.
“That’s how we keep warm on cold nights. Well, that and something else,” Rigid laughed, handing a helmet to Cyn. She strapped it on, and I looked over to Meg, who was doing the same thing. Gambler gave me the helmet he always made me wear and I looked at King and Rigid.
“How come ya’ll don’t wear helmets?” I asked as I strapped it on.
“I’ve never worn one. Stupid, I know. I think King and Rigid are the same. The reason you ladies need to wear one is because we need to keep ya’ll safe.” Gambler threw his leg over the bike and climbed on.
“You know how stupid that sounds when you say that, right?” I slid on behind him and wrapped my arms around his middle and held on.
“You’ll get used to it,” Cyn called. “I’ve been arguing with Rigid for months to wear one, but he refuses. I’ll wear him down one day.”
All the men fire up their bikes, Gambler’s bike coming to life under me, and we all headed to the edge of town where the diner was.
I was again amazed at how well Gambler handled the bike, driving it with ease and practice. When we pulled up to the restaurant, my stomach growled in protest just as Gambler killed the bike. His body shook undermine, his laughter ringing out.
“You hungry, doll?” Gambler asked.
“Damn near starved,” I grumbled, sliding off the bike. “Hey, didn’t I ask you to get me ice cream last night?” I asked as I watched Gambler stand up.
“Yeah, and I was almost out the door but you passed out before I could even step foot out the door.”
“Oh, well. That would explain why I’m so hungry.” I pouted, sticking my lip out.
Gambler's Longshot: Devil's Knights Series Page 6
