“You did not. Nobody expected it to happen.”
“I saw it coming. I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was about to happen, but I knew.”
“Holy freakin’ shit! Would one of you please tell me what the hell happened!” Meg gripped my arm, anxiously waiting.
It was a definite dousey what happened. Paige could say it till she was blue in the face that she knew, but I doubt she did. Even Matt’s own mom didn’t know. “Matt was gay.”
“What!?!? You dated a gay guy for six years! Wait, you said after five years you found out. You stayed with him even when you knew he was gay?”
“She sure did. Matt was too much of a chicken to come out of the closet. He begged and pleaded with Gwen to stay with him.”
“Wait, hold the fucking gay train up a minute here. Did you have sex with him before all this came out?” Meg turned to me, her eyes bulging out of her head.
“Um, yeah.”
“So how the hell did he have sex with you? Was he like bi or something? How the hell did he get hard?” Meg lifted her pinkie finger and wiggled it.
“I found out he had a good imagination,” I winced, closing my eyes. Ugh, telling people about my sham of a relationship was not the shining moment of my life I wanted to talk about.
Hi, my name is Gwen, and I was so blind that I couldn’t see that the man I was sleeping with every night was secretly picturing The Rock every time we had sex. Nope, not what I want people to know.
“Can we please stop talking about this? I was a fool and an idiot and trust me, I learned from it.”
Paige sat down next to me and put her arm around my shoulder. “Nobody thinks you’re a fool, hun. We all think Matt was an ass for lying to you for so long.”
“Hell yeah, how the hell were you supposed to know he preferred salami to tuna?”
Paige and I burst out laughing, tears streaming down our faces.
“I thought you girls were unpacking?” I looked up and saw Gambler and King walk through the door.
“We were, but then we had to take a trip down memory lane about Gw-.” I elbowed Paige to shut her up.
“We were just talking and Meg made a joke,” I said, as Paige glared at me while she rubbed her side. I did not need Gambler knowing about my six-year mistake.
Imagine thinking you’ve found the man of your dreams, at fifteen no less, and then you decide to surprise him by showing up at a party and find him making out with a guy. Talk about a shock. Then I was an even bigger fool for staying with him for another year. We were both shocked when I walked in that room on him. Matt swore that was the first time he had kissed another guy. He insisted that he had too much to drink and one thing led to another. I could only imagine what would have happened if I hadn’t walked in when I did.
He still called me a couple times of year to check up on me. I know he felt guilty for doing what he did to me and that was his way to make himself feel better. I always answered the phone when he called, but I never called him.
“What was the joke?” Gambler asked, sitting down on the couch.
Paige, Meg and I looked back and forth, scrambling for a joke.
“Uh, well, you know…” Paige trailed off, her hands held out in front of her.
“And then it, um, you know…” I wasn’t much better at thinking on the spot.
“Pig fell in the mud!” Meg yelled. We all looked at her like she was crazy and her face turned bright red. “It was a dirty joke,” she said, shrugging her shoulders.
Paige snorted and burst out laughing while King and Gambler rolled their eyes. “I feel like this is the whole drunk Marley and the coffee pot in the bathroom again. When am I going to learn that I can’t leave you alone for that long?” King walked over to her and held his hand out. She grabbed on and he pulled her up and wrapped his arms around her. “What am I going to do with you?” he whispered. Meg wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered something in his ear. I could only imagine what came out of Meg’s mouth.
“Watch this,” Gambler said, nudging me with his foot and pointed to King and Meg. “Five, four, three, two, one,” he mouthed.
“Well, it’s time to get the fuck out of here,” King boomed, grabbing Meg’s hand and pulling her to the door.
“But I didn’t help unpack anything,” Meg laughed.
“You can come back tomorrow if I’m done with you by then.”
“Oh, well, bye girls!” Meg waved as King pushed her out the door, waved to Gambler and slammed the door shut behind him.
“How the hell did you know that was going to happen?” I asked, standing up.
“Cause I heard what she was whispering to him.”
“What did she say?” I mean, I could take a guess at what she said, but I wanted to know what Gambler heard. It probably had something to do with salami and tuna if I knew Meg.
“I’ll show you when we get back to our room.” Gambler reached forward, snagging my hand and pulled me into his lap.
I slapped his hand away as he traveled up my leg and laughed. “No, none of that right now. I need to help Paige. Our only other help just left, so now it’s all on us.”
“Um, I’m gonna order pizza,” Paige mumbled, walking into the kitchen.
“Now you just embarrassed my sister,” I scolded, hitting him in the chest.
Gambler grabbed my hand and pressed a kiss to my palm. “It’s not my fault I can’t keep my hands off you.” He buried his face in my hair and rubbed my back.
I leaned into him, missing his touch. It was crazy how much I missed him when he had been within shouting distance of me. “I think I’m going crazy, Gambler.”
“Hmm, how so, doll?”
“I hate when you’re not touching me.”
“Then I guess I’ll have to do a better job of always being by you.”
“You do know that is completely unrealistic, right?” I giggled, as he rolled us onto the couch, his body covering me.
“I already told you I’m going to lock you in my room and keep you naked. I don’t think me touching you all the time is out of line.” He leaned down, his lips brushing mine.
“You do realize we are on my sister’s couch and she is fifteen feet away?”
“Does that mean you don’t like this?” He nipped my earlobe and chills ran through me. “Or this?” He trailed kisses down my neck, and I arched my back, pressing into him, begging for more. “Then I guess I better stop.” He pulled away from me, but I grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back.
“Just one more kiss,” I whispered.
“There’s always time for one more kiss,” he whispered.
“OK, I’ve stayed out for as long as I can,” Paige said, walking back into the room, her hand covering her eyes. “Please put all clothes on and get off my sister.”
Gambler grunted and pulled away from me. He sat on the end of the couch and ran his fingers through his hair. “Sorry, Paige,” he mumbled.
I sat up, a bit dazed, “Um, did you order the pizza?” I pulled my shirt down that I hadn’t even realized Gambler had pulled up and swung my feet off the couch and sat up.
“Yeah, it should be here in half an hour. I figure if we keep working, we’ll be done in no time and you shouldn’t have to come back tomorrow.”
By the time the pizza arrived, Paige had all her cows unpacked, Gambler was working on putting all the boxes in the rooms they belonged, and I was aimlessly unpacking the kitchen, still needing the man who had almost taken me on my sister’s couch.
Gambler was wearing me down, making me rethink everything I thought I knew about him. Gambler was turning into the man I always wanted. I just hoped it stayed that way.
*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*
Chapter 23
Gambler
“Leo just pulled up. Get your ass out here,” King barked into the phone.
“I’ll be right there.” I hung the phone up and tossed it on the bedside table. I looked down at Gwen, who was sprawled out
on top of me, quietly snoring.
She had spent all day at her sister’s yesterday, leaving Marley to take care of the shop. Turtle had stayed with Gwen while I helped King and Demon get everything ready for Leo’s sister Fayth and nephew coming today.
The past couple days had been busy and it seemed the only time we spent together was when we were sleeping. It was only seven thirty, and I already needed to leave her.
I slipped out from under her, careful not to wake her up, and laid her head on my pillow. She moaned in her sleep but grabbed the pillow and wrapped her arms around it. I didn’t know what I did to get her in my bed, but I was going to do everything I could to keep her there.
After I had my clothes and boots on, I slipped back over to the bed and pressed a kiss to the side of her head and brushed her hair from her face. She looked like an angel when she slept, peaceful and carefree. I kissed her one last time, half hoping she would wake up, but didn’t.
“It’s about fucking time you haul your ass out of that room,” Hammer called when I walked into the main room.
“Fuck off. You wouldn’t want to leave your room either if you had what I do.” I grabbed an empty cup and filled it with steaming coffee.
“Ha! You were the only one who had a chance with her. Lucky fucker,” Hammer mumbled walking over to the bar. He grabbed a plate and piled it high with waffles, eggs, and bacon.
“Who the hell cooked?” My stomach growled as I saw Slider, Demon, and Gravel shoveling food into their mouths.
“Meg. She woke up, made breakfast and now she’s back in bed,” King explained walking into the kitchen with his empty plate.
“And I can tell you right now she is not a morning person. As soon as she walked out of her room this morning she threatened to stab me if I talked to her. Freaking crazy,” Slider said as he picked up his coffee cup and walked over to the coffee pot.
“You might not want to talk smack about the chick who feeds you ninety percent of the time,” Gravel laughed.
“Eh, not making fun, just giving out a warning.” Slider shrugged his shoulders and took a sip of his coffee.
I walked over to the food and mounded my plate full, sat down at the table and tucked in to eat. “I thought Leo was here?” I asked, my mouth full, looking around.
“He should be here in half an hour. I remember how I was when Meg and I hooked up. I figured you would need the extra time to say goodbye.”
“She was still sleeping. She’s been working hard and then helping her sister getting settled in, I think she’s been running on empty.”
“You didn’t tell her you were leaving?” King asked.
I shook my head no and forked in a load of eggs into my mouth. “She knew what I had going on today. She said she was just going to run to the salon with Marley to take care of a couple of appointments, and then she was just going to head back here and relax. I’m good.”
King just shook his head and grinned. “If that’s what you think, brother.”
I don’t know what the big deal was. I had let Marley know where I would be today, she seemed fine with it. I glanced at the clock seeing it was a quarter to eight. It probably wouldn’t hurt to wake Gwen quick to say I was headed out.
“Yo! Leo is here,” Turtle said, sticking his head into the door. Shit, there went telling Gwen I was leaving.
“Let’s go. First stop is a couple of offices we found for him. Leo setting up an office in town could be a good thing.” King set his cup down and headed out the door.
We all followed, Hammer piling up all our dishes and carrying them to the sink.
I glanced down the hall, thinking I could quick sneak down to our room, but if she woke up, I knew it wasn’t going to be a quick kiss and then be gone. She was going to want me to stay, and I wouldn’t want to leave.
I felt my pocket, making sure I had my phone and planned on calling her in a little bit when I knew she would be awake. That would have to do.
*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*
Gwen
I woke up and I knew he wasn’t in bed. I cracked one eye open and rolled over to look at the bathroom and saw the door open, Gambler not in there. I glanced at the clock and saw it was nine o’clock. Shit! I needed to be at the salon in fifteen minutes. I whipped the covers back and jumped out of bed.
After a quick brush of my hair and teeth, I swiped on some eyeshadow and I was rummaging through my bag trying to find something to wear.
“Hey, you ready to go?” Marley stuck her head into my room, a smile plastered on her face. Someone apparently didn’t oversleep like I did.
“Yeah, I just need to throw some clothes on,” I mumbled. I grabbed a vintage Betty Boop long sleeve tee and a pair of jeans and dashed back into the bathroom.
“The guys left pretty early this morning,” Marley called through the door.
Well, at least, Marley knew what time the men left. I didn’t even remember Gambler leaving the bed. Who knows if he even said goodbye. Yesterday at Paige’s had worn me out. Although we finally had all her stuff put away, so it was definitely worth it. She was here to stay, and I couldn’t be happier. “What time did they leave?” I pulled my shirt over my head and fluffed my hair. I needed a shower but didn’t have time. I grabbed a stray bandana from the bottom of my bag and tied it up in my hair. “This is as good as it’s going to get today,” I said to the mirror and headed back to my suitcase to find shoes.
“Um, I think it was over an hour ago.”
I opened my shoe suitcase and saw it was empty. What the hell? I glanced at the floor and saw ninety percent of my shoes were scattered around. Oh shit. When the hell did I get so messy? Normally I was so neat and orderly it drove people crazy. If I didn’t know any better, it looked like Paige was staying here.
I spied my black Mary Jane’s sticking out from under the bed, grabbed them and slid them on my feet. After I had got done at the salon, I was going to have to clean up. “OK, I’m ready. I just need a cup of coffee for the road and then we can hit it. Are we taking Troy’s truck?” I asked as we walked down the hall.
“Yeah, he hates my car. Plus, I love his truck. It’s a win, win,” she laughed.
I grabbed a travel cup, filled it to the brim and snapped the lid on.
We headed out to the truck that Troy had idled at the door and climbed in. I rubbed my arms as I waited for Marley to get in and figured I should have grabbed a coat. We were having an unreasonably warm winter for Wisconsin, but it was still a bit chilly in the morning. I glanced at the clock on the dash and knew I didn’t have time to run back in. Oh well, it looked like I would just have to turn the heat up a bit.
“How long is this going to take?” Troy asked as we headed out of the driveway.
“Probably two hours. I think we have six girls we need to do, although they all want pretty basic updos.” I flipped the visor down and checked my face. I should have taken more time with my makeup. I always liked to go to work dressed up because my appearance represented what I was capable of, but I just didn’t have the time this morning. “You don’t like spending time with Marley when she’s at work?”
“It’s not that I don’t like spending time with Marley, it’s just that I never thought I would spend so much fucking time inside a salon. I come home smelling like hair dye and shampoo.”
Marley reached over and patted his cheek. “Oh, my poor Troy. Does all this girl time bother you? Should I bring a football, baseball and some Penthouses the next time?”
“Yeah, just what I want to do, hold my balls, read porn and watch you cut hair. My life is complete.” Troy rolled his eyes and grabbed Marley’s hand. “It’s a damn good thing I love you.” He pressed a kiss to the back of her palm and held her hand in his lap. Marley leaned over and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
“I love you, too,” she mumbled.
I looked out the window and rested my head against the glass. Son of a bitch, I missed Gambler. It had only been a couple of hours since he left to go take ca
re of club business, and I felt like a clingy bitch because I was upset he didn’t tell me he was leaving. Shit.
We pulled up in front of the shop as I scolded myself for being so dependent. I vowed to myself when Matt and I broke up that I would never rely on a man so much again. Now here I was moping around, pining after a guy again.
“Oh crap, they’re early.”
I glanced at the front of the shop and saw a group of woman crowded around the door, looking through the glass, none of them looking happy. I pushed my sunglasses up my nose and realized this was not going to be a good morning.
I was a sad sack pining over Gambler and now I had a feeling I was about to deal with Bridezilla. This day could be over any time now.
*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*
Chapter 24
Gambler
“Man, this is the fourth fucking office building we’ve looked at. You think he’s ever going to pick one?” Hammer sat next to me in one of the shop’s trucks, eating a banana. Don’t ask me where the hell he got a banana from.
“Well, seeing as this is the last available building in Rockton, this one is going to be it or nothing.”
“We’ve been at this shit for four hours and we still have to help move his sister in. We’re not gonna be done till fucking dinner time and I’m fucking starving.” Hammer chomped down on his banana, chewing with his mouth open. I swear he had ten brain cells and five of them were slowly dimming.
“First off, chew with your fucking mouth shut.” I reached over and smacked him in the back of the head. “Secondly, this shit better not take that long. I forgot to plug my phone in last night and the motherfucker died before we even made it to the first office.”
“You can use mine if you want.” Hammer patted his left pocket and his eyes grew big. He patted his right pocket. “Shit, I must have left it back at the clubhouse.”
I shook my head and ran my fingers through my hair. Son of a bitch. I didn’t know if Gwen was going to be pissed or understand why I hadn’t called her all day. “No worries, brother. I just wanted to check in with Gwen.”
Gambler's Longshot: Devil's Knights Series Page 13
