by Virna DePaul
And it would only get better once Zoe agreed to be his wife.
She ground herself into him, pushing, needing and wanting him. He leaned down to kiss her, murmuring incomprehensible things against her mouth, exploring her with his tongue and sucking hers right out from between her lips. As he fucked her on the edge of the bed, he cradled her ass, continuing the tradition with his obsession.
Zoe took in his full image—large and muscular, legs apart for leverage, hands cupped under her, tribal shoulder and chest tattoo covering the upper left part of him, gray blue eyes full of desire and something else—adoration. There was something different about him tonight. Maybe getting hurt on the field had opened his eyes, because he looked at her more intensely than he ever had, as if appreciating everything about her.
Gabe pushed his hips further into hers, plunging harder, cradling one hand around her neck and looking deep into her eyes, as if to say, Look at me. I’m the one who loves you. I’m the one who fills you. Her ass was lifting into the air as he drove deep into her pussy, folding her in two in this yoga-reminiscent position. His thumb caressed her clit, playing with it and stroking it so lovingly she didn’t feel the need to add her own fingers into the mix. Gabe knew—he’d learned her body, understood what she wanted, touched her in just the right way with the right amount of pressure.
She could let go. Let him take complete control.
He filled her. Filled her with cock, then filled her with cum as he groaned and emptied himself into her, making her reach her own blinding moment. They found that complete oneness, in both body and mind, that’d always eluded her with anyone else but Gabe. No other man had ever made her feel this whole. No other man had ever made her feel so sexy. No other man had ever rocked her world this much in bed, or out of it. No other man. “I love you, Gabe.” The words slipped from her lips easily, meant to be. They belonged out in the open where he could hear them and she could allow herself to feel them.
He responded by laying her down on her side and curling up with her, kissing her deeply with her face between his big hands, smiling and pressing his forehead against her. He basked in her message. It was good, telling him how she felt. He knew now. He could do whatever he wanted with that information, but she’d needed to tell him.
For a man who’d been hurt tonight, he’d worked hard to please her. She caressed his cheeks and kissed him softly, then as she floated into dreamland with him, she heard his reply as a throaty whisper near her ear. “I love you, too, peach.”
Chapter 20
Early the next morning, Gabe opened his eyes and blinked in the darkness.
Holy fuck, had a small airplane used his back as a landing strip? He had sustained similar hits before but nothing like this. He moved his legs, then his arms, then his neck, checking slowly to make sure every part of his body was still willing to wake up. Sure, he’d been fine last night but that was before fucking his girlfriend and giving his body a chance to rest afterwards. He reached for a bottle on his night stand and shook out another three ibuprofen for the muscle aches. Washing it down with a cup of water from two nights ago, he sat back and watched the strips of dim light filter in through the shades.
Next to him, Zoe slept like an angel, curled up onto her side in fetal position, hugging her pillow. Her feet touched his and he dragged his toes away stealthily so as to not wake her. He didn’t want to wait another day for his big plan. He wanted to go downstairs and get breakfast started for them, make her a Belgian waffle, because Belgian waffles were her favorite and she rarely allowed herself to have them even though she was fit as a fiddle.
He’d give her the ring as they enjoyed breakfast in bed. Granted, it wasn’t showy, but it would be heartfelt, and the truth was that he didn’t want to wait any longer than necessary to make Zoe his. Quietly, he snuck out of bed, feeling the cool morning air coming in from the open windows. He grabbed a throw from the end of the bed and wrapped it around his naked torso.
Where the hell had he left his jeans? Not that he’d wear any while cooking. Hell, if she could await him in the buff last night, then it might be fun to cook in nothing but an apron as well. But the ring box was in his jeans’ pocket, and that was kind of an important part of this whole morning. He felt around on the floor for them, his fingers touching denim but he realized immediately they were Zoe’s jeans. Nervous that she was going to wake up any moment now because she felt his prowling presence, he reached for her phone on her night stand, slid the screen up so he could use the phone flashlight, and turned it on. The light illuminated the scattered clothes along the floor.
Fuck, that ring better not have fallen out of his pocket. It had to be here. Finally, he found his pair of jeans just by the dresser. As he was about the turn the flashlight off, however, a silent text came in on Zoe’s phone.
At 6:11 AM?
TONY: Got the money. Guess you got your rich new boyfriend to…
That was all of the notification that fit inside the locked screen view.
Who the fuck was Tony?
And what the fuck was this about a rich new boyfriend?
Was the guy talking about Gabe? And why was he talking about Gabe and his money?
On one hand, he wanted to put the phone back and pretend like he never saw the text. It wasn’t his phone, and looking at it was an invasion of privacy. He should give her the chance to bring up anything that needed discussing without him being a big fat snoop. But if it was nothing, he’d feel like an idiot bringing it up to her, and she’d know that he’d been looking at her phone anyway. Plus, Zoe wasn’t exactly forthcoming with information. When it came to what made her sad, she was downright secretive. Maybe this guy was harassing her. If so, that was something he definitely needed to know.
In bed, Zoe stirred slightly, shifting positions. He moved to the bathroom, phone still in his shaking hand, where he could look at the text again without her sensing his movements. He hesitated a few more seconds before bringing up the lock screen and typing in Zoe’s pass code: PCHY.
He flipped open the text and was able to read the whole thing:
TONY: Got the money. Guess you got your rich new boyfriend to pay off the back rent like we talked about. And the next month’s too? Score! I assume more to come next month or I’ll start eviction proceedings.
What the hell? Eviction proceedings? Back rent?
Why hadn’t she said anything about this? She’d obviously found the money to pay this Tony recently, and that had to have come from the money she’d made training Gabe. But what about next month? Was she thinking of quitting training now that she and Gabe were together? Had she actually talked to this Tony guy about Gabe being rich and paying her bills for her like the text message implied?
Renee had wanted Gabe for his money too. That, and what he could do to her in bed.
Was that all he was to Zoe? A good fuck and a meal ticket?
Gabe’s nostrils flared, his whole body shaking with controlled rage. Still, his rational mind tried to intervene. Zoe wasn’t like that. She wasn’t.
And you know that based on what, his anger responded? Three months with her? Three months of her keeping secrets from you?
She’d told him so many times that he needed to open up about his feelings, trust people again, let the new teammates into his world.
But those were empty words coming from someone who kept secrets. She’d never trusted Gabe fully so why should he trust her?
Suddenly, Zoe appeared in front of him. He hadn’t heard her get out of bed and come quietly padding along the wooden floor, but there she was with a sleepy grin on her face. “Good morning, you.” She wrapped her arms around his torso, hugging him tight.
He worked hard to control his emotions. Instead of hugging her back, he kept his arms at his sides. “So, are you?” he gritted out, his voice cold and even.
“Am I what?” Her voice was still husky with sleep.
“Are you going to get your rich boyfriend to pay your future rent?”
Sl
owly, Zoe pulled back. Even in the soft light now seeping into the room, he could see the blood draining from her face.
“Are you using me for my money?” he demanded.
“What?!” She cringed, her face twisted into a pained knot. It could’ve been genuine disbelief or really good acting.
“Are you with me because you need money?”
Her mouth hung open. “Well, I…Jesus, Gabe, I work for you because I need money. How am I supposed to answer that?” Was that a yes, or a no? “Why are you even asking this?”
He held up her phone and handed it to her, cursing himself for not reading through all the texts while he still had the chance. There could’ve been more. There could’ve been other men.
She quickly searched her phone and read the latest texts. When she looked up, her expression was accusatory. “You looked through my phone? Really?” Resentment simmered through her voice, a tone he’d never heard her use before. “How did you even…” Her eyes widened. “My pass code.”
“You told me you changed it to PCHY.”
“I told you that to let you know how much I loved you calling me ‘peach’. Not so you could access my messages!”
“No, of course not. Because you wouldn’t want me finding out your secrets, would you? You’ve never mentioned this Tony guy, and you’ve never mentioned getting evicted. Is this about your house or the gym?”
“Why should I tell you anything after you’ve broken my trust?” She backtracked through the room, looking around the floor for her clothes.
“I’ve broken your trust?” The edge of his palm touched his chest as though splitting it in half, and that was how it felt. “I haven’t kept a single fucking thing from you, Zoe.”
“Wow, what an angel! What a saint!” she threw at him sarcastically. “Will you still feel like a saint when I tell you this text was a mistake? That it wasn’t even meant for me? That someone I don’t even know butt-dialed me? You’d look pretty stupid right now.”
“Was it a mistake?”
“No, but you didn’t know that. You haven’t even given me the benefit of the doubt. No chance to even explain. You’ve gone straight from reading it to thinking you know everything behind it.”
“Well, why don’t you explain it to me then?” he said, hands on his hips. “I’m listening now.”
She shook her head. “Too late, Gabe. With the way you’re acting, I don’t want to share anything with you.”
“That’s bullshit, Zoe. You’ve never shared anything with me. Why you’d come home sad sometimes. Why you haven’t taken me to meet your father. Why you were struggling with your rent, and why some shithead named Tony thinks I’m the rich guy that’s going to make everything better for you.”
After getting dressed and twisting her hair into a loose bun, she shoved her phone into her pocket. “I’m getting out of here.”
Her refusal to talk to him even now just seemed to justify all the terrible things he was thinking. How could he be so stupid as to let her into his life, his heart, this way? Hadn’t he learned by now, good things always turned to shit. First his parents, then his career with the Noise, now Zoe. He’d let himself get hooked when he needed nothing more than pure focus on football this season.
To think he’d almost asked her to marry him. Apparently a few months wasn’t enough time to know someone.
She headed to her bedroom and started packing. He almost panicked then, thinking of her exiting his life, forever, but damn it, better now than when he just grew more attached to her. But he wasn’t going to stay and watch her leave him either. Fumbling around in the semi-dark, he got dressed, grabbed his wallet and keys, and headed out of the house, his head and heart on fire.
Chapter 21
She may as well have been shot in the heart, because that’s how it felt.
One moment she was sleeping peacefully, slowly waking to the realization that Gabe had told her he loved her last night and thinking how she might seduce him back into bed. The next he was accusing her of using him.
And the worst part was that he didn’t give her the chance to speak before judging her. He just automatically assumed she’d been using him for money. And then he’d had the nerve to accuse her of keeping secrets from him, which, while fair, hadn’t helped his cause in her mind.
She’d fallen in love with Gabe, yes, but they’d known each other for only three months. And she’d wanted to tell him about her father, again and again. She’d just needed a little time to deal with the issue herself before she shared it with someone else. Taking that time didn’t justify what he’d just done to her.
She picked up a pair of undies that were his favorite and packed it, knowing she’d never look at them the same way again. Or the Bootleggers jersey he’d given her, or the dried sunflowers she’d pressed between the pages of her notebook, flowers he’d brought for her one day when she’d had a bad headache.
Everything she touched reminded her of him.
When everything was packed up she looked around, blinking back tears and refusing to break down. It looked like Gabe had been right to fear things changing for the worse. They’d been happy together, but obviously, it wasn’t mean to be.
Grabbing her bags, she headed out to the car and shoved them inside, then climbed in. There, in the silence of the cold interior, she finally broke down. The tears didn’t just rise into her eyes, she felt her whole body collapse, the sobbing coming from somewhere deep within.
She cried because Gabe wasn’t the man she thought he was. She cried for the loss of what could’ve been. With Gabe, yes, and with her father, a man Gabe would never meet. Her whole body hurt as if she’d been the one at the bottom of last night’s pileup.
When she finally caught her breath, she turned the engine on and started to pull away from the curb. Then she hit the brakes when another car pulled in behind her in the driveway.
It was Murph. She got out of the car and walked toward Zoe’s driver’s side door.
Quickly, Zoe dried her eyes with her long sleeve but there was no clearing up the redness in her eyes or cheeks.
“Hey,” she said through the glass, starting out with a big smile that quickly faded when she saw the dumpster fire that was Zoe’s face.
Zoe forced a smile and lowered the window. “Hi, I was just leaving. Could you…”
“Are you okay? What did my brother do to you?”
The questions alone were enough to make her start sobbing all over again, but she tried to suppress them and ended up nearly exploding from the heart up. She couldn’t speak.
“Oh, my God, Zoe…”
Zoe gasped for breath at the same time Murph was opening the passenger side door and slipping inside. Then Gabe’s sister pulled her into her arms for a hug.
Minutes later, Murph finally pulled away to look at Zoe. “Tell me,” she said.
And Zoe did. She told her everything. About the text. Her financial troubles. Her father. And her fight with Gabe. When she was done, Murph nodded.
“Gabe fucked up.”
“Yes, he did,” Zoe hiccupped.
Murph took Zoe’s hand. “I wanted to say that upfront because I’m not excusing his behavior. But Zoe, Gabe has always had…issues. We both have, I guess. You know our parents died when we were little, right?”
Zoe nodded.
“I don’t know. I guess that’ll fuck with you. You spend the rest of your life hoping that the good things you’ve got going won’t just up and disappear one day. Sometimes, well, you even sabotage your own good situation, before it has the chance to sabotage you.”
Zoe understood what Murph was saying, but it didn’t make what had happened any easier to handle. “He never even gave me the chance to explain. Well, he sort of did but by then, I was so upset I didn’t want to.”
Murph nodded. “I get it, but try to understand where he was coming from. Women have used him for money in the past, and you said yourself he was worried about something happening to mess up the happy he had going on. That
text would look bad to anyone.”
“It would,” Zoe said softly. “But I wasn’t just anyone to Gabe.”
“No. You weren’t. And you aren’t, Zoe. You’re the woman he loves, and he’s hurt you horribly. I’m not saying to forgive him easily, but I’m hoping you’re the kind of woman that can find it in your heart to forgive him eventually. Because he needs you. And you need him.”
“I—”
Zoe’s phone rang, cutting her off, and she glanced at the screen, hoping and fearing it was Gabe all at the same time. It was her father’s memory care facility instead.
“Give me a second, Murph?” As Murph nodded, Zoe answered.
“Miss Reynolds, this is your father’s care facility.”
“Is everything okay?” she asked, her heart beating so hard she could practically hear it.
“Physically, he’s fine, but he’s quite agitated. He’s asking for his kids, you and Pete by name, and he has been for quite some time. Since he’s never done this before—”
“No, no. You were right to call me. I’ll come right over. Thank you.”
She hung up. She wanted to be happy that her father was asking for her, but how could she be when the fact he was agitated probably meant he didn’t understand where he was and why she wasn’t with him. Was he scared? Angry with her?
She turned to Murph. “That was my father’s care home. He’s upset and asking for me and my brother. I need to call Pete and head over there.”
“Of course. I understand. I’ll move my car right away.” She gave Zoe another hug and opened the passenger door, but before she could exit the car, Zoe remembered something and caught her arm.
“You were saying something to me before we went in to see Gabe after he was injured. You said you had to make a confession. What was it?”
Murph shot her a wary glance. “Well, I was going to confess that hiring you was not a chance thing.”
