AUTHORS POV
” My husband and I used to play hockey as kids. He was so terrible at it.” Sydney cupped her mouth and giggled outrageously.
Barely half an hour after the station waiter had served the drinks, Sydney and Sofia were already high. Sofia was more composed than Sydney who had been ranting a lot.
Sofia snorted and raised a finger opposingly. ” My ex-boyfriend loved sports and I hated it because I sucked at it.”
She faced Gil, who was staring at her attentively, ” Every time we were together he would, he would bring up boring football. At times he didn’t want to have s*x because he didn’t want to miss a football match.”
Sydney drawled with sad eyes. ” That’s so mean.”
” Tell me about it, he was a sports-loving douchebag a**hat.” She chuckled fakely and continued. ” I was a bigger a**hat for loving him. I mean what girl keeps on loving a guy that keeps on cheating on her with football? If football was a person, he’d prefer to f**k it.”
Sofia’s face dropped, and she reached out to collect her seventh glass of alcohol, but Gil stopped her.
His deep voice said, ” You’ve had enough to drink. I want you to be conscious.”
Conscious? Sofia swallowed, her eyes flickered to his lips and then back at his eyes.
She stuttered in a raspy voice, ” Co.. conscious for what?”
Gabriel noticed what Gil was heading at and intervened with a smile, ” For karaoke. I mean, isn’t that why we are here?”
Excitement flashed in Sydney’s eyes. ” Yes, yes. Gabriel, you’ll sing!”
” No, I will. I and Blake will sing together.” Sofia said hesitantly with a blush. She looked at Gil with big hypnotic eyes that made heat rise in his pants.
Gil stood and stretched a hand to her, ” I don’t sing as angelic as Gabriel does but we’ll work it out.” His voice was laced with ulterior motives.
Sofia ingenuously held his hand and rose to her feet. She didn’t know how much she would last on the stage with him but she hoped it wasn’t long.
Sydney watched dreamingly as they walked to the stage. ” They look good together.”
As if. Gabriel scoffed inwardly. Gil was good at first impressions; that’s why it was so easy for him to have a one-night stand with every new girl he’d come across.
Gil never slept with a girl more than once. When they’d want to have something other than s! x with him, he would callously remind them of the definition of a one-night stand.
Gabriel focused his attention on Sydney as she watched with a smile Gil and Sofia singing on the stage. She looked incredibly hot in that dress, when he’d seen her looking around the bar for them, he was struck by her beauty. He thought she looked like a s**y teenager or maybe a hot college girl.
He pondered on how Gavin could leave Sydney for Avery. Maybe Avery had fed him with some elixir because he made a very senseless decision.
Well, that decision was made to Gabriel’s impish delight. He would take her, fix her and please her in such a way she wouldn’t have a single thought of Gavin.
Sydney turned to Gabriel catching his stare. ” You and I will go next.”
Gabriel’s alluring eyes didn’t peel from hers when he revised, ” I thought you said you didn’t want to sing?”
” Er, that was sober me talking. Drunk me has a more captivating voice.” She winked at him, making him laugh.
She looked like she hadn’t been bedded for a while.
Sydney crossed her legs and leaned into the chair, staring at him as she rephrased her words. ” Those men wouldn’t be able to keep their pe**s in their pants when I sing.”
Gabriel chose to play along, ” You want them to do that?”
She laughed and waved dismissively. ” No, that would be horrendous. Plus, it was a hyperbole, don’t make me imagine it.”
She squeezed her face in disgust, and Gabriel laughed, knowing she was imagining it.
She burned down and took another glass of alcohol. Her brows raised pointedly to Gabriel when she noticed he hadn’t drunk a single drop of alcohol.
” You haven’t had a drink.”
” I don’t drink alcohol.”
” Does your wife have anything to do with it?”
Gabriel looked at her, poker-faced. She always loved bringing his wife into their conversation and he had no interest in answering any questions relating to her.
Things happened, she was gone, he grieved and now he has gotten over it. He didn’t find it endearing to be reminded about the past. About his mistakes. And making more potential mistakes.
Sydney noticed he wasn’t going to say anything and figured he was angry at her.
She puckered her lips and said childishly, ” I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you upset. I think your wife was clueless; you aren’t too much, Gabriel. If there’s anyone who’s the definition of too much, that’s Gavin, but you’re not. You are just right; you are okay the way you are, Gabriel.”
” She knew me Sydney, you don’t.”
” I’ve known you for some time, and you don’t seem too much, well, except the time you fed me that mustard sandwich. That was disgusting!” She stuck out her tongue with a grimace and Gabriel couldn’t stop himself from laughing.
Her face turned rigid when she realized she was straying. ” My point is, don’t be upset about what she said to Gabriel. You are not too much, you are just right like chocolate chips on-”
She paused when she felt lava rising in her throat. Her face paled and she patted her chest. ” I think I’m going to be sick.”
Gabriel’s eyes widened and he quickly sprang out of his seat and went to her, holding her up. ” Calm down, hold it in for a few seconds.”
She nodded obligingly. Gabriel threw her over his shoulder and raced to the washroom. Fortunately, no one was there.
When he placed her on the ground, she raced to the toilet and disgorged all the beef casserole she had eaten at Theresa’s.
Gabriel ran his hand through her hair soothingly as she vomited.
” Don’t let me drink so much ever again.”
Gabriel nodded, ” Understood.”
When she was done, he took her to the vanity and helped pour water over her face. She panted exaggeratedly and held her stomach painfully.
Gabriel’s eyes were filled with concern as he watched her restlessly curl in pain. Natasha had warned him about her health, so why the hell did he allow her to drink so much?!
He cursed himself silently and inquired. ” How much does it hurt?”
Sydney looked up at Gabriel to meet his concerned look. She withheld herself from laughing. She only vomited; why did he look so concerned like she was going to die?
She wanted to toy with him.
She winced and clutched her stomach harder, ” A lot. It’s excruciatingly painful.”
” Shit! I shouldn’t have let you drink. What if your illness escalates? Sydney, let’s leave, I’ll take you to the hospital.”
Sydney tried to hold herself but she couldn’t help but laugh. She leaned into him and hit his chest playfully as she laughed.
Gabriel’s brows narrowed in confusion as he stared at her till he realized she was pulling his legs. ” So, you aren’t dying of pain?”
” No, I just had a lot of beef casserole earlier.” She chuckled.
He sighed and watched her as she laughed. She was barely an inch from him making heat radiate throughout his body. Her laughter was starting to annoy him.
Shut up, would she, or maybe he should shut her up himself? Maybe he could. Maybe he will. She was just a reach away. If he saw the desire in her eyes too, he would give her the chance to pull away this time.
And there it was. The coveted desire. She had stopped laughing and her eyes were locked in his hypnotizing ones.
Her chest was aching as she cracked a smile and said in a low voice. ” You have a crush on me, don’t you?”
Is that what she calls it?
” No, I don’t have a crush on you.”
Her voice went even lower. ” Wow, you are brutally honest.”
Silence.
Sydney’s heart jumped at every sound of a thunderclap, but she couldn’t peel her eyes off the man standing in front of her. He wasn’t her lover or her husband or Gavin but why should she care? He had beckoning eyes and a magnetic charm that drew her from the first time she saw him.
He was always there when she needed help and she hadn’t been more in need than now. Every part of her body ached to be touched and she was tired of controlling it.
She opened her mouth to speak but Gabriel jumped in quickly.
” I think I should take you home, it’s very late.” Gabriel swallowed and put some distance between them much to her disposal.
” We can stay a little longer.” Her voice was pleading.
There was a marathon going on in Gabriel’s head. He couldn’t have her right here and now rather than letting her go off to her home, where Gavin will surely be. If he leads by his hormones, he could lose her. She’d ignore him and avoid him when she got to her right senses.
That was too much to risk.
He avoided eye contact and said succinctly, ” Lock the door, don’t let anyone in. I’ll go get Blake and your friend.”
He left before she could reply. Gabriel released a very long breath before heading into the club. Expecting to see Gil and Sofia at the stage, they weren’t there.
Neither were they at the table. They weren’t in the club.
” Shit! He wouldn’t dare.” Gabriel took out his phone and called Gil.
At the last ring, Gil answered the call.
Gabriel could hear the sounds of an engine rumbling and his cheeks flared knowingly. ” Where are you, Gil?”
” He’s under the sky with me!” Sofia chuckled.
” She’s high. I took your bike, Gabriel; the chick wanted to ride on it.”
Gabriel rubbed his temples.
” Gi- Blake please don’t sleep with her. For once, try to control your hormones.”
” What if she asked for it? I can’t deny her of her f**king rights.”
Gabriel rolled his eyes. ” She’s drunk, she can say anything she doesn’t mean.”
” You and I saw the way she looked at me when she was sober. Her eyes were screaming for me to f**k her. Why don’t you have fun with Sydney over there and leave me to give this damsel a night of her life? Eh?”
” Gilbert-”
” Oh shit my phone is about to run out of battery. Goodbye, Gabriel.”
” Bastard,” Gabriel mumbled and slid the phone into his pocket.
There was no reasoning to Gil. When he has an arousal, his conscience automatically gets swept under the carpet.
Gabriel stayed in the bar for a good ten minutes when he was sure the tension in him had mitigated, he returned to the washroom.
He didn’t say a word to Sydney when he grabbed her hand and took her out of the building. They were drenched in rain before they reached Gabriel’s Lamborghini.
Sydney looked at him in confusion as he opened the door for her to get in. ” You have a car?”
” No, it’s Blake’s, he took my bike. Get in, you are… getting wet.” Gabriel stuttered at the last two words when he realized her dress was stamped on her body making her body shape lucid.
Sydney got into the car, and he released another long breath before getting into the driver’s chair.
As he put the key in the ignition, Sydney spoke. ” Uh… Where’s Sofia?”
” She’s with Blake, don’t worry she’s safe.” He hoped Gil wasn’t going to f**k her to death. Sofia looked too feeble to handle Gil’s dominance.
The car was uncomfortably silent as Gabriel drove. Sydney’s momentarily gaze at Gabriel pushed him closer to the edge. Maybe he should have put her in a cab instead of bearing this torture.
Sydney held the hem of her dress tightly and looked at him with her eyes not fully open.
She opened her mouth to speak but stopped herself. She shook her head, dismissing her nervousness, and went on to ask. ” I know this is a very perverted question, but when, um… When last did you have s*x?”
Breath in.
Gabriel’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. He breathed out abnormally and finally gave her a reply.
” Six… Six or seven years ago.” He breathed.
Sydney looked ahead with wide eyes. Six years! How the hell did he hold himself? Maybe he was lying. Just a month and some days, she was dying of lust and he abstained for six or seven years?!
That only strengthened her lust for him. If he wasn’t going to make a move, she may.
Gabriel noticed a police checkpoint ahead and glanced at Sydney to see she didn’t have her seatbelt on.
” Put on your seatbelt, there’s a checkpoint,” Gabriel informed.
He looked back at her when she didn’t answer him.
” Wear your seatbelt Sydney.” He repeated but once again, she ignored him.
He reversed the car and parked where the cops couldn’t see them.
Gabriel sighed and looked at her as she stared at him with sparkles in her eyes.
” I won’t let you regret it tomorrow,” Gabriel said knowingly.
Sydney feigned confusion. ” Regret what?”
“Never mind.” He leaned to her, his shoulder blade brushing her stiff nipples as he reached to put on the seatbelt for her.
Sydney gasped in pleasure, making Gabriel’s body begin to burn with heat. He fiddled as he tried to buckle the seatbelt.
When it finally clicked in, he wanted to pull back, but Sydney grabbed him by his collar, drawing him closer to her. She bit her lips when she felt his boner on her.
He wanted it, too, so why doesn’t he just make a move?
Sydney swallowed sinfully slowly and her eyes met Gabriel’s that were completely black now.
In a pleading tone, she commanded, ” Screw me.”