Chapter 13
CHAPTER 13
GUS
G us stood on the sidelines of the club, keeping to the shadows, watching Brittany with an intensity that would probably make her stalker jealous. He was burning, pissed at her, but mostly pissed at himself. What did he expect? That she was just going to forget he was Robbie’s brother? And even if that wasn’t in the equation, she was a high-profile fashion influencer. What the hell would she want with some grunt like him? The truth was he was fucking kidding himself.
She was on the dance floor now, grooving in a way that he knew was killing her ankle, consuming a number of drinks. Gus was dying to check on her, to make her sit and drink a water and eat some of the shitty appetizers the place had laid out. But she had set her boundary, and he respected that. She wanted a professional relationship only. And Gus suddenly found that whatever Brittany wanted, he would make happen.
Including staying away.
He left a message for Val saying she needed to find Brittany a new guard, that he would switch out with whoever was on another assignment. While Gus hated trusting Brittany’s safety to someone else, he also knew following her around while she flirted with other guys all weekend was going to slowly kill him.
Brittany stumbled a little, and Gus stood up from the wall he was leaning on, trying to get a better look at her through the crowd. He was relieved to see Dev was already there, talking to Britt, helping her stand, but when Dev looked around the room as if searching for help, he was already moving before she saw him and waved him over.
He pushed through the crowd until he reached Dev, who was currently propping up Brittany. And while Devery was probably a strong woman, and Brittany was quite small, Dev was in a medical boot, and Brittany was completely shit-faced.
Dev shouted to him over the music. “I need to get her out of here.”
Brittany turned very, very drunk eyes on him, squinting at his face.
“Gus? That you, bro?”
Ignoring the ‘bro,’ Gus took her from Dev, easily scooping her into his arms, bouncing her a second until he had her balanced.
“I wouldn’t do that too much,” she breathed into his ear. “The last few shots aren’t settling well, ya know.”
She reeked of alcohol, she was pissed at him and had told him to leave her alone, and yet he still couldn’t help but feel relieved she was finally in his arms and he was being allowed to take care of her.
“Gus, you smell sooooo good.”
He grimaced. In another life, drunk Brittany would be adorable. But here, now, with too many people around him and their fight fresh on his mind, he wasn’t loving it.
“Killer?”
“Yeah?”
“Shut up.”
She gasped, but Gus ignored her, turning to Devery.
“Where’s Randall?”
Dev grinned. “Found a hot guy an hour ago and texted me to ‘not wait up.’”
“Are you ready to go?”
She nodded. “I’ve been ready.”
They slowly made their way to the exit, Gus using his shoulders and glare to push people out of the way, Dev following slowly behind him. Brittany was mostly silent, her hand now in his hair, her nails lightly scratching his scalp, and he fought a shiver against the sensation.
The quiet of the night outside was a relief, one that Gus embraced.
“You need a ride,” he asked Dev.
She shook her head. “No, I’m grabbing a rideshare. I’m going to call Min.”
Gus nodded. “Sounds good.”
“I’m going to have to tell her about you.”
“I don’t have a problem with that.”
Dev bit her lip, glancing at Brittany, who was snuggled into Gus and not paying attention.
“She likes you, Gus. Like, really likes you.”
He shook his head, not letting himself get his hopes up.
“She was the one who told me to leave.”
“That’s Brittany. A study in contradictions.”
Gus wasn’t going to let himself imagine it, this picture of his life with Brittany in it that was suddenly being presented to him.
“She wants more, Dev.”
“Gus, she wants you. Up to you what you do about it.”
With a wave, she went over to where the bouncer was standing, starting a conversation as she called a rideshare. Satisfied the bouncer was going to watch out for her, Gus strode toward where he had parked in the lot down the street.
“Gus,” Brittany whispered in his ear.
“Not now, killer. I’m trying to get to the car.”
“Gus, I didn’t mean it.”
“I’m not having a conversation with you when you’re drunk.”
“I didn’t want you to leave. I never want you to leave.”
Gus was pretty familiar with the ramblings of the inebriated. He had picked up his brother from enough bars and heard enough crazy stories to not take her rambling seriously.
He reached his car and managed to open the door, sliding her inside. When he leaned over her to buckle her seat belt, he felt her lean into him and inhale hard.
“You smell. So good.”
“Cool. Warn me if you’re going to barf.”
He shut the door, trying his damnedest to shake her words from his head. By the time he slid into the driver’s seat, he was relieved to see she had fallen asleep, her head back against the window at an awkward angle that would definitely hurt after a good amount of time. Her mouth was hanging open, and it was the most relaxed he had ever seen her.
They were at the condo ten minutes later. Gus easily carried her to the elevator and to his door, unlocking it. He immediately went to the bedroom, gently laying her down, and went about taking off her shoes, checking her ankle. It was a little swollen, but otherwise, not as bad as he had worried. At some point, Brittany had woken up, and now her eyes were locked on him, never looking away as he took off her earrings and necklace, setting them carefully on the nightstand next to a glass of water and a couple of painkillers she would need in the morning.
Done fussing over her, he headed to the door, ready for a shower and an uncomfortable night on the couch.
“Gus?”
He froze.
Brittany moaned. “Gus.”
The way she said his name, that guttural calling out for him, was the sexiest thing he had ever heard in his life.
“Gus, touch me.”
Okay, that was the sexiest thing he had ever heard. He turned around to see she was awake, watching him, her eyes bright and hot with way more focus than he was expecting.
“Brittany, you’re drunk.”
“Not as drunk as you think I am.”
“No.”
Frustrated, she kicked off the comforter he had laid over her, pushing it off her body in possibly the most awkward way he had ever seen, something that would’ve made him laugh if she didn’t then completely focus on him.
“It would be sooooo much better than last time.”
Gus’s eyebrows shot up.
“Last time?”
“You weren’t here, and I had to do it myself.”
Gus should leave. He should leave immediately. Brittany was drunk and likely wouldn’t remember this. But first he had to know.
“Brittany, are you saying you touched yourself, here, in my bed?”
She bit her lip, and all the air left Gus’s lungs.
“I pretended you were the one touching me. That it was your hand in my panties, making me wet. So wet, Gus.”
She was looking at him with such anticipation, but there was no way he was going to cross that line when she was drunk. They could talk about this when she was sober. So he shook his head and walked to the door.
“You’re drunk, Brittany. Sleep this off and then we can talk.”
She flopped down onto the bed, defeated, staring up at the ceiling.
“You don’t want me.”
Christ, this woman was going to kill him.
“It’s not that. You know it’s not that.”
“Then what is it?”
And suddenly Gus couldn’t take it anymore. His control cracked, snapped under the pressure of this woman and how much he wanted her, and he abruptly had to tell her.
“Brittany, I’ve spent this weekend dying to feel you down there, wanting you spread open so I can look at you, study you, memorize every perfect part of you.”
She didn’t move on the bed, and Gus wondered for a moment if she had passed out, but then she whispered as loud as a scream.
“And then what would you do?”
“Once I had at least two fingers in you, could feel you clench around me, could hear your moans, I’d need to taste you.”
She squirmed at that, her body reacting viscerally to his words, and Gus needed to get the fuck out of there. He turned, ready to shut the door behind him.
“Gus?”
He froze, his hand on the knob, and turned back to see she had sat up, her skirt hiking up toward her hips and showing off those long, perfect legs, the lace of her dress doing nothing to hide her curves. Her eyes pierced him in his soul.
“Next time it better be your hand making me come.”
“Next time, it will be.”
And then he left her, knowing he was going to be awake the rest of the night with a hard-on he couldn’t relieve. But fuck if he’d ever be able to forget tonight.