CHAPTER 2
Kiss Me
Hunter
Once I said the words, there was no taking them back.
Hell, I wouldn’t even if I could.
Tonight was about finally making a move on my dream girl and that’s what I intended to do. Despite my methods being a bit unorthodox, I hoped she didn’t shoot me down.
Gabriela was frozen, a deer caught in headlights look on her face. Until she finally sucked in a hissing breath through her teeth, breaking out of her motionless state. “Pardon me?”
“You heard me. Let’s put on a show for him.”
She shook her head. “This is ridiculous.” And chuckled nervously with an airy tone. “Tom won’t care if I’m making out with another guy when he ended it with me.”
“Trust me, he will.” Tom was the kind of dude who didn’t like it when someone touched his possessions. Even the old ones he discarded.
Fuck, I was still wrapping my mind around the fact that she’d had a ‘casual arrangement’ with him—a purely physical one.
The burn of jealousy sizzled under my skin and coursed through my veins like lava as I imagined them together. His hands running over her skin. Her hands diving into his hair. Their bodies colliding. Over and over and over again.
Generally speaking, I got along with everyone on the football team and I took my responsibility as quarterback seriously—making plays and trying to be a good leader.
However, Tom was the exception. I hated the degrading way he viewed women.
He had the obnoxious habit of discussing his girlfriends in the most classless manner.
I usually tuned out his voice during locker room talk because it grated on my nerves.
Now I also hated the motherfucker because he’d had a piece of Gabriela when he wasn’t even worthy of breathing the same air as her.
She deserved so much better than him.
God as my witness, if she gave me the chance, I’d show her what better entailed.
Gabriela placed a hand on her hip, eyeing me up and down like I had a hidden agenda.
I almost smirked. She had no idea about the extent of my desperation. Could you blame me, though? After more than a year of wanting her, desperate times called for desperate measures.
“What’s in it for you?” she asked.
I get to feel the taste of your lips on mine after eons of longing.
“I can’t stand Tom. I have a personal bone to pick with him.” Now that I know he’s hurt you. “And I figured if we kiss in front of him, it’ll be like killing two birds with one stone. You get your revenge and I get to piss him off.”
Thankfully, Gabriela didn’t ask what ‘bone’ I had to pick with him. Instead, she appeared to simmer over my words while I held my breath.
It took a lot of bravado for me to follow her out, to step out of my shell, to converse with her, and to ask for a kiss. If she said no, I didn’t know what I’d do with myself.
Something in my expression convinced Gabriela as she suddenly nodded. “Okay. Let’s do this. I want to get back at the asshole.”
I ignored the excitement—because she said yes—and the slight twinge—because she only wanted to kiss me for his sake—travelling through my chest. A year of yearning turned me into a pathetic beggar who ached for crumbs of Gabriela.
Stepping ahead of me, Gabriela offered her hand. “Ready?”
My heart started racing embarrassingly fast as I zeroed in on her open palm.
Fairer than mine and with gentle lines that made me wish I knew the art of palmistry so I could see what the future held for us.
And if there was any possibility that I could weave myself like a stitch forevermore in the tapestry of her destiny.
Sliding my fingers against hers, I grasped her hand.
Electricity crackled at the touch.
We both jerked but didn’t let go of each other.
“Ready,” I said, my voice inexplicably hoarse.
“If you grip my hand any harder, I may lose blood circulation,” she teased.
I winced and loosened my hold a wee bit. “Sorry.”
She started walking, guiding me away from the terrace and back into the party.
I followed Gabriela Regina Bellafiore blindly like a wretched devotee living to please her every whim. The smile she gave me made her resemble a wicked witch getting her way with her lowly disciple. And like a fool, I would let her lead me anywhere she desired, including oblivion.
“Are you hanging in there?”
My gaze bounced around our surroundings. “Yeah.”
“You don’t like big crowds, huh?” She cut through a sea of bodies and ushered us onto the dance floor. Tendrils of drugs and alcohol ribboned the atmosphere like luring lovers enticing you to partake in salacious pursuits reserved for darker hours.
“How do you know that?” I asked when we reached the middle of the dance floor.
The music was louder than ever and the thumping bass mirrored my heart’s drumming beat.
I had to lean down to hear Gabriela speak and she had to rise on her tippytoes to be heard.
“Whenever I see you,” she enunciated loudly, “you’re always standing in the corner of a room.
You never party with any of your friends. I’m guessing you’re more introverted?”
I blinked, stunned. The only thing I registered was that she noticed me. Multiple times. It made me think that maybe this—me and her—wasn’t so far-fetched. Maybe there was hope for more.
When I didn’t reply to her in a timely manner, she prompted, “Hunter?”
I cleared my throat. “You’re right. I don’t really like crowded spaces. Sometimes I get anxious. I’m more of a homebody, if I’m being honest.”
Which was ironic since I was crushing on a girl who was basically a social butterfly and the complete opposite of me.
Gabriela’s face gentled. “Do you want to abort this mission?”
“No,” I said a little too hastily, causing Gabriela to jolt, before I softened my tone and added, “I mean, I’m fine. Let’s do this.”
She was here and I wasn’t alone. Therefore, my nerves were more at ease.
Gabriela smiled. “You’ll tell me if this gets too much for you?”
I liked that she cared about me, even if it was in this small capacity. “As long as you do the same.”
“Deal.” Gabriela tilted her head back as she slowly dragged her hands over my torso, over my shoulders, and over my neck until they braided at my nape. I shivered, starved for her touch. “Now dance with me, Hunter.”
There weren’t enough words to encompass the feelings running haywire through me. Wonderment. Shock. Exhilaration. Everything in between. My insides sparked like the First of July.
Gabriela soaked in my silence, taking it for something else. “Getting cold feet, pretty boy?”
The compliment had my heart nearly bursting out of its cage like a bird in a cuckoo clock. “You think I’m pretty?”
“Please, you know you’re good-looking.” She rolled her eyes playfully. “How does it feel to be one of God’s favourites?”
The fact that my dream girl was calling me good-looking? I was a goner. “Great, actually. Thanks for asking.”
She threw her head back on a girlish chuckle. I beamed at the sweet sound. Gabriela was like a ray of sunshine. Bright and vibrant. Like a shot of espresso. Warm and awakening. And like the most beautiful flower in the Garden of Eden. Magnificent and timeless.
“You’re cheeky,” she said. “And kind of adorable.”
I couldn’t remember the last time I smiled this much. “Right back at you.”
She started swaying her hips to the music and my hands found her waist as we rocked to the provocative beat.
Her fingers delved into my hair slowly, tipping my face down, and I nearly groaned at the sensation of her nails grazing my scalp in a way that could only be described as divine.
I pulled her closer into me until barely an inch separated our bodies.
“What have you been drinking tonight?” she asked.
The world around us blurred. All I could see and feel was her. “Why?”
“I don’t kiss boys who drink beer. Don’t like the taste of it.”
“One whiskey and Coke. That’s all I drank.
” My palms skidded up her sides and my thumbs rubbed against the skin of her ribs, visible from the little cutouts in her dress.
It was Gabriela’s turn to shiver and I loved that I elicited that reaction from her.
“Though I’ll never touch a drop of beer again if it ups my chances of getting kissed by you, sweetheart. ”
A look of half disbelief, half pleasure flashed over her face, like my boldness charmed her. I meant every word. I’d do anything to have her mouth against mine.
“Hm.” She licked her bottom lip. “Didn’t realize you were so eager to kiss me.”
Baby, you have no idea. “Can’t help it. You’re beautiful.”
She grinned. “Damn, aren’t you a charmer?”
The tiny gem gleaming on her top left canine took me aback. I found it incredibly sexy. “I aim to please.”
Gabriela ran her thumb over my lips suggestively. I nearly moaned from the featherlight touch. “I can see that, pretty boy.”
We simply watched each other without exchanging any more words, dancing to the song and letting our eyes do the talking.
Her fragrance vined around my frame, intoxicating me with its addictive scent. Her blue eyes held me hostage, rendering me speechless. And her scarlet red lips hiked up in a kittenish smile, making me wonder what they would feel like against my mouth.
Gabriela enchanted me, just like the first time I’d laid eyes on her.
“Don’t look now,” she whispered, mouth hovering near mine. “But he’s watching.”
Slight disappointment caused my shoulders to droop. Of course this moment wasn’t about us. I’d temporarily forgotten that I gave her free rein to use me. But glee quickly squashed my disappointment when I remembered that I was about to kiss Gabriela.
After waiting a few seconds, I slid a glance to my right. Lo and behold, Tom lurked next to us. Despite dancing with another girl, his eyes were on Gabriela. He was frowning, probably miffed that she’d moved on to another man within days of him dumping her.
I hid my smirk against her jaw, gliding my lips along her skin. “He doesn’t look too happy.”
“No.” Her exhale was my inhale. “But he can go fuck himself.”