then sputtered, “You’re sick.”
“Make me well?” I was only half joking. I thought she’d laugh.
Instead, her face froze.
“Gabs?”
“You took care of me,” she whispered, as if she was upset over the fact.
“Huh?”
“When I was sick.”
“I distinctly remember that I had selfish reasons. I was truly terrified you were turning into a zombie, and I wanted to have dibs on getting a Presidential Medal of Freedom for stopping a worldwide pandemic.”
“Right,” she mumbled, then waved into the air. “I’ll see you later, Lex.”
I frowned. “Gabs, wait.”
Her footsteps slowed, but she didn’t turn around. “For what, Lex?” she asked in a small, tight voice. “What do you want from me?”
It was the perfect question.
I had the right answer.
I just didn’t know how to get the words on my tongue from my mouth out into the universe. So I let her walk away.
Each step she took up the stairs felt like a choking sensation around my neck, as if she’d been my only source of air and I’d shut her off, shut her down.
“Shit.” I tried to get back into my show, but it was just people moving around on the screen, and the girl I wanted—the only one I wanted—was upstairs, probably confused as hell because of my hot-and-cold tendencies.
“Damn it.” I jumped to my feet and took the stairs two at a time as I went to her room. “Gabs?” I knocked twice. “Open up.”
Nothing.
“Gabs!” I let out a groan. “Please, it’s important.”
“How important?” came her voice from directly behind me.
I turned on my heel, then fell back against her closed door, my ass kissing the doorknob as I took in her dripping wet form.
“My shower wasn’t working, so I used yours and made sure to get all my girly parts all over the wall. So if you don’t own bleach . . .”
“I like girly parts,” I said as I slowly walked into her personal space, or my space, considering she was in my bedroom.
Wrong thing to say. Her shoulders sagged. “Lex, I think I speak for the entire female population when I say, yes, we know.” She tried sidestepping me.
I blocked her way, pressing my hands against the door frame that led out into the hall.
“Why?” It was quiet, a desperate prayer as she glanced up at me from beneath those dark eyelashes. I’d always been an eye person, loved the way they revealed so much about a person, and I was an idiot for not noticing who she was four years ago.
And look how history continued to repeat itself.
“I’m an idiot.” It felt good saying it out loud.
Gabs reached up and touched my forehead, then whispered, “Either the zombies got you or you’re on drugs.”
I grabbed her hand and pinned it at her side, then with my free hand flung her towel to the floor.
She didn’t flinch.
Her breasts were perfect, her waist just made for a man’s hands—my hands. But it wasn’t her body that was doing the trick, it was her eyes, the trusting, knowing eyes that drew me in slowly and then all at once. I had no choice but to fall into the essence that was Gabi.
Trembling, I reached for her face and tugged it toward me, covering her mouth with mine—sealing our fate.
I silenced her gasp, lifting her into the air as our tongues battled one another for dominance. The girl just wouldn’t quit—and I didn’t want it any other way.
The energy between us exploded as she grasped my shoulders, digging her fingertips into my muscle like she was bracing herself for battle.
With a grunt, I collided with the side of the door, nearly taking it off its hinges.
Gabi was everywhere.
Naked in my arms, squirming, her scent in my mouth, surrounding me. I couldn’t kiss her hard enough as I fought to regain control of the situation, to gain the upper hand I saw slipping away as her body rocked into mine.
Her hips drove against me.
“Damn,” I breathed against her mouth, half expecting her to head-butt me and walk off. I had no idea the violence, the hatred, between us would end up sparking a flame that exploded wherever we touched.
She slid down me slowly, and my cock strained against my jeans as the pressure of her body teased me.
Once her bare feet touched the floor, she pushed me back, giving me the idea she needed space.
Hell, she wasn’t the only one.
What the hell were we doing?
“I hate you,” she finally said, breaking the silence.
I smirked. “The feeling is entirely