The Grumpy Roommate Gamble (Heroes of Huckleberry Creek #1)

11. Gabe

ELEVEN

GABE

When I’d bought my sofa, I’d had only two requirements: that it be leather and big enough for me to stretch out and nap. The unintended side effect of that decision was a couch that turned out to be big enough for two—as long as I kept my arm hooked around Felicity’s waist to anchor her to me so she didn’t topple off backward. Considering that meant all her luscious curves were pressed up against me, I decided it was the smartest decision I’d ever made. Even if my dick had been straining behind my fly for the better part of the last two hours.

What a difference a day made.

I hadn’t planned to act on this attraction. I’d fully intended to stick to the roommates-only policy. But she’d looked so disappointed at the idea that the night had been ruined that I hadn’t been able to resist pulling her back out into the rain to make a different, better memory. She’d already had too much disappointment in her life. And then she’d blinked up at me, raindrops clinging to those mile-long lashes, her pretty lips all rosy and curved in a smile that said she was charmed, and I simply hadn’t been able to help myself. The moment my lips had touched hers, I was fucking lost. Every good and noble intention washed away in a tide of need for this woman and all her sweetness.

If she’d backed off or hesitated at all, I liked to think I’d have been able to let her go. But she hadn’t backed off, hadn’t made excuses. And she’d stopped me from making any either. We’d ordered takeout and started with dessert first, which had led to more making out on this very sofa. Because according to some karmic balance sheet somewhere, I’d done something good in my life and was being richly rewarded.

Thank fuck.

We’d effectively spent the whole weekend here, talking and laughing, kissing and cuddling. I’d had no idea how much I’d love cuddling with her. Not only because it meant I got to put my hands on the delicious flare of her hips and those thick thighs and that perfect ass, but because she sated a need for simple human contact I hadn’t even known I had. I’d been alone for a long time. I preferred it that way. But she’d twined herself into my life so throughly, I was having a hard time imagining what it would look like when things went back to normal. Thanks to the state of her house, that wouldn’t be especially soon, and I intended to enjoy the ride, however far it went, however long it lasted.

Felicity pillowed her head on my arm, her hands pressed to my chest, thumbs stroking the cotton of my T-shirt in an absent but incredibly arousing way as she spoke in low tones. “I don’t have a lot of memories of my mom. The ones I do have are hazy and happy. Playing in the dirt with her, planting flowers. Drinking tea in the kitchen. She left when I was about seven.”

“Left? Just like that?”

One shoulder lifted in a shrug. “If my parents fought, they did it away from me. And Dad never talked about it.”

I tried to imagine anyone being able to leave a child like that and failed. “You must’ve been devastated. ”

“Not as much as you might think. She was a free spirit. I think she stayed as long as she could in our normal, domestic little life. And when she had to go, she went. I missed her, of course. Every few years I’ll hear from her, but I long ago stopped expecting anything from her. Dad, though. Him I adored, and he went out of his way to make sure I didn’t really feel the major loss of not having her around. We had fun together. Two peas in a pod. Now, when I lost him, that was absolutely devastating.”

Grief welled in those big green eyes, and I instinctively tightened my hold on her, stroking my fingers along the swatch of bare skin on her back just below the edge of her sweatshirt.

“We had so little time to prepare. He went in for a routine checkup and came out with cancer. He only lasted six months.”

“That’s awful.”

“Yeah. But I did get to say goodbye, at least.”

I hummed a noncommittal noise. She was opening the door for me to say something about losing my folks, but I wasn’t ready to talk about that. When I didn’t say anything else, she kept talking.

“He was so worried that no one was going to be around to take of me, so I set out to prove I could take care of myself. That’s what I’ve been doing ever since.”

“That had to be really hard.” I’d been largely on my own, but I’d always had my grandmother.

“Yeah. I took the money from his life insurance policy, which was honestly about the only thing he could leave me, and used it to open Bloomsday. That first couple of years was lean. But then it took off, and I finally found my groove. It’s been good. I mean, I’m not a rich woman, but I have everything I need.” Her gaze dropped to my chin. “I have to admit that I’ve been lonely.” Those pretty eyes lifted back to mine, and I noted that there was a thin rim of gold around the edges. “That’s part of why it’s been nice being here with you. ”

The heart I liked to pretend not to have turned over in my chest, exposing its tender underbelly. I swallowed at the sudden thickness in my throat. “Same.”

When she only waited, quiet, patient, I forced myself to say something as a quid pro quo for the things she’d shared with me. “My parents—I wasn’t close to them the way you were close to your dad. I mean, we were fine. We weren’t especially distant or dysfunctional. They were just kind of self-involved in their own stuff. I hadn’t been planned, and while they always saw to my basic needs, they were really their own self-contained unit, and I was… an afterthought.”

Felicity frowned, wiggling closer in a way that had more blood draining out of my skull. “That’s terrible. No child should be made to feel unimportant.”

What were we talking about? I was having a hard time thinking… Oh, right. My parents.

The semi-permanent erection wilted a bit.

“When they died, I came here to live with Nana. She was the one who really raised me. Taught me how to behave. Showed me love and discipline and boundaries. She showed me what it meant to matter.”

“Dorothy is wonderful.”

“I fucking adore her.”

Felicity resumed tracing idle patterns on my chest. “You know, I remember the first time I saw you.”

“Yeah?” I expected her to say something about that first day in Spanish class.

“Yeah. It was in Pie Hard, right after you got here, I guess. You were with Dorothy.”

“She and Lola have always been thick as thieves.”

“True. You were wearing jeans and black Converse and this slouchy gray t-shirt with some band I’d never heard of.”

I arched a brow. “You remember what I was wearing? ”

Her lips curved. “You made an impression.”

“So did you. Not that day but that whole rest of the year, I was aware of you sitting two seats ahead of me to the right. Even before the weather warmed up, you started wearing those little tank tops and cardigans that drove me insane.”

She went brows up at that. “Tank tops and cardigans do it for you?”

I slid my hand lower, to the top of her tempting backside. “Honey, basically you breathing does it for me. Always did.”

Color bloomed across her cheeks, and she ducked her head a little, hiding a pleased smile. “Then why didn’t you ever do something about it? Ask me out or… something?”

I stroked the hair back from her face. “Because I was supremely fucked up back then, and I didn’t want my darkness to cloud over your sunshine.”

That was maybe more honest than I’d meant to be, but it was the truth.

For several long moments, she studied me. Then her mouth curved into another of those sunny smiles. “Well, better late than never.”

“If I had asked you out back then, would you have said yes?”

“So fast I probably would have embarrassed myself. I had a huge crush on you.”

Wasn’t that a stroke to my ego? “That’s damned flattering because I don’t think I was any sort of prize.”

“You weren’t the one looking.” With that, she shoved at my shoulder, nudging me over to my back.

I went willingly, and she untangled our legs to slide one over my hips, straddling me. It settled her core directly over the erection I’d been hoping she hadn’t noticed, with only the thin barrier of her yoga pants and underwear between us. My dick went instantly hard again, reporting for duty.

Felicity’s smile turned a little feline as she ran her fingers through my hair, which felt fucking incredible. She bent forward, stopping millimeters from my mouth. “I’ve wanted to kiss you since I was about fifteen.”

It took every shred of control I possessed not to buck against her heat. Instead, I struggled for some levity. “I mean, nobody’s stopping you.”

“Good.”

Then her lips found mine and clearly talking was done because she was devouring my mouth, her body moving against mine in a way that made me heartily wish we were both naked. I wanted to slide into her waiting heat, to drive into her over and over, until she came apart, her body clamping around me like a glove.

Slow the fuck down. Enjoy this.

I skimmed my hands up her thighs, over those hips and beneath her sweatshirt, skating my palms up the bare skin of her back. Jesus, she was so soft. And, God help me, she wasn’t wearing a bra.

I struggled to keep my hands where they were, but then she reached back and shifted one of my hands, pressing it to her breast. She paused long enough to murmur, “Touch me, Gabriel.”

I’d never much liked my full name. It felt unnecessarily formal. But hearing it in that husky tone from her? Damn if that didn’t turn me on even more.

I didn’t need a second invitation. I cupped each of her breasts in my hands and wanted to write fucking sonnets to them because they were the most perfect breasts to ever be placed on a woman. Full and round, with nipples that I was desperate to get my mouth on. Felicity whimpered as I circled each taut bud with my thumbs, plucking them just hard enough to arouse rather than tickle.

With a gasp, she broke the kiss. “Oh, God. ”

“Like that?” I rasped.

“More.” Then, God bless her, she stripped her sweatshirt off, leaving her bare to the waist.

I damned near came in my jeans like a horny teenager at the sight of all that peaches-and-cream skin and those perfect globes in the palms of my hands.

Her eyes were glazed with lust as she stared down at me.

I jack-knifed up, wrapping one arm around her back and taking one rosy nipple into my mouth.

Felicity gasped, her fingers diving into my hair and clutching me closer. She began to rock in earnest against me, and I mimicked the rhythm with my mouth. Every sound of pleasure she made left me greedy for more. I wanted her fully bare and spread out for me to feast on. But I could tell by the increasing rhythm of her body that she was going to come for me exactly like this, and I was desperate for it.

Her glorious body went stiff, bowing against me, her head thrown back with a long, exquisite whimper, her long black hair trailing in a tumbled wave. With a primal satisfaction, I held her close as she continued to shudder, each aftershock more delicious than the last. Face flushed with pleasure, she finally wilted against me. Nothing had ever looked more gorgeous to me.

“Well, that was a lot better than fifteen-year-old me imagined.”

I snorted with laughter. Couldn’t help it. “Some things are worth the wait.”

She sat back far enough to grin at me. “Damned straight.”

Her hands reached for the hem of my T-shirt, but I gently intercepted. “That was just for you.”

Brows pulling together, she straightened, which pressed down on my straining cock enough to make me choke on my own breath. “But what about you?”

“I’ll be fine. And—to be fully clear—this is not a rejection. I want you. That should be more than evident, given where you’re sitting.” And if she moved a whole lot more, it was gonna be a foregone conclusion. “I just think, given our living situation, we should slow down a bit and be careful easing into more.”

Her disappointment was clear, which was good for my ego, if nothing else. “I suppose that’s sensible.”

My dick was howling in protest because it was obvious Felicity was more than willing. But I truly liked this woman. I wanted to handle her carefully. If that meant I dealt with more blue balls, then so be it.

She was absolutely worth it.