His Assurance (Assured Distraction Book 3) (28 page)

“Peri, what’s he doing? Oh hell, I feel like I’m in junior high now,” I said and both she and Peri started laughing because they saw what I couldn’t. Not being able to stand it another minute I turned to look in the same direction, and Gunner was standing right beside us.

My two so-called friends left us standing there staring at each other. From the look he gave me, I didn’t know whether to jump into his arms or run like hell. Finally, he reached out and took my hand, pulling me to him like we were dancing to a slow song when the music is anything but.

“I don’t know why you are here, Lola, but it’s nice to see you.”

Nice? Hmm… wasn’t exactly what I hoped for, but it was a start. He wrapped his arm around my waist so that we were body to body, and I laid my head on his chest. Our dance was slow and sensual, and I enjoyed every second of it until the music actually stopped and I stopped moving. The DJ announced he was going to slow it down as per a request from the VIPs.

When I heard those first few notes leave the guitar strings and the soulful sound, I knew it was Matt Corby’s “Lay You Down.” Corby’s music was pure pleasure to me, but this song was sex to a musical score. It was not music any club would normally play, so I knew Gunner was listening when I told him I loved Matt’s music. That seemed like another lifetime ago right now. I wondered if he thought about the lyrics to this song when he chose it.

Had he been looking for me?

Had I secretly been looking for a way to get back to him?

He slowly moved as though he could hear the music. Our bodies moved as one in an act that could be sex if clothes weren’t in the way, but this was not sex, this was him making love to me. I felt his need grow between us as he slipped his hand down to cup my ass and tugged me closer to his body. My body responded with the wetness soaking my panties. I wanted him to want me. I needed him to want me the way I wanted him.

Why didn’t I see this before I left? Maybe I would have fought harder.

He leaned back enough to lower his lips to my earlobe and then right below my ear where he kissed and nipped my skin so slightly that it caused a tingle to run through me. He moved to the vein in my neck, and I knew he felt my racing heartbeat when he softly kissed the skin, and then nipped at the vein with his teeth setting off liquid fire burning from the apex of my thighs straight up the center of my body.

His kisses leisurely swept across my jaw and landed on my lips but barely feathered over them. I wanted more now, from him and only him. I honestly didn’t care we are standing on a mostly empty dance floor that I was sure was surrounded by AD fans. I didn’t even care that the entire band was looking down on us from above, since I could feel their eyes tracing the slow movements we made around the floor.

The song rolled to the slow ending with the last guitar notes vibrated through the air, and he stopped the movement, released me, stepped back, and walked away. I was left standing there looking.

Oh hell, I didn’t even know how I looked at this point.

I wanted to knock him down on this floor and fuck his brains out, and he walked away from me? I couldn’t even call to him because I knew he couldn’t hear me, but he could talk and didn’t say a word. I finally came back to reality and realized I looked like a damn fool standing there in the middle of the floor when the sounds of the dance club music started back up. So I made a straight line to the door. I couldn’t be there after that. Humiliation set in, and I set out for home.

The bouncer called a cab to the curb, and I jumped in without a word. “Drive, just go…
now.”

The cabbie did as I said, and at the end of the second block stopped and looked at me in his mirror.

“Any place in particular? Or are you going to pay me to drive you around Austin?”

I gave him my address, and he took me home while I berated myself all the way there. What the hell was I thinking? In the perfect scene, we would have danced, talked, and then made sweet love in the car, against the back of my door, in my bed, and woke up tomorrow morning with a wonderful sex hangover. Instead, I was going home alone to a bottle of wine cry until I figured out what to do with my totally fucked up life.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Lola, looking like sex waiting to happen, dancing on the floor between two of my best friends. Traitors! They set this scheme in motion to get us back together. Why didn’t they ask me what I wanted? I would have nixed this idea immediately. But here she was dancing between the two of them like a hot girl threesome. The bread in this sandwich was officially on my shit list, though. I was sure by seeing the look on their husband’s and boyfriend’s faces, the only list those two were on was the
“let's get the fuck out of here and home before I molest you on the floor in front of our fans.”

I made my way down to the floor, and all I wanted to do was have her close to me even if it was only for a few minutes of pleasure. I could handle a couple of minutes of holding her luscious body, running my fingers over her soft skin, burying my face in the fragrance that haunted me day and night. I could do this. I could hold her body next to mine and feel the warmth of her. Then I would walk away. I still had no more to offer her than I did when I told her to go home.

So why did she bother to return for more pain? She knew better.

I had told her before she left it would never work out, and it still wouldn’t.

I couldn't resist touching her, so when I had her close I moved to her ear, and I breathed in the intoxicating fragrance. I could feel her against me but not close enough, so I cupped her ass and brought her even closer to my hard-on that was turning into a raging boner. I moved down her neck using my teeth to nibble a pathway. Her body responded with a quiver as she moved her hips with mine. Even though I couldn’t hear the music, I could feel the beat in me from the sub-bass woofer’s boom.

I told KeeMac to arrange for this song next even if he had to pay the DJ off. So when Matt Corby started playing, a little shiver worked its way down her body. If I had to guess, it ended in a wet spot in her panties, which only served to make me harder. It was not a long song, so I had to get all I could get out of her in the little time I had. It ended way too fast because when I grazed across her soft lips, I knew it was over. I let her go and walked away.

That was it.

Time was up.

This was done.

I headed to the restroom because I was not ready to talk to the guys. I still couldn’t believe the girls set that up without saying anything at all to me. I felt betrayed with their meddling. I knew they believed it was a great idea to get us back together, but it wasn’t. Why couldn’t they have left it alone? I barely got the door closed and looked in the mirror when Ryan, Carter, and KeeMac threw the door open hard enough I’m sure if I could hear, it would have banged on the wall.

The look on their faces said it all, and maybe it was a good thing I couldn’t hear. Carter’s lips started moving. KeeMac handed me a phone when Ryan pulled his out.

Ryan:
Have you lost your fucking mind?

“No. Leave it alone.” I headed for the door, but Carter blocked it. “Move Carter… I’m going home.”

Ryan:
Do you know what you just did? Are you drunk or something?

“Hell no. You know I’m not drinking. Now move.”

Ryan:
Dude. That girl was here for you in case your dumb ass couldn’t figure that out.

“I know, and I’m supremely pissed at all of you for arranging it.”

Ryan:
She arranged it. Sure, she had our help, but it was all her idea. For some strange reason, the girl has it bad for you, and you just blew her out of the water with your asshole move.

“I don’t care. I’m not right for her. I don’t want to hurt her any more than I have.”

Ryan:
Then why did you bother to dance with her, to music you knew was going to ramp up the invitation? Why were you dry humping on the dance floor? Why bother to kiss her?

“I had to have one last taste. She looked so beautiful dancing on that floor, and I knew I couldn’t let her walk away without touching her.” Now I felt like a total douchebag for going there with her, but dammit, I could only take so much.

Carter took the phone from Ryan.

Carter:
You are one dumb fuck up. Dude, find that girl and apologize. Get on your knees and beg if you have to.

I was shocked to hear something like this coming from Carter. He would never find himself in this totally fucked up situation. He runs from women every chance he gets. So why was he pissed at me for doing the same?

“What the fuck, Carter? You have no clue what a relationship is like, so why are you so anxious to see mine begin and fail?”

Carter:
But you have a chance at something that could be real. Something that could last. It’s not one and done or hit it and quit it. It could be a forever kind of thing for you.

“Since when does that matter to you, Carter?” I looked him right in the eyes when I said it.

Carter:
Since I saw the way she looked at you on that dance floor. It’s the same way Chan looks at KeeMac and Peri looks at Ryan. Don't you think that’s what we all might be looking for one day? Your one day is here, you dipshit. Don’t fuck it up.

I looked at the others as I read aloud what he’d written to me. I was in shock he had these thoughts floating through his head. I never knew he would eventually want to find
‘the one.
’ “So do you two think that’s true, too?”

They both acknowledged me with a nod.

“But I can’t even hold a conversation with her. I might never be the man I was before the accident. Hell, I might never get to play in the band anymore. What do I have to offer her? I could never live with myself if she ended up supporting us. I will never be that man.”

I could see they were all talking to me at once, until Ryan finally snatched the phone from Carter’s hands.

Ryan:
Seriously? Do you think we are going to kick you to the curb because of this little hearing thing you have? You’re our family, dude. We couldn’t be AD without you. So you can’t hear, big fucking deal. We’ll find a way around it.

Since he was reading as he typed, the other two knew exactly what he told me and agreed with every sentence.

KeeMac:
Go get the girl now. We’ll figure the rest out later.

I looked at these three and nodded my head, too. “I guess the girls know where she’s staying.”

KeeMac:
I’ll take you there myself. She’s got a house.

“What?”

KeeMac:
Yeah. While you were home playing pity party pussy, she was busy moving her sweet little ass to Austin and applying for jobs. I think she might be here to stay despite what a total dick you are.

“Haha very funny.” The other two laughed. “Well, let’s go see if she’s left town on me again.”

We gathered the girls and headed out to the car KeeMac had waiting. Leave it to this prick to have a limo bring him and our little cupcake, Chandler, to a club. It didn’t take too long for us to get to the small house where Lola lived. How had all of this happened without me knowing it?

KeeMac pulled out his phone, and Chan took it away from him typing furiously. Mine went off, and I pulled it out to read.

Chan:
If you go in there and break her heart again, Peri and I will kick your sorry ass before we get the guys in there to do it a second time. Do you understand what I am saying? Just nod!

“I can talk, Chandler, and I promise to play nice.”

Chan:
We are going to wait here in case you need a ride home.

“No need, I’ll call a cab.”

Chan:
No, we’ll wait. She may need us.

“She is not going to need anyone but ME!” I yelled at them all.

Chan:
Yeah, we’ll see. Text us if you need us to leave

“I don’t have to do that. I’m telling you now. So go.”

KeeMac opened the door and started pushing me out. I could see I had lost this argument. He shut the door behind me, and I walked to the door. It was dark inside, so I hoped she came home. I rang the doorbell and waited. I rang again and waited. If she was calling to me, I couldn’t hear it. Finally, the door opened, but she kept the old-fashioned chain attached. I could only see about three inches of her face.

“Please open the door, Lola.”

She shook her head no.

“Please, just let me talk to you.”

She shook her head no again. I turned and looked at the limo. I didn’t know if she could see it or not. They were all hanging out of the roof and windows waiting to see what happened. My phone vibrated so I dug it out of my pocket.

Chan:
Beg, you dumbass.

I read it and smirked.

“I’m supposed to beg?” I fell to my knees. “Please let me come in, chéri.”

Chan:
Good job :)

“I look like a damn fool, but I don’t care, Lola. Please let me in.” She shut the door, and I thought,
NO FUCKING WAY
. The door opened without the chain this time. She slipped out and closed it behind her.

Lola:
Why should I let you in? You do that to me on the dance floor, in front of God knows how many people who were videoing it, and now you want to be nice to me?

Lola:
You leave me standing there looking humiliated for them to all post to YouTube?

Lola:
You give me the best foreplay in the world and then leave me hanging?

Lola:
Now tell me, why should I let you in?

“Because I’m a dumb ass. I was wrong. I know I shouldn’t have.

Lola:
Then why?

“You looked so damn beautiful and sexy, and I couldn’t pass up at least one dance with you. One chance to hold you close. One chance to kiss you, nibble on you, feel you in my arms.”

Lola:
That’s the wrong answer, Gunner.

“What? How can that be the wrong answer?” I was sweating now. Was she really not going to let me in?

She punched the keys so hard on the phone I thought she was going to push them through it.

Lola:
Because it says nothing about how you feel about me. About us. Is there even a chance that we are ever going to be ‘us’? If not, then walk away.

“REALLY! That’s what you want? You want feelings? Then try this on for size my little French tart.” I was yelling, and she stood there looking at me like I was a freaking lunatic, but I kept yelling. “I don’t know what this is, but I can’t let you go again. I might love you. I don’t know. I’ve never been in love before. I don’t know how it’s going to work for us. I don’t know what is going to happen in my life. Hell, I don’t know if I’ll ever work another day in my life. What I do know is I want it with you. Whatever is going to happen in my life, I want you in it, to do it with me. I want us to figure it out together.” I realized I was still yelling, so I lowered my voice. “So please, Lola, please let me in your house and into your life.”

She jumped in my arms, and I held her close. “That’s what I was waiting for Gunner.”

“What?”

She started typing on her phone, but I’d heard it. “NO, say it again.”

She looked at me. “Those are words I was waiting to hear from you, Gunner.”