Crys And Gabe

by J. A. Hornbuckle

  Just when things were starting to get good between them, too.

  "You don't own me, dickhead," she whispered back. "He's my friend. He's been my friend for a long time and I expect he'll always be my friend, okay? And until you can pull your head out of your ass, we still have to play it cool, alright?"

  *.*.*.*.*

  "We'll talk about this later," he whispered but with that stupid, goddamn, alpha-dog tone he'd developed over the last few years.

  Fuck him.

  And the horse he rode in on.

  "Promises, promises. You're a pompous ass Gabe," I whispered almost yelling without a voice. Damn but he fucking pissed me off.

  "Yeah?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as his face broke into a slow grin. "But, I'm your pompous ass, Crys. So fucking deal with it."

  I stood there watching my man, my wonderful man, wend his way back up to the stage. I glanced around and saw that Marianne was the only one that could've heard us, who was interested enough to overhear us.

  I dropped into Ram's empty chair.

  "I know you heard," I started, putting my elbows on the table.

  She gave it a moment so that sentence could shimmer its way around the two of us.

  "Is that your man, Crys?" she asked softly, her eyes, like mine, on the gorgeous hunk of male flesh that was setting up his guitar and glaring at his dad who was seated off stage.

  I was sure she was referring back to my freak out at the Mall when she and the girls told me about the rings.

  "Always has been, Marianne," I finally sighed, knowing in my heart of hearts it was true.

  "I'm here if and when you want to talk about it," she said finally, turning her head my way.

  I just looked at her, knowing the crap she went through with Ram was at a place where no other opinion mattered to them.

  Just that they were together.

  "Yeah," I said, taking a long drink from my water bottle as I tried not to smile.

  I grabbed the tambourine from the end of the bar, which happened to be next to Niko.

  Niko, who just didn't get my motor running like Gabe did, had always done. But who had always been there for me when I needed him. All I knew is that every time life knocked me way the fuck down, Niko was there to pick me up.

  And who is wrapped around his daddy's thumb. If rumor has the right of it, was slated to become the next head of the Milosevic family.

  God, I hoped it wasn't true. Niko was too good a guy for that shit.

  Gabe hated his fucking guts, but now I got it. Gabe was jealous.

  Niko handed me the tambourine that the girls had festooned with black ribbons and red poppies to match my outfit and my ink.

  "Love how you sound, my Crys," Niko murmured, holding the tambourine hostage as he spoke, using it to pull me towards him. "And you look beautiful up there."

  "Aw, thanks, Nik," I mumbled and gave him a quick kiss, knowing he wouldn't release it until I gave him what he wanted.

  From his smile, I knew that was what he'd been after.

  Gabe moved over a bit and let his dad have most of the space on the tiny stage that tucked up into a corner of Enrique's bar. I took the floor space in front of the door that led to the storage room, since my vocals weren't needed to the first song of our second set.

  'With Arms Wide Open,' the old Creed anthem, with the wondrous words, seemed like it was written for Gabe since he'd come back.

  I wiggled and moved in my little space, adding the tambourine when needed. I had no problem dancing in public since I'd been dancing forever.

  From my place on the floor, I saw Cait and Jake practically fusing as they cuddled and swayed in their chairs. Dex and Leila were no different only, since she was already sitting on his lap, they were almost fused.

  I caught Frank and Stan leaning and swaying together, their hands entwined on the table top.

  Ram leaned into Marianne and said something that made her eyes glow as she leaned back into him.

  So I wasn't the only one that loved the song and the way my man sang it.

  As soon as the song was done, I moved up between Benny and Gabe to sing 'Landslide' in the arrangement done on Glee. It was a song that Gabe and I grew up with and could, with the right incentive, sing in our sleep.

  And, just like before in the first set, the audience sang with us on the chorus.

  I had goosebumps every time they joined in.

  Benny moved off to the side, into that little piece of linoleum that I'd danced in, while Gabe and I sang Taylor Swift's, 'You Belong to Me' alternating parts. The song just seemed to fit us so well, from both our viewpoints.

  Gabe leaned over to me before the applause began and whispered, "Why's Dex giving us the evil eye?"

  My eyes immediately shot to Leila and Dex. He was shooting daggers our way and her eyes were wide as she listened to him talking over her shoulder.

  Shit.

  Dex and Benny were close.

  Closer than close.

  Fuck.

  I shot my eyes back to Gabe and he had a big shit-eating grin on his face.

  Figures.

  I'm freaking out and he finds it funny.

  We broke into Shawn Colvin's , 'Riding Shotgun Down the Avalanche' which is one of my most favorite songs and a good one to end the set on.

  We made our way to the back of the bar at the break, stopping and talking with people along our way.

  I kissed and hugged Grandma and Grandpa Mykalson, Gabe's grandparents. Ever since I was little, they'd tucked me into a corner of their family and kept me close to their heart.

  Treasured people.

  I got us a couple of waters and made my way over to Gabe who was having a close conversation with Dex. I was brave, but I wasn't that brave so I hung back and chatted with Stan and Frank. They introduced me to Trevor and Zoe who co-owned Bewitchments, Grantham's only adult toy store, and who I'd ordered from occasionally off their website.

  Nice people and Trevor was definitely drool-worthy.

  I saw Marianne come careening back into the bar, lean down to Ram and they took off like bats out of hell.

  I looked at Frank and he shrugged, equally as curious but as unaware of what was going on as I was. I looked to Cait and Leila who were looking at me and Frank.

  Shrugging, I saw Cait pull out her phone.

  I'm sure we'd be told, just not exactly when. Marianne, like me, kind of had a thing about privacy.

  Gabe was giving me the eye signal so I made my way back to the front, seeing Benny sitting next to Niko who was now squished in the corner of the bar next to the wall. Niko was wearing his 'brave face' as I called it. Being from Bosnia, he always felt out of place when he was in school and had admitted that, at home, they didn't speak English and only used it sparingly when they had to.

  Still.

  English spoken with an accent?

  Oh, yes, ma'am.

  I winked at Nik and he grinned back, his light blue eyes crinkling, raising his glass up to hide his smile before dragging his eyes to Gabe. Luckily Gabe was messing with his guitar, the electric this time.

  Toad the Wet Sprocket's, 'Something's Always Wrong'.

  Couldn't have put it better myself, and I only sung the echoes.

  Every head in the place was nodding along, which is always a good sign.

  We moved right into Black Stone Cherry's, 'Stay'.

  Two guitars and a tambourine didn't even come close to doing the song justice. But we three rocked it nonetheless.

  Especially with Gabe's sexy rough voice taking lead.

  And the looks he was shooting me.

  God, heaven.

  Although the words were something I had felt inside me so often, especially when he was getting ready to go away again. So, heaven but with protection.

  We moved into Carrie Underwood's, 'Nobody Every Told You,' which meant more to me than anyone but my posse knew. But, looking out into the faces of those I held close in my heart, they got it.

  Benny even brought out
his banjo for this one, which was really unusual since it was still something he was trying to learn. But, damn, Ben picked up instruments like the rest of us picked up gum on our shoes.

  We ended with Amy Grant's, 'I Will Remember You' which I'm sorry to say had Benny crying even as he played from his place on the bar stool.

  That's what I wanted for me, someone to remember and still love me enough to cry in public sixteen years or more after I'd gone.

  I glanced at Gabe but he seemed pretty stable; no tears this time. Maybe it was just time for the boys to lay Deby to rest once and for all.

  Although, none of us could or would ever let her go.

  She was too important to us for that.

  I helped break down the instruments and stands on the small stage before making my way through the dwindling crowd, accepting hugs and love from so many of our friends and family.

  I saw Gabe doing the same, but keeping a close eye on me.

  "You were awesome, Crys," Niko said, holding my hand on his chest. "Are you with him now? Gabe, that you've loved for so long?"

  I turned my head towards Gabe and saw he was watching us with a scowl.

  "Yes, Nik," I said, my tone full of assurance. As much assurance as my heart could hold at the moment anyway.

  "I'm with him now."

  Chapter Eighteen

  He was quiet on their way back to Crys's place, still caught up in the night and all the emotions it had brought out in both of them. She, though, was working through them as her mouth chattered on about inconsequential things, but Gabe knew her mind wasn't on what her mouth was saying.

  So he let her be.

  Dex had warned him tonight that his dad was gonna shit a brick if he and Crys were really going to get together.

  The kind of together that Gabe had said he and Crys were going to be.

  And they were, even more than Dex could ever know.

  But it seems like no one believed what he had announced when she was in ICU. That he was going to marry her. And, if Dex had gotten the right of it, his dad didn't want to know it.

  Gabe shot his eyes to her, his girl, her face glowing in the lights from the dashboard as she spoke.

  God, how he loved her.

  It was time.

  Time for him to man up and take his girl with him into the future.

  Into their future.

  But he had things he needed to take care of, to resolve, before they could get married.

  They brought in the extra guitars and amps before making their way to the bedroom, talking and smiling as they recounted the night.

  Their singing.

  What the songs meant, how people reacted to them.

  Finally, after talking it through, it was just the two of them again. The two of them alone and naked under the covers.

  He couldn't help his lips as they trailed over her temple, her cheek, along her jaw line.

  She sighed as he moved his mouth down to her neck, nipping and licking as he moved, his arm that had been wrapped around her waist helping to turn her towards him.

  He loved the way she smelled but it was the way she tasted that had him in knots. Her smooth, soft skin that was so sensitive, so fucking reactive to his touch that it had his cock throbbing.

  She gasped as he dragged his teeth slowly, wetly over her collarbone and felt her hands reach to tangle in his hair as she arched against him, exposing her neck.

  Asking for more.

  He gave and she took. She pressed and he accepted. Their bodies moved as their hearts joined, settled.

  As the last shudder washed over him, he wrapped his arms around her holding her close, wanting her closer.

  "God, Gabe," she breathed against his neck, her hands stroking his arms, chest and shoulders.

  "I know, Kitten," he said against her hair. And he, damn well, did.

  There was fucking and then there was making love. What they'd just done was well and truly on the 'making love' side of the scale, and helped show their bodies what their hearts already knew.

  "I love you, Crys," he murmured, his heart so fucking full.

  "Love you, too," she whispered back, her voice already sleepy in her satisfaction.

  He helped her move to his side, almost hating to disconnect from her.

  "Wonderful," she said curling onto her side away from him and he actually felt her body as it slid into sleep. Gabe stayed on his back, using the hand closest to her to stroke, keeping a connection between them.

  He couldn't find his sleep so easily, the sex had only seemed to energize him. Although, it could've been his thoughts.

  Thoughts of a lifetime with Crys by his side, of making babies, growing old.

  He wanted it all with her. It had been no lie when he told her he wanted her, and wanted her forever.

  And he wanted that fucking forever to start right the fuck now.

  He snagged his jeans from the floor and did them part way up as he moved into the kitchen and turned on the low light over the stove.

  There were things that needed to be resolved, though, things that had happened outside of her and Grantham that he needed to take care of, to end.

  He moved to the junk drawer and pulled out the pad of paper and a pen. He needed to make a list of all he needed to do so that he, that they he corrected, could get to the place where he wanted them to be.

  Married.

  He realized that his heart needed no more and no less than being legally tied to the girl/woman that he had always wanted. Had always known would be his.

  He remembered his mom's words from a time so long ago, telling him and Crys that you can't get married until you met and found your very best friend. And his heart remembered how his eyes had slid to Crys to see her looking at him.

  And nodding with her because, even at three and four and a half, they knew they were gonna be together.

  Gabe did the timeline, his estimations, and decided his plan was do-able if they could work through a couple of things at the shop. He sat back in the hard oak chair of the dining set and loped his thumbs through his belt loops.

  Yep, definitely do-able.

  *.*.*.*.*

  I slept like the dead.

  It had been a running joke my whole life, that once I was asleep, I was down for the count. But I always woke up easier than Gabe. And, if what people told me was correct, I woke up in a better mood, too.

  But this time it felt like I'd just gotten to sleep when Gabe's gentle back strokes woke me up.

  I came awake with a start.

  "Wha'," I said loudly, my heart beating hard.

  "Shh, Kitten," he said. His butt was cradled by my lap which had obviously curled itself around him. "Just want to talk, alright?"

  I rubbed my eyes and stretched as I moved over onto my back.

  He used to pull this shit a lot when he snuck into my room in the middle of the night when we were in high school. Sometimes, he would even be half undressed like he was now.

  "Okay," I said, trying to get my head in the game. Whatever game he was going to play this time.

  "I wanna take a road trip, Crys," he said. "I need to wrap shit up in Oregon and want you to go with me."

  I lay still, thinking hard. There was more, much more, that was going on that he hadn't yet given voice to saying.

  "What shit?" I asked, my voice still sleep rough.

  "My apartment and my job," he said, still speaking soft. "And a few other things. But I want you there with me, Crys."

  "You're repeating yourself," I grumbled. I wanted him to get to the fucking point so I could go back to sleep although his hand stroking my leg through the covers felt really good.

  "Yeah, I know," he said leaning down and kissing me softly. "It's that important to me."

  I must've still been half asleep because what he was saying made perfect sense.

  "How long?" I asked on a yawn.

  "Four, maybe five days," he said, pulling the covers down so he could see my breasts and jewelry. Jay-sus but he
was a horn dog.

  "You're supposed to be handling you dad's appointments. How're you gonna do that and go to Oregon?" I asked.

  "How're we gonna take five days and go to Oregon," he corrected.

  What-fucking-ever.

  "Yeah," I said, coming up on my elbows.

  "We go to the shop tomorrow and start arranging things," he said like it was the simplest thing in the world.

  "But, Gabe," I reminded him. "Your dad is gonna know if we take off like that. Is that how you want Benny to find out about us?" I didn't even know if he was paying attention since his eyes were devouring my chest and my nipples were communicating right back at him.

  "Dad already knows about us, Kitten," he said, his voice a soft rumble. "He may not want to accept it, but he knows."

  I got that.

  Benny had always thought that he could force his way of thinking on other people, especially Gabe, and had almost lost his son as a result.

  "You still doing the seminars in New Mexico?" he asked.

  "Uh-huh," I breathed heavily since my clit had decided that his interest in my chest was so good that it, too, had to get involved.

  "Then, you're taking an unexpected seminar while I'm going to Oregon," he said, like it wasn't a big deal.

  "We're caught? We're dead," I said finally, trying to find the holes in his plan.

  "Don't fucking care," Gabe said as he again tilted his head to mine and kissed me, bringing his hot tongue into play.

  By the time he raised his head, I couldn't have given a sweet goddamn if he'd asked me to move to the moon.

  I just freaking wanted him.

  My hand reached behind his head to hold him to me. I knew I was successful when he shucked off his jeans and threw the covers aside.

  He was between my legs, my thighs riding high against his hips, thrusting myself upwards on him and I was coming again before I even knew it.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Gabe finally found his sleep, nestled against Crys with the thought of getting his shit done in Oregon so he could be back home, in Grantham, officially.

  So it wasn't a surprise to him that he woke up late on Sunday morning.

  Crys had never been one to sleep late, but he knew that she wouldn't, couldn't, be far from him without letting him know what was going on.