In The Dark

by Monica Murphy

  I curl my fingers around his, holding him tight. “You really think so?”

  “I fucking know so.” He starts to chuckle. “Is that all you can do, Luce? Ask a bunch of questions every time I tell you something?”

  He reaches with his free hand to tuck a stray strand of hair behind my ear, his fingers lingering, drifting down my cheek. “Do you still think I might be worth it?” he asks quietly. My skin flushes hot from his touch and my thoughts scatter everywhere. I have no idea what I planned to say so I blurt out the first thing that comes to my mind.

  “Kiss me and shut me up before I say something really crazy,” I whisper.

  “That sounds like the perfect plan,” he murmurs just before he claims my mouth with his.

  I’m kissing Lucy in what I thought was an empty classroom when I hear the clang of the door shutting, startling us both so that we spring away from each other like pre-teens being caught necking in the closet. Her cheeks are flushed and her eyes are bright. She’s wearing that look she gets when she’s that adorable combination of flustered and aroused and I realize then just how damn much I missed her.

  And how much she really means to me.

  “I think that was Professor Bailey leaving,” she explains, her voice shaky as she glances around. “There’s no one else in here.”

  “Then he probably saw just how well we’re going to get along as we work on our project together.” I grin and she smiles in return. But then my smile fades and so does hers. “Seriously Luce, are you okay with this? With us?”

  “I missed you so much,” she confesses. “But I figured you were mad at me.”

  “I was. I can’t deny it. What you did…I couldn’t wrap my head around it.”

  She looks stricken by my words, like she wants to bolt out of here. I need to be honest with her and she needs to hear it. “I wondered if you were trying to play some sort of joke on me but then, the more I thought about it, the more I realized you just got…caught up.”

  “That’s exactly what happened,” she whispers. “And I’m so sorry, Gabe. Really I am.”

  “I know.” I smile at her, wanting to reassure her. “I’m over it. We both made mistakes. And I felt bad leaving you alone and having to deal with—everything.” I still feel like an utter shit for that. My heart is heavy with remorse over my stupidity.

  She waves a hand like it was nothing but I see the flicker in her gaze. “It was a false alarm. Don’t worry about it.”

  “A pretty scary one,” I add.

  “But false, so no big deal.”

  I haul her into my arms and kiss her again before she can say something else in that brush it off way she’s currently displaying. Forget that crap. What we went through was like an emotional hurricane and I’m glad we both came out okay on the other side. “It was a huge deal, Luce. I don’t ever want to leave you like that again,” I murmur against her lips after I break the kiss.

  “Then don’t.” She kisses me again, dipping her head so she can kiss along my neck.

  Ah Christ. I close my eyes, contemplating my next move. I should make her stop. I have more to say but her lips on my skin feels so damn good. I’ve missed her. In every little way I’ve missed her so much and it’s such a relief to have her in my arms again I almost feel like crying.

  But I’m a macho ass so I refuse to do that.

  “I love you Lucy,” I tell her, making her pause. She lifts her head, her eyes the widest I’ve ever seen them. “I’ve been in love with you for a while but I was too dumb to realize it.”

  “But Gabe, your family…” I shake my head but she presses on. “Don’t they have certain expectations of you? Jade explained a few things. Things you never told me.”

  “I didn’t want to burden you with my problems.”

  “If we’re really going to be together, we have to share everything. The good and the bad,” she says and I nod my agreement.

  She’s right. The good and the bad, it all comes as part of being in a relationship with someone. “I don’t care what my parents think. Let me deal with them. All I want is you. You’re the only thing that truly makes me happy.” Pausing, I take both her hands in mine. “I was just wandering through life before, acting like a selfish prick and always looking for the next big thrill. Then I met you and realized you were the only thrill I need.”

  Ah, hell. Tears spring to her eyes. I hate when she cries. But I think—I hope—these are happy tears. “Oh, Gabe.”

  “I’m serious, Luce. I’m in love with you. It about killed me when you told me you’d been lying all that time but then I started to feel bad. Like maybe…I’m the reason you got caught up in the lies. And I hated that. Then like an asshole I don’t use a condom and we get scared that you’re pregnant and then I abandon you by telling you I wasn’t ready for all of it and I’m just…I feel like the biggest dick in the universe.”

  She kisses me before I can continue on, her tongue sweeping into my mouth, her hands letting go of mine so she can loop her arms around my neck. She kisses me long and deep until we both finally come up for air minutes later to find a group of about twenty people standing at the top of the stairs gaping at us.

  “Uh, I think we need to go,” I tell Lucy as she disentangles herself from me.

  “Next class starts in ten minutes,” one of the guys who is still watching us says.

  I’m laughing to myself as I take Lucy’s backpack from her and guide her out of the classroom, my hand resting at the small of her back as I push open the heavy door with my other hand. “Well, that was just great,” I mutter once we’re out of the building and walking toward the quad.

  “They were staring at us,” she whispers, making me start laughing in earnest. “Like they’ve never seen someone kiss before.”

  “Maybe they haven’t.” I slip my arm around her waist and pull her in close to my side. “Maybe they have no idea what a couple in love looks like.”

  “Well, now they know,” she says in that prim little voice that I find so incredibly sexy.

  Shit. Just like that I’m hard for her. It’s been too damn long. I’m dying to get her naked and beneath me.

  “Let’s get the hell out of here so I can take you to bed,” I suggest.

  Her cheeks go pink. “Gabriel.”

  “Luciana,” I mock right back at her. “You know you want it.”

  She smiles, rears up on tiptoe and kisses me on the cheek. “I do.”

  “I love you,” I tell her again because she hasn’t said it yet and I need to hear the words.

  Desperately.

  She stops walking and so do I. Staring up at me with love and adoration in her dark eyes, she reaches for my face and cups my cheeks, her fingers gentle on my skin. “I love you, too. So much.”

  My heart feels like it expands to twice its size at her sincere declaration. Lucy fucking loves me.

  I’m the luckiest man in the world.

  “Oh my God, you’re adorable,” Gabe says as he stops in the doorway to stare at me.

  I do a twirl, showing off my entire costume. His gaze is ravenous when it meets mine and I wait eagerly for his approach. “You like it?”

  “I fucking love it.” He enters the room and scoops me up in his arms, giving me a kiss that I feel right down to the tips of my toes.

  Will that ever grow old? I don’t think so.

  “You look pretty good yourself,” I murmur as I pull away from him. Our themed Halloween costumes were his idea. I had no clue he was such a gamer nerd but he admitted that when he was eight to ten years old, his absolute favorite TV show and video games were Pokemon.

  So he’s Ash Ketchum and I’m his sexy Pikachu.

  I made my costume by finding a yellow leotard and matching skirt by absolute chance at the thrift shop. I made ears and a tail with felt I bought at a craft store and drew big red dots on my cheeks. I helped Gabe with his blue vest by tearing the sleeves off a jacket I also found at the thrift store. He’s wearing a black T-shirt and jeans and he’s the one
who provided the hat just like Ash wore plus a poke ball.

  “I could never give them up,” he admitted when he showed them to me. “I’ve owned them since I was nine. Got ‘em both for Christmas—best freaking Christmas ever, I might add. So I had Sydney dig them out of my old room and ship them to me.”

  My heart overflowed with love at the thought of a young Gabe holding on to his Pokemon stuff. Could he be any cuter? Luckily the hat still fit him and with his hair sticking out from underneath it, he makes the perfect Ash Ketchum.

  “Shep and Tristan are going to give me endless shit, along with everyone else,” he mutters minutes later when we’re driving over to Shep’s house. He and Jade are having a costume party tonight and tons of people are going to be there, including his frat brothers. I never even knew he was in a fraternity until he told me a few weeks ago.

  He’s such the typical rich, spoiled college boy. But he’s all mine. And I love him so much it hurts.

  “Who cares? They’ll be jealous they didn’t think of it,” I say, making him smile.

  The first person we see when we arrive is Tristan—dressed like a pimp. The typical purple and gold lame pantsuit I’ve seen so often every year at Halloween, along with the crazy wide brim hat trimmed in purple feathers. He looks ridiculous. But all the girls flock to him, as usual.

  “Of course he’s a pimp,” Gabe says with a shake of his head, making me laugh.

  Audrey is there too, dressed in a skimpy costume. I think she’s supposed to be a maid? I don’t know. She’s hanging on Tristan’s arm, though I know he doesn’t really care about her. At least she’s given up on chasing after Gabe. I’ve accepted that she’ll always be around and I’m not a fan, but at least she keeps her distance from my man.

  I really love that I can claim Gabe as my man.

  I nearly squeal with excitement when I spot Shep and Jade. He’s Batman and she’s Robin. They’re cute but look tough with their black masks covering their faces. Jade runs up and gives me a big hug when she spots us, practically wrapping her green tights-covered legs around mine.

  “Your costume is so adorable!” she exclaims, using the same word Gabe did when he first saw me.

  “Thanks. I made it myself.” I preen for her, doing a little twirl.

  “I can imagine ten-year old Gabe wearing that hat,” she says and when I told her it was actually nine-year old Gabe who got that very hat, she starts to laugh.

  Gabe and I separate fast but I don’t mind. I’ve made friends. He has tons of friends and they all want a piece of him, which I understand. That I’m lucky enough to have a piece of him—to have many pieces of him, still blows my mind.

  The party is in full swing, the house is so crowded with people and I’m sweating like crazy. I have two margaritas in me when Gabe suddenly appears, takes my hand and pulls me outside. “I want to talk to you.”

  I stand up straight at the seriousness in his tone. I’m buzzing from the tequila so I hope I don’t make an ass of myself. What in the world could he want to talk about now? “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing’s wrong. I just realized something.” He grabs hold of my bare shoulders and stares down at me. “I want you to live with me.”

  My mouth drops open. Wait…what? “Are you serious?”

  “When you told me Gina was leaving to transfer to the same university her boyfriend goes to, it dawned on me. You’re worried about finding another roommate when you don’t need to worry at all. Just move in with me,” he explains, sounding so very logical.

  I’m struck silent by his offer. We are moving way too fast. Aren’t we? “What about your parents?”

  Gabe waves a hand, irritated. “Fuck them. Sorry Luce, but I’m so sick of having to answer to them. They can kiss my ass. It’s my life. They can’t control me any longer.”

  His parents believe Gabe’s relationship with me is a phase. I try my best to not be offended. He’s given up trying to explain to them because as he told me recently, it’s like talking to a brick wall.

  I hate that they don’t approve but at least Sydney is on our side. And Mama. Who would’ve thought she’d be so dazzled by Gabe when she first met him? Certainly not me, considering I thought she was immune to all men. I took him to meet her two weeks ago and they hit it off. She never mentioned Satan once the entire time we were there.

  But she might freak out over me moving in with a guy, even if it is her newfound love Gabe. Because we are so moving way too fast, I just know it. “Are you sure you want me to move in with you?”

  He nods. “More sure of this than anything I’ve ever done before.” His hands slip down my arms, rubbing them gently. “I love you, babe. I want you with me. Always.”

  Oh. He says things like that and I’m powerless to resist.

  “Okay.” I nod, my mind already a whirl with all the things I need to do. “It won’t be until winter break. I’ll have to give notice at my apartment. And I’ll have to pack up some stuff and put in storage I guess? Since we both have furniture…”

  “Bring whatever you want, I have room,” he reassures, giving my arms a squeeze.

  “And how much do you want me to pay in rent?”

  He gives me a little shake, his expression stern. “You won’t pay rent. I refuse to take your money.”

  “But Gabe…”

  “No,” he cuts me off. “You struggle enough. I own the house free and clear. I don’t want you to pay me anything. Save whatever you can for tuition, okay? That’s more important.”

  I tackle hug him so hard I nearly knock him on his ass. His arms come around me and hold me close as he chuckles close to my ear. “I guess that’s a yes then?”

  “Definitely a yes.” I squeeze him tight and close my eyes. “Thank you,” I whisper into his neck. “I love you.”

  “Love you, too.” The easy way he says the words makes my heart sing. “I bet Shep is going to call me a copycat.”

  I pull away to stare up at him. “Why?”

  “He had Jade move in with him just like this and wouldn’t let her pay rent either. She’s an average working girl with the single mama, just like you.”

  Right. We do have that in common. In fact, Jade got me a part time job at Light My Fire, the candle shop she works at. It’s enough hours to supplement my income with the hours I lost at The Shack. “I guess you and Shep like working girls,” I tease him as I lean in for another kiss.

  He delivers, his warm lips lingering on mine before he speaks. “We do. You’re both practical and you keep us in line.”

  “You need it,” I whisper.

  “You know it,” he says against my lips before he kisses me again.

  I so do.

  third book in THE RULES series (Tristan’s story!), is coming out November 10th, 2015!

  Have you read

  first book in THE RULES series?

  You can find Fair Game here

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  Read other books by Monica Murphy

  First, a huge thank you to you, my dear reader, for reading IN THE DARK. I hope you enjoyed Gabe and Lucy’s story. This series is just way too fun to write and I’m so thankful to everyone who also read and enjoyed FAIR GAME. I still think stupid sexy Shep (that is a reference to The Simpsons – Homer calls Ned Flanders ‘stupid sexy Flanders’ in one of the episodes and it’s a line that was burned into my brain – sorry for the random reference) is ridiculous.

  I think Gabe is pretty ridiculous too—in the best possible way—and I hope you enjoy his and Lucy’s story. I must state upfront that I’m married to a Mexican/Italian man and have quarter-Mexican children so any references to Lucy’s Mexican heritage aren’t meant to offend. They’re just a fact of my life and
what I’ve picked up over the years.

  I want to thank all of the readers, reviewers and bloggers who said such wonderful things about FAIR GAME and helped spread the word. Even the chick on Goodreads who made the GIF heavy review that said the book was cheesy and familiar but she loved it anyway. I absolutely cannot do this job without you so thank you for taking the time to write reviews, make quote graphics (all the beautiful freckle faced redheads peeps found were the best! Too many pretty Jades out there), write blog posts…I appreciate it.

  I also want to say that I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel with The Rules series, peeps. I’m just writing something fun and sexy that’ll hopefully make you smile. That’s my goal. I want to entertain you with this series and I want to entertain myself as I write them. These books aren’t just for you, they’re for me too. They’re a pure joy to write. So I hope they’re a pure joy to read.

  While they are a pure joy to write, this is also work so I want to thank Autumn for keeping me straight, Dana for catching the mistakes, Katy Evans for cheering me on and Kati Rodriguez for everything. I have my little team and I can’t do this without you all! And a big thank you to my family who puts up with me working all the time even when I’m on vacation. Yes, I finished writing this book while I was on a family vacation but they understand. And I’m so thankful for them it’s not even funny.

  Oh. And to my cats. Because why not? I adore them. So thanks Maxine, Eddie, Link, Kirby and Coco. You’re the best kitties a crazy cat lady could ever want.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations for reviews. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet, without the publisher's permission and is a violation of International copyright law and subjects the violator to severe fines and/or imprisonment.