by Sabre Rose
Tyler applied more pressure to his throat and Gabe’s laughter turned to a choking splutter. “She asked you to leave her alone. I suggest you leave her alone, little brother.” Tyler released the pressure to Gabe’s throat but still held him against the wall, pushing against his shoulder to hold him in place.
Gabe coughed, drawing in deep breaths once Tyler released him. He leaned over, heaving in gasps of air before straightening himself and throwing a punch at Tyler. But because Gabe was so drunk, Tyler was able to avoid the blow by simply moving his head to the side. Gabe swung again and Tyler moved out of the way.
“Gabe,” I pleaded walking over to him. I hated seeing him like this. Hated that seeing Isabel again had brought out this darkness.
Tyler held his arm out, shielding me from getting any closer.
“You are protecting her from me?” Gabe spluttered. “You? You arrogant piece of shit. Let me tell you exactly what this piece of shit is like, Lauren.”
“Lauren, go to bed,” Tyler instructed.
“He keeps women on a rotation schedule, just so none of them get too attached. He takes them to various functions, eye-candy on his arm, then takes them back to his apartment to fuck them senseless before sending them on their merry way. That’s right, isn’t it, brother dearest? That’s what you do. Use and abuse. All because they don’t tick all the boxes on your stupid lists. I am nothing like you. Nothing.”
Tyler was fuming. “At least I’ve never slept with a girl who was going out with my brother.”
Gabe’s eyes snapped to Tyler, all drunkenness draining away with that one movement. And then he lunged at Tyler, wrapping his arms around his waist and knocking him to the ground. Gabe rose over his brother, one hand clenched in a fist, but he never got to bring it down as Tyler’s hand enclosed around his. The two brothers glared at each other, both waiting for someone to make the next move.
I was frozen to the spot, unsure what to do. Should I interfere? Should I try to pull Gabe off? Or should I just let them sort it out themselves? Gabe was clearly drunk and not thinking straight, but Tyler was sober and hopefully had the situation under control.
Just as Gabe’s fist wavered in Tyler’s grasp, Jake ran back into the room and pulled Gabe off. “What the fuck?” Jake pushed Gabe away.
Gabe stumbled over to the wall, hit it and then slid down, holding his head in his hands as giant tears rolled down his cheeks.
“Gabe?” I asked. He clawed across the floor towards me and curled into a heap at my feet.
“I’m sorry,” he sobbed. “I’m so sorry.”
Jake stretched out his hand to help Tyler to his feet, but Tyler jerked away from the offered help. “This is who you’re dating,” he said to me as he glared down at Gabe. “This is who he is.”
10
LAUREN
After Tyler and Jake had assured me that they would look after Gabe, I left him drunk and crying on the floor with his brothers watching from their protective perch on the couch and went to bed. I was exhausted, but sleep evaded me. I stared at the ceiling and moved my hand across the sheets to feel the coldness of the empty space beside me. Gabe’s behaviour scared me. When something upset him, he turned to drink and not me. I wanted to help. I wanted to comfort him, but he turned away every time.
Around three o’clock, I gave up my attempt at rest and walked down the stairs in search of the laptop Tyler had let me borrow in order to edit the photos. If I couldn’t sleep, I may as well spend the time productively. The lounge was empty and I hoped Gabe was sleeping it off somewhere. There was a lot of talking we needed to do.
Armed with the laptop, I sat down and opened the photo files. The glow of the screen burned blue over the whiteness of the dining table. Selecting the favourites I had identified earlier in the day, I set to work adjusting the colours and applying a few finishing touches to the images. I was pleased with them but was unsure if they were what Hamish required. Going over the images one final time before heading back to bed, I jumped when Tyler spoke behind me.
“You’re good,” he said, arms crossed and leaning against the wall, wearing only loose fitting grey pants and nothing else. I couldn’t help but notice the way his biceps curved, pressed against his chest, or the fine dark hair that trailed under the waistband of his pants. Simply put, he was gorgeous. Taller, and slightly bigger, his muscles had lost some of the leanness of youth that Gabe’s had. They dipped and swelled seductively and his stomach was lined with smooth ridges. His pants hung low over his hips and I felt myself swallow unconsciously as I followed the valley of his muscles down to his waistband. There was something undeniably sexy about Tyler Thornton. Something I needed to avoid.
Tyler pulled out the seat next to me and planted himself down, leaning forward to get a closer look at the photos that glowed on the screen. The bare skin of his arm brushed against mine and goose bumps erupted at the touch.
“I get the whole ‘mess’ thing now,” he said as I studied the layer of stubble that dusted his chin. “It gives the images more personality, makes people believe they could be the ones living there.”
“Thanks,” I said, flicking through the files one last time and trying not to notice how fast my heart was beating.
“You’re talented.” He reached over and closed the laptop lid even though I wasn’t done flicking through the images. The room fell into darkness, the only light coming from the moon shining through the window. “I’m sorry,” he said finally.
I looked up at him quickly, not trusting myself to meet his eye. “What do you have to be sorry for?”
Tyler ran his hand through his dark hair. “I shouldn’t have told you the way I did. I should have left it between you and Gabe.”
“I asked you,” I reminded him.
“Yes, but I made it so you had no choice in the matter. I wanted you to know.”
The coldness of the night brushed against me and I wrapped my arms around myself, willing warmth back into my body.
Tyler sat back against the chair and crossed one ankle over his knee.
“So why did you tell me then?”
“About Isabel?”
I nodded.
Tyler’s steel-grey eyes burned cold when he met my gaze. “Because you adore him.” Reaching out, he tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear. My heart pounded as his finger grazed my cheek. “I don’t want you to adore him.” He said it so quietly, his voice barely more than a growl, I wondered if I had imagined it.
Sitting next to me, leaning so his arms rested on his knees, there was nothing to break the silence between us but the sound of our own breaths.
“We’ve met before, do you remember?”
“We’ve met? You and me?”
“Yes, you and me.”
“I think I’d remember.”
“It was at the boxing match that Derek and Gabe fought in. You literally ran into me on your way out.”
“I did? I would think I’d remember if I ran into you.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why do you think you’d remember?”
Unbidden, the colour fled to my cheeks. “Because…” I cleared my throat. Because you’re gorgeous, I wanted to say. “Because you look like Gabe.”
“I wish I’d met you first.” Tyler's eyes locked with mine.
“Tyler,” I said.
He looked away, his eyes moving to scan the blackness of the lake. “I know. You’re with Gabe.” He stood and moved behind me, his hands resting lightly on my shoulders. The heat of his breath warmed my scalp as he spoke, bending down close. “I just wanted you to know.” And then, his lips pressed briefly against my hair and he was gone and the coldness of the night enveloped me again.
Once back in bed, I couldn’t get the image of Tyler out of my head. I replayed the moment he reached across and tucked my hair aside over and over, my heart pounding with both excitement and guilt. But I knew who Tyler was. I knew what sort of a man he was. The fact that he had brought Gabe’s
past to me during a time when Gabe was hurting the most spoke to that. I wondered where Gabe was, if he and Jake were spread out on the couches in the basement, or if he had crawled into one of the beds in a spare room, drunkenly snoring the night away.
At some stage during the night, sleep won me over and I woke the next morning to a gentle knock on my bedroom door. I croaked out a greeting and the door opened to Gabe, hair mussed and dark smudges under his eyes from the mascara he had been made to wear for the fashion show. He wore loose-fitting grey pants just like Tyler had the night before, but Gabe had a black t-shirt pulled over his chest. He walked over and I scooted up on the bed as he sat at the end, staring at the floor, his newly cut hair falling over his eyes.
“I can’t tell you how sorry I am about last night.”
“It’s okay,” I said, thinking of all the thoughts that must have crashed over him after seeing Isabel again. “I under—”
Gabe shook his head. “No, it’s not okay. Jake told me how I behaved and I keep having these flashbacks. I treated you badly. I embarrassed you.”
“You were upset.” I patted the space beside me, but Gabe remained perched at the bottom of the bed.
“So, you know?” His voice broke and tears welled in his eyes.
I nodded. “Tyler told me.” At Gabe’s expression, I added, “I asked him to.”
Gabe chewed on his bottom lip. “He shouldn’t have. I should have been the one to tell you and he should have known that. It’s not like he doesn’t have things from his past he’s ashamed of. Just ask him about a girl called Claudia. He almost threw his life away for that girl, and he wasn’t even the father.”
“What?” I asked, confused by his mumbled words.
Gabe let out a breath of air and looked up at me hesitantly. “Never mind, it’s just a story Jake told me.” Another sigh. “I’m so sorry. It just all came rushing back. At first, I was so thrilled to see her. All I saw was the first girl who ever made me smile. The first girl who ever saw me as me and not just as an extension of my family. She was the only girl who ever saw me like that, until you.” His eyes met mine briefly. “But then, after the show, when everything was quiet and I had time to think, it just brought back all these memories of her and me and Clark, memories which I’ve tried to block out. I just…” Gabe’s voice fell away to nothing.
“Why did you do it?”
He lifted his eyes to mine, not needing to ask what I was referring to. “I thought I loved her.”
“Did you?” I asked hesitantly.
“I didn’t know what love was.”
“But you do now?” I asked.
“I love you, Lauren. I know I love you,” Gabe stated plainly. “I need you to forgive me.”
“There’s nothing to forgive,” I said, but in my heart, I knew it wasn’t true. I hated the way he treated me the night before. I hated the way he groped me when he was drunk, no thought of how it would make me feel, no thought of his brother watching on. I hated that he turned to violence and drink and not to me.
Gabe lifted himself off the bed and walked closer to me, depositing himself at my feet as I gripped my knees to my chest. “Yes, there is. I hated who I was last night. I was a pig. I was disgusting. I should have never treated you like that. You know it and I know it. Please don’t hate me.”
“Gabe, I could never hate you,” I said, finally meeting his eyes which were still swimming in unshed tears.
Gabe inched closer. “I couldn’t stand it if I hurt you.”
“You didn’t hurt me.” I reached over and cupped his cheek with my hand. He nuzzled against it and kissed the palm, pleading with his lips instead of his words. Kissing his way up my arm, he tugged me closer.
“I need you,” he said hoarsely when I withdrew a fraction. “I need to know you have forgiven me.”
“Of course I have,” I replied.
“I need to feel it,” he said, pulling the covers aside and climbing over me as he pushed me back on the bed. “I love you, Lauren Greer. I need you to know that.”
Gabe brought his mouth down, kissing me tenderly yet passionately, moving his lips against mine, dipping his tongue into my mouth. He groaned and crushed his body to mine so I could feel his hardness pressing on my pelvis through the thin material of his pants. His mouth was glued to my skin, kissing my lips, my jaw, my neck. His hands roamed, taking my breast and applying the slightest amount of pressure.
“I need you,” he said again. “I need you to want me.”
Gabe tugged at the hemline of my nightshirt and I sat up a little as he peeled it from my body. Sitting back so he was resting on my thighs, Gabe stared down at me, naked and exposed, trapped under him, and sighed.
“I want you,” he said, bringing his mouth down to cover my belly button. “I need you.”
He toyed with me, kissing the flesh of my stomach, my thighs, but carefully avoiding the one place on my body that was now screaming for him. Reaching down, he ran a single finger down the slit of my sex, his eyes darkening when he found me wet and ready. “Do you want me?” he asked and began to rub in slow, soft circles.
I nodded, my head pressed into the pillow, eyes closed. Gabe reared over me, his fingers moving more urgently. “Look at me,” he instructed, as he inserted a finger deep inside. I gasped and opened my eyes obediently.
“Do you want me?” he asked again as another finger slipped in. And again, I nodded. Gabe shook his head, removing his fingers and tearing off his shirt and pants. He pressed the tip of his hard cock against my trembling entrance. “I need to hear you say it,” he grunted. I moaned as he rubbed his tip back and forth over my wetness. “Say it,” he begged. “Say you want me. Say you need me.”
My breath came out in short sharp gasps. “I want you,” I said, my mind blocking out everything but the blond haired man-god above me and the way he made me feel. Gabe pushed inside, but not all the way, and I ground against him, my body begging for him to fill me.
“I need you,” I said and he thrust deeply, entering me fully. My eyes locked on his as he rocked in and out, his gaze piercing and demanding, yet at the same time tender with need. Reaching down, he grabbed the back of my thighs and lifted my legs for better access, pulling me further down the bed and closer to him. His eyes fell to where our bodies joined, watching himself slide in and out. Pushing my thighs closer to my chest, he pushed in deeper and I whimpered, unsure whether the sensation was pleasure or pain. Holding himself in place, he started massaging my clit and I squirmed, enjoying the sensation of him hard and full as he pleasured me, urging me into submission with his fingers. He watched me as I came, writhing on his cock as the waves of pleasure washed over me. When I finally collapsed and lay limp beneath him, he withdrew and lay beside me, pulling me close and laying tender kisses on my neck.
“What about you?” I asked, feeling his hardness pressing into my back.
“Not this time,” he said.
I rolled over to face him, taking his face between my hands. “Gabe, I want you.”
He shook his head, pressing a kiss to the tip of my nose. “I don’t deserve it. Not after last night.”
I sat up and pushed him onto his back. His cock lay over his stomach, hard and heavy and ready.
“Lauren,” he said as I started to move my way down his body. “I didn’t want—” His breath came out in a low whistle as I wrapped my mouth around him. “Lauren,” he panted. “I—”
I wasted no time, sucking hard and bobbing my head up and down, my body tingling with the knowledge of how easy it was to pleasure him.
“Lauren, careful,” he warned. “This wasn’t supposed to—”
He groaned and came in my mouth, the warmness of him hitting the back of my throat.
“I needed you too,” I said, after swallowing and wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. I pressed a kiss to his lips and wondered if he could smell himself on my breath.
After showering, we packed our clothes into our bags and headed down the stairs, ready to grab s
ome breakfast before hitting the road. Hamish, Jake, and Billie were already at the table, a box of sweet croissants and a tray of takeaway coffees ready and waiting. Jake glanced between Gabe and me, his eyes holding a question. I nodded ever so slightly and gave him a reassuring smile. His brother was fine. The events of the night before had worn themselves out of his system. I just wondered when they would return again.
Billie sat slumped at the table with her head in her hands. She looked up and half smiled when I sat beside her. “Why do you look so refreshed when I feel like shit?” she asked. “Last night was way too late and involved entirely too much alcohol.”
Hamish, looking groomed, ready for the day and nothing like his wife, reached across and brought her hand to his lips. “You deserved to let your hair down a little. It was a wonderful show.”
She brightened a little at that, a smile replacing her frown. “It was good, wasn’t it?”
I scanned the room searching for any sign of Tyler before sitting down and reaching for one of the coffees.
“And in no small way, it was thanks to you, Gabe. I’m not sure how I’ll ever repay you for filling in.”
“Nonsense,” Hamish said gruffly. “You don’t need to thank the boy. He was happy to do it.”
Gabe rolled his eyes in my direction. “Yes,” he drawled. “Happy to do it.”
Tyler still hadn’t appeared by the time I had eaten a croissant and finished my coffee. “Where’s Tyler?” I asked even as a little guilt ate at my gut for caring.
“He left to go back to the city first thing this morning. He said to say goodbye,” Hamish said.
My heart dropped a little. He had left without saying goodbye.
“But,” Hamish continued. “He did forward on your photos and I must tell you how impressed I am. You have a real eye for the market. In fact,” Hamish said, reaching down and grabbing some paperwork from a briefcase resting on the floor. “I would love it if you would consider taking on a project for me. I already had a photographer lined up, but after seeing your work, I think you’d be a far better option.”