Anybody but Justin

by Shelli Stevens

  “It’d be an awful waste.”

  “Sure would.”

  Gabby scooted over and moved on top of him, settling a leg on each side of his waist. Too tired to sit upright, she slid forward so she lay across his chest.

  “Mmm. I like this,” Justin murmured and slid his arms around her. His fingers chased a lazy pattern up her spine.

  Tingles raced through her and she grew damp between her legs. She nuzzled his neck and breathed in his scent. Traces of soap and sweat. All male.

  “I like this, too.” She pressed her hips hard against his to escape the teasing of his fingers.

  He laughed softly and slid his hand down to cup her ass, squeezing the flesh. Her eyes closed and she bit back a groan.

  “Touch me,” she pleaded.

  His chest lifted below her as he drew in a slow breath and then his hand slipped lower, moving down between the cheeks of her ass to tease the folds of her pussy.

  “Here?” he murmured against her forehead.

  “Yeah.” She parted her thighs wider and he slipped a finger inside her. “Yes. Mmm. Justin.”

  “Were you dreaming about me, honey? You’re already soaked.”

  She bit her lip and smiled against his chest. “Justin, all you have to do is smile and I get wet.”

  His cock jerked against her ass and she laughed.

  “You’ve got some mouth on you, Gab.” He added a second finger to her pussy. The sounds of her wetness filled the room as he fingered her.

  “You know, I bet you’d like my mouth on you,” she murmured and lifted her head to look at him, while her hand reached behind her to wrap around his cock.

  “I bet I would.” His hot gaze narrowed. “And why don’t you swing your pussy around up toward my mouth while you’re doing it.”

  Her pulse tripped and she licked her lips. “I think I can handle that.”

  Gabby slid off his chest, turning her body around so she faced his feet. Her breasts rubbed against his thighs as she wrapped her fingers around his cock.

  Justin gripped each side of her hips and a second later his tongue speared into her pussy.

  A guttural groan spilled from her throat and her eyes floated shut. She leaned down, her hair falling across his leg as she licked the head of his cock.

  His fingers slid over her ass, while his tongue swept over her slit to find the swollen bud of nerves at the top.

  Her hips bucked and she gasped, lowering her mouth again to bring his length into her.

  Justin moaned and the sound vibrated his lips against her clit. Pleasure jolted through her veins, spurred her to find a faster rhythm as she moved her mouth on him.

  He flicked his tongue over her nub, again and again, while his hips lifted his cock deeper into her mouth. She cupped his sac, massaging him harder now.

  The dizzying pleasure swept higher inside her, twisting in her head like a chaotic tornado of sensation. He pushed a finger deep inside her and she exploded. Lights went off in her head as her body trembled.

  She felt Justin’s sac tighten in her hand and then his cock pushed deeper against her throat. He let out a low groan and came, slow and warm in her mouth.

  Still shaken from her own climax, she swallowed all of his release, squeezing his legs until his body went still beneath her and his mouth left her body.

  Gabby pressed her cheek to his thigh and let out a ragged breath.

  “That was pretty amazing,” she muttered.

  “I’ll say.” Justin still stroked her ass. “Come here. I want to hold you.”

  She twisted around until she lay on the bed again, her head resting on his chest and his arm around her.

  “Think you can fall back asleep now?” he asked drowsily.

  “I don’t know.” She gave a soft sigh and closed her eyes. “You keep rubbing my back and maybe.”

  His chest shook with a quiet laugh. “Try to rest a bit. You barely slept.”

  “I’ll try…” She drew in a deep breath, her body heavy and sated from her release and exhaustion.

  With the steady rise and fall of Justin’s chest and his continuous rubbing of her back, it only took her a few minutes before she fell back into slumber.

  The slobbering tongue across her face woke her. Gabby propped herself up in bed, pushing Doug back with a sleepy laugh.

  “Morning, boy.” She ruffled the dog’s ears and glanced to her right, noting the other side of the bed was empty.

  Where was Justin?

  The toilet flushed and her gaze drifted toward the bathroom. A second later the shower turned on followed by Justin belting out an old Alice in Chains song.

  “The man still can’t sing,” she muttered under her breath and climbed out of bed, stretching her muscles.

  She checked the clock and her eyebrows shot to the ceiling. Oh jeez, it was almost noon! She’d been hoping to get back down to the Second Chances house before lunchtime.

  Scrambling for her clothes, she dressed as quickly as possible. She sighed, wishing she had time to have a nice leisurely breakfast with Justin. Thank him profusely for last night and everything he’d done.

  Maybe she’d take him to dinner tonight.

  Her stomach flipped with butterflies, warmth spread through her and a smile twisted her mouth. She placed a hand over her stomach and bit her lip to keep down the giddiness.

  Lord, she was acting like a simpering teenager.

  She slipped into her shoes and grabbed her purse, then headed into the living room.

  Justin’s computer was humming quietly on the coffee table and she cast it a thoughtful glance. Maybe she’d send off a quick email to Delanie and let her know about the situation with her mom.

  Dropping her purse on the couch, she made a quick detour to his laptop. She was about to open another browser, when her gaze landed on his email.

  There was a letter up from Lilly23.

  Close out of his email, Gabby, it’s none of your business.

  Even knowing she should just look away, her gaze drifted over the body of the email.

  Dirty. So dirty. Her stomach rolled. The woman was openly discussing a night they’d spent together. The things she’d done to him, that he’d done to her.

  Close the damn screen, Gabby.

  Beep.

  She jumped at the little bell that dinged on his computer and then saw the source of it as a little white chat box popped up. It was a message from Sweetcheeks4U.

  Hey sexy, you’re online! I owe you breakfast in bed and since you’re up and I’m up...why don’t you come over? Do you still have that key I gave you?

  Her throat tightened with a sudden lump, her stomach churning double-time now. She stood up, her hands shaking.

  What had she been doing again? Her thoughts swirled in a jumbled mess in her head. Oh yes. She was going to email Delanie. Her gaze fell to the laptop again.

  An open email from one woman, discussing their sex life.

  She shook her head. Stop it.

  Another woman IM’ing him to invite him for breakfast and obviously so much more.

  “I can’t deal with this,” she whispered. Grabbing her purse, she ran from the house, slamming the front door shut behind her.

  She came to an abrupt stop on the front porch, her mouth gaping as she stared at the driveway. Her car. It was still at the stadium.

  Her pulse tripped and a panicked whimper escaped. She should just go back inside and wait for Justin to get out of the shower, and then ask him to drive her to her car.

  Justin. She closed her eyes for a moment, her throat thickening with tears.

  That email. The IM.

  You knew this about him, Gabby. You knew what kind of man he is. Only somewhere along the line, she’d changed her mind. Convinced herself he was different. He had changed.

  She opened her eyes again, blinking away the moisture.

  And now it appeared that he hadn’t. And now she’d just become another notch on his proverbial bedpost.

  “God, I fucked up,�
�� she whispered and strode off the porch. She’d walk to the grocery store and call a cab to take her to the office.

  No way was she going back in the house to face Justin. She just couldn’t. Not yet. Not until she had her emotions under control enough to tell him he couldn’t be a part of her life anymore.

  She increased her stride, until she was almost jogging. A cab appeared on the horizon in the oncoming lane, and she scrambled across the street to wave it down.

  A few minutes later, when her pulse had begun to slow and they were speeding toward her office, the tears of anger finally fell.

  Justin turned off the shower and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around his waist.

  Despite the late night they’d had, he wasn’t really tired. In fact, he was in a pretty good mood. And the woman responsible for it was curled up in his bed right now, dead asleep.

  His mouth curled into a smile as he considered the ways he could wake her up. The memory of last night, their lovemaking, flickered through his head.

  Too long. They’d waited entirely too long to bring their relationship to this level.

  He grabbed a comb and ran it through his damp hair, staring at the image in the mirror. He loved her. He’d suspected it for the last six months. One big clue had been that his desire to date other women had been completely extinguished.

  There’d only been Gabby. In his head and in his heart. Last night had cemented that realization for him.

  He set down the comb and pulled open the bathroom door, eager to touch her again. His gaze drifted to the empty bed and his brows drew downward.

  She’d woken up?

  He crossed the room, heading for the kitchen. She’d probably just gone to make coffee or fix them some breakfast.

  But arriving in the kitchen, he only found Doug, chowing down on the bowl of food he’d been fed earlier.

  Where was she?

  Some of the tension eased from his body and he sighed. Her mother. She’d wanted to go see her mom first thing.

  He knew that was likely the case, but something still didn’t add up. Her car wasn’t here. She would have had to call a cab. Why didn’t she just wait for him to get out of the shower?

  His gut clenched and he shook his head. Picking up his cell phone, he dialed her number. As had been the result so many times in the past six months, she didn’t answer. Her voicemail eventually picked up, instructing him to leave his name and number.

  He left a quick message, not caring that he sounded a bit terse and on edge. Hell, she’d put him on it. What was the deal?

  He walked to the fridge then tugged open the door and stared absently inside.

  In the two years they’d lived together, he’d never suspected the secret she’d kept hidden about her mother. His throat tightened and he shook his head. What kind of childhood did she have?

  Just remembering the distrust and bruises on Gabby’s mom’s face sent a wave of anger through him. Gabby told him last night that her dad had never hit her, but he wasn’t quite sure he believed her. He knew the little signals she’d make when she wasn’t being one-hundred percent truthful.

  He gave a soft curse. God, he wanted to see her. Talk to her more about it this morning, without the exhaustion and when they were both functioning on a normal level.

  Why hadn’t he insisted on going to the Second Chances home last night instead of letting her talk him into waiting at the administrative office?

  He could understand her reasoning. It was protocol. The location of the house wasn’t just given out to anyone. And unfortunately that meant he had no way to get a hold of her this afternoon.

  Which meant he was shit out of luck. At least for a few hours. She’d drop by later. She would.

  Realizing the fridge still remained open and he was no closer to making a decision on what to eat, he reached in and grabbed the eggs.

  If he didn’t hear from her tonight, he’d drop by the administrative office tomorrow.

  Justin pulled up in front of the office of Second Chances and climbed out of his truck. His gaze slid over the parking lot and he bit back a sigh, not seeing Gabby’s car anywhere.

  Still, he’d come all the way down here. He may as well see if she’d come into the office today. She hadn’t returned his phone calls—and he’d left more than one message.

  He’d even dropped by her apartment, and even though he’d seen her car outside, she hadn’t answered the door.

  If he were a smarter guy, he would’ve taken the hint. She was completely blowing him off. Everything. Their friendship. The night they’d become lovers. Him overall.

  He walked to the glass door to the complex and rang the buzzer, since the doors were kept locked.

  Almost a minute passed before a woman with short blonde hair approached. The door swung open and she gave him a slight smile.

  “Can I help you?”

  “I’m looking for Gabby, has she been in today?”

  “I’m sorry, no…” She hesitated and something like sympathy flickered in her eyes. “I can leave her a message if you’d like.”

  “I realize she doesn’t work Sundays,” he persisted. “But I know her mother was taken to the safe house a couple of nights ago, and I just thought maybe she—”

  “I’m sorry, sir.” The woman’s gaze became shuttered and her tone cooled. “I’m really not able to discuss this with you, which I’m sure you understand.”

  The air hissed out from between his teeth and he gave a sharp nod. Christ, this had gotten him nowhere.

  “Of course. If you could…” He thrust a hand into his hair. Hell, he wasn’t convinced that Gabby wasn’t sitting in the back office avoiding him. But why? “If you could just tell her Justin stopped by and is looking for her.”

  The woman’s expression turned speculative as she gave a slight nod.

  “Of course. Have a good day, Justin.” Without any further pleasantries, she pushed the door shut, the electric whir informing him that it had locked again.

  He turned away and glanced back over the parking lot. What the hell could he do now?

  His chest tightened and frustration ate heavy in his stomach. She was in there. He’d bet his last dollar on it.

  Justin strode back to his truck and sat down inside. He’d just wait for her, she’d come out eventually.

  It wasn’t even a half hour later when the door to the building opened. Gabby was halfway across the parking lot before she looked up and saw him.

  He watched her eyes widen and her steps falter, but he had to give her credit for not turning to run back inside.

  When he stood just inches from her, he could see the nervousness and regret in her eyes.

  “What are you doing here, Justin? I thought you’d left.” She folded her arms across her chest.

  At least she made no pretense at having known he’d been at the door awhile ago.

  “We need to talk, Gabby.”

  “Do we?” She cleared her throat and lowered her gaze. “Okay, maybe you’re right. We should.”

  His pulse jumped and some of the tension left his shoulders.

  “First, how’s your mom?”

  She looked up and he saw the relief in her gaze. “She’s good. Still at the safe house—which is good. I was half afraid she’d leave soon after we got her in.”

  “That’s great. I’m glad to hear it.”

  “Me too.” She nodded. “I just hope she stays.”

  Justin paused, relieved that she was at least talking to him. “Why don’t we go have lunch? We can talk—”

  “I’d rather not blow my lunch hour on this.” Her shoulders tensed. “What I need to say will only take a minute.”

  What she needed to say? The tension crept right back into his muscles. There was something about the way she’d said those words and how she wouldn’t meet his gaze.

  “Okay. Go ahead then.”

  “I think we both know that sleeping together was inevitable. It was bound to happen at some point—though I really did try to avoi
d it,” she said, her voice lacking much emotion. “But now that it’s happened, I can admit we made a mistake.”

  “A mistake?” The word hissed from his throat. His gut twisted. Was she serious?

  “And at this time…” she went on, but seemed to hesitate over the next words. “I’m really not comfortable seeing you anymore, Justin. In any context.”

  In any context. He blinked, completely at a loss at her statement. In any context translated to get out of my life.

  “Gabby, you can’t be serious. We’re—”

  “I’ve said what I needed to say,” she interrupted warily, lifting a hand, but still not meeting his gaze. “I was hoping to do this in a less abrupt manner, but you’ve kind of backed me into a corner.”

  “I see.” His mouth tightened and a small tic started in his jaw.

  “Maybe someday down the road we can talk.”

  “Don’t count on it. Like you just pointed out, you already said what you needed to say,” he muttered and shoved his hand into his pocket, wrapping his fingers around his keys. “Have a good life, Gabby.”

  Her head snapped up now, her eyes wide. He wasn’t sure if there was a hint of moisture in her gaze, because she blinked before he could analyze it.

  Not like it mattered. He turned away from her and strode back to his truck.

  Last night had meant nothing to her. She was the fucking love of his life, and to her he was a mistake.

  He kicked a rock across the parking lot and climbed into his truck, gunning the engine.

  He backed up and, as he sped out of the parking lot, he lifted his gaze to the rearview mirror. Gabby stood exactly where he’d left her, watching him leave.

  A bitter taste rose in his mouth and he drew in an unsteady breath, wishing his heart didn’t feel like it was being gouged out with a dozen dull spoons.

  He tore his gaze from her image and focused on the road ahead of him. Looking back sure as hell wouldn’t do any good.

  Chapter Eight

  Delanie glanced up when Gabby returned to the office. “That was fast. I thought you were going to grab us some sushi?”

  “Oh. Right.” Gabby pressed a hand to her forehead and frowned. Her heart raced so fast she was feeling a bit lightheaded.