Level Up

by Hadley Quinn

  She was already short of breath, totally turned on by him. “You’re evil!” she yelled after him.

  He laughed at the top of the stairs. “You sound breathless. Mission accomplished. “

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  They left at eight o’clock the next morning. Ava decided that since Gabe was coming, she wanted him to spend part of the day in Seattle with her. It was kind of exciting, being out and about with him. She’d only known him at the lake house, so this was something new.

  Gabe drove them in his truck and they talked about where they each grew up, the schools they went to, and pretty much anything else that was normal to talk about with someone you were getting to know.

  Ava learned that he’d grown up really poor—the complete opposite of her—and his dad was a drunk. His mom had left them when he was only seven and later on died from a drug overdose, and his older half-brother ended up running away from home at the age of fifteen. Gabe was only ten, left alone with an angry, abusive father, and another brother that was only a year younger than him. His brother, Alex, was the one that drowned at age sixteen, but Gabe didn’t share any more information on that. He was still reluctant to talk about it.

  The military was his only choice to get the hell out of there. After Alex died, Gabe just needed to escape his father entirely. He wanted to get an education. He’d been working on a friend’s farm since he was fourteen years old, but he needed more.

  The army was his refuge for a couple of years. It was a piece of cake for him though. He excelled at everything he did and the superior officers took note. He was stationed for specific assignments and he did it without a thought. Why not? He needed a challenge in his life and it was an opportunity that was being set right in front of him.

  “So was it what you thought it would be?” Ava asked him. They were just pulling into a parking space down from Pike Place market.

  He turned off the ignition and shrugged. “I guess. I mean I knew what it was going to consist of physically, and of course you have an idea of what it might consist of overall. But I guess you can’t plan for the emotional turmoil some of those things are going to cause. You go in there knowing you’re going to lose some men along the way, but you don’t expect the bond you build with some of them—the things you go through together. It seems impossible that you would ever be closer to another human being.”

  She didn’t respond. Now and then Gabe would expound on a question when she wasn’t expecting it. Usually she’d get a short answer like ‘uh huh,’ ‘not really’ or ‘sure.’ Then he’d get that look on his face, like he was far away or deep in thought, and she wouldn’t press. But every so often he would give her more.

  She was beginning to see a pattern, though. She believed that he was easier going when they were doing something active. He shared a few things with her about his family while they’d been kayaking, and now while they were about to go for a walk around the market. She felt that distraction helped him keep things light.

  It was at night when he struggled. He was quieter and wouldn’t open up. It seemed like he was more vulnerable during those hours. He admitted to her that he didn’t sleep well because of nightmares, and she realized that was why nighttime always made him tense. He was anxious about what it would bring.

  The first night they were together, he didn’t sleep a wink. He was afraid of freaking her out in the middle of the night. He stayed awake so that wouldn’t happen. He shared that with her while they were kayaking, so when the boats were put away, she sent him home to take a nap while she took care of other things in the house, and even did a bit of painting. But he didn’t sleep later that night either, when she was over once again and they’d made love twice before she fell asleep on his couch. He’d carried her to bed, but didn’t sleep in it himself.

  “You come down here often?” he asked, breaking her thoughts. They were walking through the market, hand in hand.

  She shook her head. “Not really. Once in a while I guess. Same with Mariners games.”

  “You like baseball?”

  “Yeah,” she nodded. “I like any sport, really. Well, I mean all the main ones.”

  “Baseball, football, basketball, hockey…”

  “Yep. What’s your favorite sport?”

  “Definitely a football fan. Basketball only if it’s college.”

  “I agree there. I follow the Huskies—football and basketball. It’s my school.”

  “You go to many games?”

  “Not really,” she smiled. “I mostly spent my time working to pay for school itself. But I’m doing okay lately, now that I’m not enrolled anymore. I’ve been teaching more art classes on the side and I’ve sold more of my work. My finances are…decent.”

  “I’d like to see more of your work.”

  “You can check it out at my house when we stop there before the party.”

  “Hmm, can I check you out as well?”

  She pretended to seriously consider it. “Maybe.”

  “Too bad I already check you out any damn time I want.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Maybe I let you get away with too much.”

  He smiled and then slowly shrugged. “You can’t help it.”

  She stopped and pulled him close for a kiss. “No, I guess I can’t. As long as my checking out privileges are just as abundant.”

  “Your assets are abundant,” he murmured as he nibbled on her lip. He lightly squeezed her ass and deliberately pushed her chest into his.

  “I’m going to grope you right in the middle of the market,” she warned.

  “Ava, don’t tease me like that.”

  She laughed as he took her hand again and they continued walking.

  After eating a late lunch down on the waterfront, Ava pointed the way to her house in Wallingford. She knew it wasn’t too impressive, but she did her best to take care of it. She couldn’t always get to all the repairs, though. She even tripped on her own front step going up to the porch.

  “I can fix that for you,” Gabe said. She was going to wave it off but he was already on a knee giving it a look. “It would take about fifteen minutes.”

  She smiled. “Not today. Come inside.”

  He followed her in and she watched him look around. She had no idea what he would think of her house after seeing so much of her father’s beautiful vacation home.

  “I bought a fixer upper,” she informed him. “I probably shouldn’t have because of the amount of work, but I just really liked this place and it was cheap. I’m trying to fix it up to sell, hopefully for a profit. If it goes well I think I’ll do it again. I’ve done a lot so far, even though you probably can’t tell.”

  “Oh, I can tell,” he said, lifting a hand to the new molding around the door. His eyes traveled up to the crown molding around the ceiling and he nodded. “That looks nice. You did that?”

  “I shot it up there, yeah. But no, I didn’t actually shape it. I don’t have the equipment for that.”

  His smile brought her back to her earlier thoughts. She stepped to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Wanna see all the things I’ve done to my bedroom?”

  He grinned and picked her up. “Show me the way.”

  “Upstairs, second door to the left,” she mumbled through his kisses.

  He actually did look around her room when he carefully dumped her onto the bed. “New paint and carpet,” he observed as he stretched over the top of her. “And a sexy naked resident in just a few seconds.”

  “And a sexy naked bedmate… This place is improving by the second.”

  He kissed her all over while he removed her clothing, and then she did the same to him. She kind of took on the “my domain, my decisions” approach and totally took charge of their playtime. She knew he liked it, too. He had just finished up paying her back for the favors when the doorbell rang.

  “You expecting someone?” he asked, exhaling a deep breath. He’d just told her he’d been completely satisfied and ready to enjoy some downti
me before another round.

  “No.” She got up to look out the window, careful to hide behind the curtains. “Oh, shit,” she moaned when she saw the car.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “It’s my mom.” The bell rang again. “She knows I’m here because of the truck in the driveway. God, how does she do that? Does she have some kind of surveillance on my house to know when I come home?” She’d said it jokingly, but sometimes she really did wonder. “And she’s not going to leave until she sees me,” she added.

  Gabe sat up and pulled on his boxers. “Um, so…?”

  She shrugged. “I’ll get dressed and chase her off. Hopefully she’s still not able to go to Christian’s party.”

  She threw her clothes on quickly as the doorbell rang again. She rolled her eyes and Gabe said, “Persistent. Just like her daughter.”

  She swung a pillow at him, smacking him in the arm. “Watch it, buddy.”

  He grinned. “Don’t be giving me that sexy glare. I’ll take you over my knee.”

  She paused. “Really?

  With a laugh he shoved her toward the door. “Yes, if you can fend off mom for a minute, this home improvement expert will be looking at your bathroom tile, right?”

  It was a good idea so she went with it.

  Claudia was about to lay an egg on the front porch by the time Ava got there. “What in the hell are you doing?” she exclaimed.

  “Jeez, Mom. Did you consider I might be in the shower? Or going to the bathroom?”

  She gave her daughter a judgmental eye because she knew something was up. She stepped inside without waiting for an invitation and asked, “Well what were you doing?”

  “I was trying to make a decision about the tile in my bathroom.”

  “Whose truck is that in the driveway?”

  “The guy that’s going to help me do it.”

  She studied her closely. “Ava, where is your car?”

  Oh shit. She hadn’t thought about that. It was time to come clean, but Gabe came down the stairs at that moment. For some reason Ava was surprised that he had a shirt on. She was so used to him not having one on when they were at the lake.

  Her mom examined him like she was about to perform brain surgery. “Hello,” she said, tight lipped and wary.

  Gabe returned the greeting as she looked to Ava for an introduction.

  “Mom, this is Gabe. Gabe, this is my mother, Claudia Carmichael.”

  “It’s nice to meet you,” he said, extending a hand.

  Claudia barely gripped his fingers to shake it. “And you’re a handyman?” she inquired.

  He was about to respond affirmatively, but Ava intervened and said, “Gabe’s my boyfriend.”

  There, it was out. She wasn’t ashamed in the least bit, but she hated for her mother to meet any guy that she was seeing.

  Claudia scrutinized him even closer, narrowing her eyes at the thought that her daughter was dating someone and she didn’t know about it. “Boyfriend?” she asked, now looking at Ava. “Since when? I regret being rude,” she said, shifting her gaze back to Gabe, “but I’ve not heard a single word about you.”

  “Just a couple of weeks, Mom. But we were just getting ready to leave so if you don’t mind—”

  “I don’t mind keeping you for a few minutes,” she interrupted. And she meant it. Her mom never believed that anything was more important than herself. She turned to Gabe and asked, “And where do you live, Gabe?”

  He met her piercing stare and answered, “Well, I was born in Maryland. But I’ve lived in a lot of places since I’m—”

  “Maryland?” she almost spit out. “The east coast?” When no one answered because of the rhetorical nature of the question she asked, “And what brings you here? And how did the two of you meet? And where?” Her tone turned more cynical by the syllable.

  “Gabe’s in the military, Mom.”

  “The mil—?”

  “We met at the lake, he’s my date to Christian’s party, and I really need to head out to run a couple of errands before we go.”

  Claudia looked both of them up and down. “Surely you’re not going dressed like th—”

  “Of course not,” Ava scoffed. Her mom was always so irritating over the stupidest things!

  “Well I can’t make the Harper’s party,” she said. “How about we get together for brunch tomorrow?”

  “Gabe’s leaving town tonight. Sorry.”

  Ava was ushering her to the door successfully but then Claudia stopped. “Nonsense. You can stay in town one night, can’t you?” she asked Gabe directly. “You can choose from three guest bedrooms in my house. Ava can get you settled in after the party.”

  “I appreciate the offer, ma’am, but I really can’t—”

  “See you tonight,” she waved as she dramatically stepped over one of the broken boards on the porch.

  Ava shut the door and only looked at Gabe as if to say, “See what I have to put up with?”

  He shrugged with a smile. “I didn’t get around to telling her that I only sleep on the dirt ground under a tree.”

  She laughed, so grateful that he had such a good sense of humor. “You mean you actually felt a bit Neanderthal under that scrutiny?”

  “Well, I’m not sure how else to be something I’m not.”

  She shook her head with disagreement. “Well, you seem to read my mother well.”

  “Just from things you’ve said. But… I am a little surprised you unloaded the whole boyfriend thing on her. She was trying not to shit her pants.”

  Ava flushed with embarrassment. “I’m sorry if that was totally presumptuous of me. I know we’re not, uh…”

  He lifted an eyebrow. “Not what?” he asked.

  “Not, um, dating or whatever. I mean I know just because, uh, just because we’ve been together doesn’t make you my, uh…”

  “Your what?”

  She finally caught the little smirk he was hiding and she wanted to react. But she kept her embarrassed smile and turned it into a solid answer. “My boy toy.”

  He lost his teasing manner instantly and slightly narrowed his eyes. “A boy toy, huh?”

  “I’ve always wanted one, so thank you,” she added with a wink.

  “Glad I could be of service,” he replied evenly.

  “I’m glad too,” she said, biting back a smile. But he could read through her tone on that one because she couldn’t hold it together anymore. She laughed out loud. “A boy toy? Oh my God…”

  He stepped to her with a gruff yet playful glare. “I’ll show you boy toy,” he growled in her ear. But he wrapped his arms around her and just held her tight. “Boy toy seems a little casual, don’t you think? If I’m not mistaken, you are completely infatuated with me.”

  She snorted out a laugh, but what could she say? “Yeah, you’re right,” she agreed.

  He kissed the top of her head. “Ditto on that, honey. And if being your boy toy means you’re mine, then I’ll gladly have you as my girl. Never thought otherwise.”

  Hearing him say that felt completely amazing but she didn’t know how to respond. “So my mom is super awesome, right?” she teased, changing the subject. “Just to warn you now—since you’re my boyfriend and all that—she’s impossible to please, so don’t even try. And I don’t plan on being around her much anyway, for both of our sakes.”

  He barely shrugged as he pulled away to see her face. “Well, do what you need to do when it comes to family. I’m no expert, so I’ll support you however. I do know that she hates me, though,” he grinned. “That was a given. I’ve seen that ‘keep your enemies closer’ gleam she had in her eye far too many times.”

  Ava shook her head with a smile, but she couldn’t disagree. “And she didn’t even see all of your tattoos. No offense, sweetie, but—”

  “None taken,” he shook his head. “I can tell the type.”

  She sighed. “Well, at least that’s out of the way. Sorry if that was uncomfortable. You did well, though.”
<
br />   “Yay me, big boy.”

  If she didn’t know him, she would think that he was mocking her praise. But she knew he was agitated with himself instead. The instant he was introduced to anyone, the questions began to fly and he became uncomfortable. She knew it would only get worse as the evening progressed.

  “I only want to be at the party for an hour,” she assured him. “I promise.”

  “Eat and run?” he smiled.

  “Basically.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Gabe had no idea why he was doing this. Going to a rich kid’s birthday party? He wanted to change his mind, but Ava had been so excited that he’d agreed to go and he couldn’t bear to disappoint her.

  The Harper’s had rented the ballroom of the Marriott for their son’s party. Gabe had been a little disgruntled when he found out it wasn’t a casual event and that he was actually required to wear a tie.

  Bullshit. He followed a strict code except when it came to impressing rich people. They could kiss his ass.

  Ava saw the dress clothes that he’d brought with him because he’d made her okay his choice, but damn… When he put it on later that evening, she looked like she wanted to fuck him right then and there. He’d foregone the tie and just left the top two buttons open on his button-up shirt, but holy hell she acted like she wanted to devour him.

  Maybe putting on a suit wasn’t so bad after all.

  “Again, you look gorgeous in that dress,” he whispered in Ava’s ear as they entered the hotel. “But I can’t wait to get you out of it.”

  She stifled a laugh as the hostess checked her name off a list.

  Chelsea saw them come in immediately and rushed over to give Ava a hug. She obviously wasn’t so sure about Gabe being there—Chelsea was eyeing him carefully, like she didn’t trust him—but he did his best to ignore her. He didn’t waste his time coddling people that didn’t like him and Chelsea was no exception.

  “Oh my God, you look amazing!” Chelsea screeched at Ava. She stood back to look at them both and her eyes rested on Gabe. “You clean up nice,” she told him casually. “I wouldn’t take you as the tie-wearing type anyway, so I’m not surprised by the rebellion.”