I needed to find out what the fuck was going on.
*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*
Chapter 26
Gwen
I needed to order more bleach and rubber gloves. I chewed the end of the pen and glanced around the shop. I had only turned on the back lights over the supply area, and the rest of the salon was dimly lit.
Demon had pulled up in front of the shop over two hours ago. He had knocked on the door, told me he would be out front if I needed him and that was where he had stayed.
I had done inventory on everything in the shop, and now I had nothing to distract me from thinking about Gambler. I had run, plain and simple. He had scared the shit out of me with talk of his mom. He had mentioned it before, but I had ended up working late so I was hoping it would be forgotten. Obviously not.
I plopped down in a chair and slowly spun myself around. Time to sort shit out in my head.
Question 1. Was I over Matt? (I had to start at the root of my problem.)
Answer. Hell Yes.
Question 2. Was I over what Matt did to me? i.e. Lie for years.
Answer. Undecided. Although I was over Matt, I think I really wasn’t over the fact someone could lie to me for so long, and I was the idiot that couldn’t tell. I think that was what I was most worried about happening again. If Gambler lied to me, I probably wouldn’t be able to tell. Apparently, when I love someone, I’m blinded to the point where I think they’re perfect.
So, was I over what Matt had done to me? No.
Question 3. Gambler hadn’t lied to me yet, so why was I punishing him for what Matt had done to me?
Answer. Because I was too fucking terrified it would happen again. Damn Matt. He really screwed me up.
Question 4. Did I want to be with Gambler? (This question was a doozy.)
Answer. Yes. Wait, did I really just admit to it that fast? I put my foot down and stopped spinning. I think I had just had a major breakthrough.
I wanted to be with Gambler. I really did. Now how the hell was I going to tell him that after I basically just ran away?
I looked out the window and saw another shop truck pull up. Fuck. Gambler got out and walked over to Demon. Looked like I wasn’t going to have to wait very long to tell Gambler. Shit.
*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*
Gambler
I lasted a whole two hours before I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Dammit, you couldn’t have waited another twenty minutes before you showed up?” Demon cursed as I walked up to his truck.
“Two hours was long enough. Who won the bet?” I knew those fuckers back at the clubhouse would find some way to bet on my misery.
“Fucking Speed won. Cyn, Meg, and Marley even got in on the action. The pot was fucking big, brother. It would have been nice to have that extra cushion in my wallet.”
“What she been up to in there?” I asked, looking over my shoulder at the salon.
“Looked like she was counting shit for a while, and she just sat down a couple of minutes ago. And from the look on her face, I’d say she just saw you.”
“Yeah, I think you might be right,” I laughed. Gwen was sitting in one of the barber chairs, sprawled out on it, her foot pushing her back and forth. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and she looked pissed. “Maybe I should drive around the block a couple of times. See if she’ll cool off a bit more.”
She got up from the chair, walked to the front door, unlocked it and sat back down. “I’m pretty sure she wants you to go in. Now, I can’t tell if she wants to apologize or kill you,” Demon laughed.
“Alright, you staying here or heading back?”
“I’ll hang here for a bit. Maybe grab some Chinese from down the street.”
“Sounds good, I might need you for backup if Gwen decides to kick my ass.”
Demon laughed and started up the truck. “I think you’ll be good, brother, just listen to her. I’m gonna grab some food, and I’ll be back.”
Demon headed down the street, and I turned back to the salon. Gwen was staring me down, waiting. I crossed the street and stood in front of the door. “Just listen,” I mumbled to myself.
I pulled the door open and locked it behind me.
“Making it so I can’t get out?”
“Um, no. Making it so I can’t get out.”
“Hmm,” she hummed. I sat down in the chair next to her and spun around so I was facing her.
“Get some work done?”
“I did inventory. I haven’t done it since summer, so it needed to be done.”
I nodded my head and slowly spun around in my chair. “I was worried about you.”
“You didn’t need to, I had Demon watching me.”
“I know. King sent him. He was worried about you being alone.”
She put her foot on my chair when I was face to face with her, stopping me from spinning. “King sent him, or you did?”
“King did, although if he hadn’t, I would have.”
“Why did you come then if you knew that Demon was making sure I was safe?”
“I came to collect on the two bets you lost.” A grin spread across my lips as it dawned on her I could ask her to do anything I wanted. Twice.
“You don’t play fair, Gambler.”
“I never said I did, doll.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and stared me down. Even pissed off Gwen was hot. “Spit it out, what do you want?”
“Well,” I ran my fingers through my hair and grinned. “I could use a haircut, free of charge of course.”
“That’s what you want, a haircut?”
“For the first one, don’t forget about the second bet you lost.”
Gwen growled but didn’t say anything. She got up from her chair and walked to the mirror that was in front of my chair. “I have to admit I didn’t think you were going to say haircut.”
“Well, I figured, we’re in a salon, you’re a hairdresser, what better place to do it?”
She grabbed a cape, shook it out and snapped it over my shoulders. “I guess I can’t argue with that logic.” She spun me around to face the mirror and ran her fingers through my hair. “How short do you want it?”
“Up to you, doll. I trust you.” She hummed as she grabbed a comb, spray bottle and scissors from the counter and wet my hair. “Now, time for the second bet you lost.”
“Really, while I’m cutting your hair?” She set the spray bottle down and started cutting.
“Yeah, I think it’s a perfect time.”
“You know I could accidentally chop off all your hair right now?”
“There’s that attitude I love so much.”
“Hmm, just spit out what you want.”
“Tell me why you’re scared. Tell me why you ran. Tell me who the hell I have to beat up for making you doubt falling in love with me.”
Her scissors stopped mid cut and her eyes connected with mine. “Ugh, that’s three questions.”
“Tell me, Gwen. I want to know. I need to know.”
She licked her lips and looked back at my hair. She started cutting my hair again but didn’t talk. It took her almost five minutes before she said anything. “His name was Matt.”
“Tell me more, doll.”
“I met him when I was a teenager. He moved next door to me when I was fifteen. I fell in love with him the second I saw him.” I growled low in my throat but didn’t say anything.
“I was with him for six years.”
“That’s a mighty long time, doll.”
“Yeah,” she murmured. “Six years too long.” She worked on my hair, cutting the sides, combing them over. “Everything was good for five years. Matt was the perfect boyfriend. He’s the one who got me into riding. The first time I rode on his motorcycle I wanted one of my own.”
“I didn’t know you wanted to ride, doll.”
“Yup. I planned on getting one when I graduated, but life just kept getting in the way. Riding on
the back of yours had made me get the itch again to get on one again.”
“We’ll get you set up this summer. Chicks who ride are hot,” I winked at her in the mirror, and she laughed.
“Maybe. I kind of like being on the back of yours.” That sounded promising. I wasn’t going to be back on my bike until April, and that was five months away.
“So what happened, doll?”
I watched her in the mirror as she ran my hair through her fingers, enjoying her touch. “Matt told me he was going to a party one night, but I had to work late, so he went by himself.” Uh oh, this did not sound like it was going to end well. “I ended up getting off early and decided to head out to the party he was at.” She set her scissors down in front of the mirror and ran the comb through my hair. “It was one of our friends that was throwing the party. The friend had told me he had seen Matt arrive about an hour before, but he hadn’t seen him in a bit. I just wandered around looking for him. Then I opened a bedroom door and walked in on two guys kissing.”
“So you didn’t find Matt?”
Gwen laughed and shook her head. “Oh, I found him alright. He was one of the guys who was kissing.”
What the fuck! “He was bi? Did you know?”
“That would be a negative. It never once crossed my mind in five years that Matt was gay. He was the perfect bad boy. Rough around the edges with just the right amount of sweet. I’m sure his boyfriend, Juan, appreciates it.” A laugh bubbled out of her, a smirk on her lips.
“So, you said you were with him for six years, but you found him with a guy a year before that.”
“Yeah, about that. I was an idiot and stayed with him because he was too afraid to tell anyone.”
“Pretty selfish of him to ask you to stay with him.”
“It’s not like he made me. It wasn’t exactly a hard thing to do either. He was my best friend and my boyfriend for so long that he just stopped being my boyfriend and stayed my friend. At least for that last year.” She tossed the comb in front of me and propped her hands on her hips. “All done.” She unsnapped the cape and whipped it off me. She tossed in the chair she was sitting in before and watched me in the mirror.
I turned my head to the left and right, checking out what she had done. My eyes connected with hers, and I nodded my head. “Pretty fucking good, doll. You should do this full-time.”
She laughed swatting me on the shoulder. “I just might do that.”
She worked on cleaning the scissor and comb, putting everything back where it belonged, and I watched her. “So, you think I have this big secret that is going to push you away, right?”
“I don’t know. I think I have a little self-doubt in myself, too. Paige swears she knew there was something off about Matt, but she could never put her finger on it.” She turned around and leaned against the small counter in front of the mirror. “I had no indication at all until I saw Matt getting it on with another guy, that he was gay. Never saw it coming.”
“Doll, you can’t blame yourself for the fact that he lied to you for so long.”
She shrugged her shoulders and turned back around. “I gave him everything I had, and he lied to me the whole time. I can’t do that again.”
“So you’re never going to trust anyone again?”
“It’s less painful that way.”
I grabbed her hand and tugged her into my lap. She straddled my lap, and I saw there were tears in her eyes. “Doll, he’s not worth your tears.”
“I know that,” she sniffed. “I stopped crying over him a long time ago.”
“Then why the tears?”
“Because I’m afraid to love you, but I’m afraid to lose you.” She wiped her eyes and smiled. “I think this is what they call being stuck between a rock and a hard place.”
“Gwen, do you want to be with me?”
“Yes. Completely.” Yes!
“Then stop worrying about everything else. I can promise I don’t have a huge secret that no one knows that is going to rip us apart. You know about Evie, and that is something I never tell anyone.”
She reached up, cupping my cheek. “I’m sorry about your sister,” she whispered.
And this was why I loved Gwen. Hard as nails, but the most loving woman. “Thank you, baby.” I leaned into her hand, relishing her touch. Whenever she freely touched me, it was like a small battle won. “I miss her every day, but it helped me realize I needed to live my life how I wanted because you never knew when it was going to be taken away.”
“You know what you want, and you take it,” she smiled big, “me included.”
“Yeah, doll. You are the one thing I know I want. Now, tomorrow, fifty years from now. I need you.”
“I’m terrified, Gambler. Except I can’t say no anymore. I say I don’t want to fall in love with you when I already have.”
My body went still at her words. She was crying again, but she had a huge grin on her face. She already loved me?
She already loved me.
Thank you, God.
*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*’*
Chapter 27
Gwen
I waited.
Then I waited some more. Gambler just stared at me, not saying a word. Okay, I might regret just telling him that I loved him. Except wasn’t that what he wanted me to do? Let go of worrying and just go for it. Well, I loved him.
“Now would be a good time to say something.”
“Pants off, now.”
I reared back, pushing against his chest and looked at him like he was crazy. “What the hell do you mean pants off? That’s not exactly the thing you say to someone when they tell you they love you for the first time.”
“It is when I want to be inside you the first time I say it.” He bucked his hips under me, prompting me to get up. I scurried off his lap and watched as he unzipped his pants. “Ten seconds, doll.”
I scrambled out of my pants because I knew the tone in his voice. Gambler wasn’t playing. I loved when he talked to me like that. He knew what he wanted from me, and he was going to take it. This man drove me crazy in the best way possible.
“Shirt, too. I want to see you.”
“Gambler, the damn street is right there.” I dropped my pants to the floor and stepped out of them.
“Worry about me, not the damn street. Shirt, now.”
I grabbed the hem and pulled it over my head. “You’re crazy. Absolutely insane.”
“But you love me,” he smirked. He leaned forward and pulled his shirt over his head. “Hop on, doll.”
Sitting in my salon chair, Gambler was naked as the day he was born with a raging hard-on. I was never going to be able to look at this chair again without blushing. I stood between his legs and reached for his dick. He may want me to climb up, but first, I wanted to have my own fun. His cock was hard, throbbing and hot in my hand. I stroked him up and down as he groaned under my touch. I sunk down to my knees and licked my lips.
“Oh my fucking God,” he growled as I leaned forward and slid his dick all the way to the back of my throat. “Damn, your mouth is perfect, doll.”
I glanced up, my eyes connecting with his as he watched his dick disappear in and out of my mouth. My tongue stroked him as I sped up, my head bobbing up and down.
He threaded his fingers through my hair and gripped my head. He took control, setting the pace. “I’ll die without you,” he whispered, closing his eyes.
I swallowed as he hit the back of my throat, and he moaned low and deep. He sat forward, lifting my head up. “Ride me, now,” he demanded. I stood up, and he grabbed my hips, pulling me onto his lap.
“I wanted you to cum in my mouth,” I purred, grabbing his dick. I stroked him up and down, as I licked my lips, his eyes watching my every move.
“Next time, I need to be in that tight pussy.”
I rose up on my knees that were on either side of his body and slowly slid down on his cock, filling me. I leaned forward, my forehead resting against Gambler’s forehead
. “Tell me again why I ran away from this?” I laughed.
Gambler grabbed my ass and squeezed. “Doll, right now all I can think about is how tight your pussy is around my dick. Fuck the past, this, right here,” he thrust his hips up, “is all I’m worried about.”
I grabbed onto his shoulders, slowly pushing myself up. “Then you forgive me?” I held myself up, just the tip of his cock in me.
“Are you withholding that pussy from me until I say yes?”
“Tell me you love me.”
“No,” he growled, his hands holding my hips, his fingers digging into me. “Give me that pussy.”
I shook my head, no, but he thrust his hips, slamming back into me. I moaned as he bottomed out, “Not fair.”
“I don’t see you complaining too much, doll,” he gritted out. His jaw was clenched as he lifted me off then thrust up and he brought me back down. My eyes shut, and my head rolled to the side as I fell into a haze of desire. He leaned forward, trailing kisses up my collar bone. “This needs to come off.” He nipped at my bra, pulling the strap down with his teeth.
I reached behind me, unhooking the bra and tossed it on the floor. “You do realize anyone walking by can see me, right?” I purred, cupping my breasts as I looked out the window.
“No one is going to walk by. Eyes to me,” he growled.
My eyes snapped to him, and a grin spread across my lips. “You’re awfully demanding.”
“We’ve gone over this before. I’m demanding when it’s something I want. Right now, I want you.” He leaned forward, his mouth devouring my breast. His hands stayed on my hips, helping to move me up and down on his dick.
“Don’t stop,” I moaned. Gambler sped up, bouncing me up and down, grunting each time I slid back down. I grabbed onto his shoulders, steadying myself. I dug my knees into the chair and held on.
“Say it,” he growled.
“No,” I moaned. I tossed my head back, moaning as he took me closer and closer to the edge with each thrust.
“Tell me you love me.”
I shook my head no, unable to talk. I don’t know how Gambler did it, but each time he took me, it was better than the last.
Devil’s Knights MC Box Set 2 Page 16