I reach for the knobs, but his hand warps around my wrist, stopping me. I look up and realize he’s so close that I can feel his breath.
“I never said you shouldn’t be here,” he murmurs. “I wouldn’t ever say that.”
I hold his gaze. “We both know I shouldn’t.”
He nods slowly.
“Because of Paul.”
My brows furrow in confusion. “Paul and I aren’t together. We haven’t been since high school, and I haven’t spoken to him since that day you came back to town for good.”
Gabriel jerks back. “He called you his girlfriend.”
I laugh softly. “He was trying to piss you off. You know he never liked you.”
“But you let me believe it.”
I shrug. “I was mad.”
“Was?” His expression turns hopeful as he searches my face.
Gabriel hurt me in ways I still don’t know how to fully forgive. But anger was never something I carried well, and the truth is, I miss him. He was my best friend once and he still knows more about me than anyone.
I can let him back in while also being careful to protect myself this time around.
“Grudges are overrated.”
He grins so wide that it makes my heart ache in the best way, but I shut down the warmth in my chest really quick, because the only way I can guarantee that he won’t break my heart again is to keep him at a safe distance. I know I have to put up walls to do that, but it’s the only way I’ll be able to still keep him in my life without falling apart.
I roll my eyes with a small smile of my own and go back to washing my body. Despite Gabriel wanting me to stay here with him, it’s probably best that I get out before sex gets involved, and before I lose control.
But before I can do that, I feel him behind me. He moves my wet hair aside and presses a soft kiss to my shoulder.
“Gabriel,” I whisper.
This isn’t mind versus heart. This is mind versus desire, and my horny-metre is at its max whenever he’s around.
“Tell me to stop,” he murmurs against my skin. “And I will.”
My brain screams for me to do exactly that, but instead I turn to face him.
“Kiss me,” I demand, and he does.
His lips meet mine, urgently but careful, hands cradling my jaw as he deepens the kiss and backs me into the cool tile. I gasp at the temperature shift, and he pulls back just enough to breathe.
“I miss you,” he says softly, forehead resting against mine. “I’ve missed kissing you.”
Tears prick the edges of my eyes because I’ve missed him too. More than I want to admit.
“Oh, yeah?” I murmur, sliding my hands down the hard ridges of his abdomen until I wrap my fingers around his hard length. “Show me.”
He doesn’t hesitate as he cups my pussy, inserting a single finger inside of me. I gasp as he works it in and out before adding a second one.
“God, I forgot how fast your pussy gets wet for me,” he says, pulling both fingers out and tasting them as I watch.
When he’s finished licking his fingers clean, he grabs onto the back of my thighs and lifts me up. I wrap my legs around his waist and he spreads my opening as he lowers me onto his cock. My head drops back as he slides in, filling me with a warmth I haven’t felt in two years.
“You feel even better than I remember,” he groans. “I’m never pulling out.”
