All of Me by Tiffany Patterson

Chapter 12

Lena

I felt giddy as I passed through the open door toward the parking lot of The Rustic. It was almost midnight, and Gabe and I had just completed two games of pool against a couple of guys who were pissed that they lost.

“Count it and make sure it’s all there,” Gabe ordered from behind me.

“Bossy, much?”

“Absolutely,” he said before smacking my backside.

I yelped and glared at him but then pulled out the wad of cash in my bag. I fanned out the money in my hands as we strolled toward Gabe’s car.

“Twenty, forty, sixty,” I counted, finally stopping at, “Five hundred smackeroos.” I waved the money in the air like a fool.

It wasn’t the money so much. It was the high I felt from the entire day. First the hot air balloon ride, then Gabe had a breakfast picnic in the park all set up for us, followed by go-karts in town, lunch, an exploration of a nearby city, and we ended the night with dinner and a stop at The Rustic for some fried ice cream.

Dessert had turned into me demanding a replay in a game of pool to prove I could beat Gabe.

I lost again, but then a couple of guys asked if we wanted to play for more exciting stakes. It turns out, Gabe and I make a pretty competitive team.

“We cleaned up in there.” I laughed out loud and fanned myself with the money. It was completely silly and possibly dangerous depending on who saw me with this money in my hand, but again, the giddiness won out.

“If I knew you were this competitive when we first met, I would’ve bet higher. We could’ve hustled them for a lot more.”

“Your loss.” I pointed at him. “Hey,” I said, glancing around and mainly seeing empty spaces. “I know it’s late, but it feels early.” I wasn’t tired, and more so, I wasn’t ready for our time together to end. “Let’s go for a drive.”

“Did you have a destination in mind?” he asked.

I shook my head. “You know this area better than I do. I don’t care where, just somewhere,” I said, not ready to admit out loud that I didn’t want to part ways with him yet.

He seemed to hesitate, his smile dropping a little.

My heart sank. Maybe I’d gone too far, too fast. We had a great day together, and there was no need to push it further than that. He was probably sick of me by now.

Inspiration, Lena. That’s all this is.

I had to remind myself of the ultimate reason Gabe and I were spending time together. He was my muse, the guy helping to inspire me to my main goal, which was to write.

“It’s okay if you’re ready to head home,” I said. “It’s been a long day, and you don’t need me hogging up all of your time.”

The words were barely out of my mouth before Gabriel's massive hands cupped my face and pulled me in for a kiss that shattered my ability to breathe correctly.

How one’s body forgets to breathe is something I never truly understood until that moment. This was our second kiss, and it tasted like promises of more. Promises I wanted to lean into. Right before I got utterly lost in delirium, Gabe pulled back.

“You’re driving.” He stepped back and handed me his keys.

“Wait, what?” I asked as he guided me to the driver’s side of his car, opening it for me.

“You heard what I said. Get in.” His voice was a caress and a command.

My knees bent, and the rest of my body did his bidding as I climbed behind the wheel. Gabe jogged around the front of the car to the passenger seat and got in.

“Adjust the seat, so you’re comfortable.”

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” I asked. “I’m just getting used to regularly driving in the last few weeks I’ve been here.”

I rarely drove in Los Angeles, even though I had a car. I’d grown up in New York, where it was either subway or walking

“Perfectly sure,” he answered without hesitation. “Adjust the seat.” He didn’t even wait for me to do it. Instead, Gabe leaned over, his big body hovering over me as he pressed the lever that pushed my seat up.

My eyelids slid closed as my nostrils filled with his masculine, woodsy smell. His heady scent, coupled with his nearness, was overbearing in the best of ways.

When I opened my eyes, it was to see Gabe staring down at me with a gleam in his eyes and a smirk playing on his lips.

“Ready for this?”

I swallowed the lump that arose from his question. Was I ready? Because it didn’t seem like the question was solely about asking me if I was prepared to drive his car.

To answer, I turned the car on with a flick of my wrist and revved the engine. “If you’re sure, then I’m ready.”

Those may not have been the best choice of words to use at that moment. Electrified energy pulsed through the car's air, and it had nothing to do with my pressing my foot on the gas.

Gabe’s eyes narrowed, and all I could envision was that damn tattoo on his back. He moved his hand to my thigh, squeezing it, tracing circles along my skin with his thumb. The thought about Rayven and that Nat Geo documentary on wolves appeared in my mind.

What had she said again?

I couldn’t remember.

“Let’s go.”

I lowered my hand from the steering wheel to the gear shift and took us out of park.

“Make a right out of the parking lot,” Gabe directed.

“Where are you taking me?” I asked as I did his bidding.

“It’s you who’s taking me, Cin.”

There was that nickname again. What had he said it was for? Right, the cinnamon color of my eyes. I had a lot of pet names in my last relationship. But none of them felt as intimate as this one given to me by Gabe.

I quickly shook my head. I had to remind myself that I wasn’t in a relationship with Gabe. Nor would I ever be.

That era of my life was over. I was no good at it.

“Fine. Where am I taking us, then?” I asked.

His hand tightened around my thigh, and he chuckled. A low, deep sound that caressed my skin the same way his hand was. A piece of me wanted to warn him to stop. I was driving, and his touch, his laughter, his presence made me too jittery. Not to mention we were on dark, winding roads that often had wild animals crossing them at any moment.

“Make that left.” He jutted his head toward the road where he wanted me to turn. “It’s a mostly vacant road that goes for miles. Don’t worry,” he said when I gave him a look of panic, “no one’s out here this time of night.”

He slid his hand farther up my thigh. Totally on their own, my thighs widened, and my grip on the steering wheel tightened.

“Hit the gas pedal, Cin.”

I gave him a look, and he met mine with a reassuring stare of his own. He nodded, so I did as requested. Our speed jumped from forty-five to sixty in the blink of an eye and then to seventy-five.

Between his hand on my thigh and the bubbling of energy rolling through my veins, I felt intoxicated. In the rearview, I could see nothing but darkness in the wake of our speed. Gabriel’s hand made contact with my panties.

My legs spread wider, inviting him to do whatever it was he had in mind.

“Eyes on the road,” he ordered when I turned to him. His voice was so calm and relaxed. “Give it some more gas.”

Hell. He had to be crazy. No, I had to be the crazy one because I did as he said, taking us over eighty miles an hour on a dark road in the middle of nowhere.

I let out a long sigh when Gabriel pushed the seam of my panties to the side and pressed his thumb against my clitoris. I pressed my back against the leather seat.

“You’re already wet,” he murmured low as if it was news to me. Then he licked the outside of my ear. At the same time, he inserted one long, thick finger into my hole.

I moaned so loud, I almost frightened myself. He played with my pussy like it was his personal playtoy.

“Don’t close your eyes,” he warned.

“Shit.” I blinked, almost forgetting that I was still driving. I slowed down, which happened to coincide with Gabe inserting a second finger inside of me.

It’d been over a year since anyone besides my own hand touched me. But the way Gabriel was making me feel, it felt like it’d been much longer.

“Fuck,” I called out when he started a scissoring motion with his two fingers while his thumb played a melody against my clit.

I was so close to climaxing that I could feel my abdomen tightening. I eased my foot off the gas right before an explosion of stars happened behind my eyelids.

“Open,” he urged.

I popped my eyelids open in time to see a pair of eyes shining back at me through the windshield.

“Oh shit!” I yelled and swerved left to miss the deer. While I missed a direct hit, I ended up overcorrecting and sending us into a spin. “No,” I yelled, not sure of what to do.

My heart squeezed with panic, and I had to fight to keep my eyes open. I felt a firm grip on my thigh.

“Don’t slam on the brakes,” Gabe’s deep voice pierced the veil of my fear. “Turn the wheel to the left, slowly.”

I did as he instructed, keeping my foot on the gas but not pressing too hard. The entire time I wanted to throw up from the dizziness of the spinning and fear in my body.

The car managed to veer off the road onto an open field. Dust and debris kicked against the windows.

“Ease off the gas,” he coaxed. “Good, Cin. Bring her to a stop nice and slow.”

I didn’t know how but eventually, the car slowed down and came to a stop. I immediately threw it into park and pressed my palms against my chest. “Oh my God,” I screeched, looking over at Gabe.

I didn’t allow myself the time to register the easy going look on his face. I jumped out of the car, tripping over my feet due to my shaking limbs. I held my hands to the side of my head, looking around for the deer. It was long gone.

“Thank God,” I blurted out, relieved that I hadn’t killed it. I ran around to the back of the car. “Oh no.” My relief was short when I saw a dent and scratches on the back right of Gabriel's Camaro.

I peered up to see that we’d stopped near a barbed-wire fence. In the spin, I must’ve clipped a post on the fence.

“The paint’s all messed up and everything.” My voice came out cracked.

Gabe got out of the car.

“I can pay to have it fixed,” I said, assuring him that I understood this mess was on me. “I don’t know any local mechanics, but I’m sure you do. Or maybe Micah does, or someone, and they can get the best guy around to fix this. Price doesn’t matter to me.”

I went to apologize again, but Gabe spun me around to face him and pressed a finger to my lips, smushing them.

“Shut up.” There was no heat behind his words. “You’re not paying for shit. I got a guy who can fix this.”

“No,” I argued, shaking my head. “I was behind the wheel.”

Gabe pressed his finger even more firmly against my lips, silencing me. “It’s my car. I’ll pay for what I want. As long as you’re okay.” He ran his gaze over my body.

“I’m fine. What about your car? And you? Oh my goodness, are you okay?” I looked him over the same way he’d just done to me.

“Come here.” He took me by the hand, leading me to the passenger seat. He surprised me when he sat first and then brought me onto his lap. He kissed me.

Despite the adrenaline coursing through me from the near accident, I became quickly engulfed in the kiss. How my emotions could go from pure bliss from my climax to total fear and horror, back to ecstasy in a matter of minutes, was beyond me. But, in Gabe’s arms, that’s how widely my feelings ranged.

I pulled away and grasped his shoulders to keep some space between us as I stared down at him. I searched his eyes for some hint of anger or frustration.

“Are you sure you're okay with the car?” I asked. “Really, I don’t mind paying to get it fixed.”

“If you bring it up again, I’m going to turn you upside down and show you how this night could end on a painful note.”

The words ran through my mind, but I couldn’t make sense of them. Not immediately. Then I gasped, finally understanding his meaning. Laughter emanated from the back of his throat, and I knew I’d assumed accurately.

“I was just making sure,” I said, running my hands down the sides of my thighs. I adjusted my dress as much as I could to keep from spilling out of it up top. “You didn’t even sound panicked.”

When the car started spinning, I freaked out. I probably would’ve taken my hands off of the wheel and slammed on the brakes if he hadn't guided me on what to do. However, it wasn’t that he told me how to navigate us to safety. It was that his voice and demeanor were so calm while he did it. He could’ve been running down a list of groceries in the same tone that he talked me down from the ledge.

I pushed back against his shoulders, my mouth popping open. “You never lost your cool.”

“Never let ’em see ya sweat,” he said before squeezing my knee.

“No Sweat,” I said. “That’s why you named your company No Sweat. Because you don’t lose your cool under pressure.”

He lifted an eyebrow, and I ducked my head. It was silly to feel shy, given that he’d just had his fingers in my vagina.

“I looked up a few of your fights on YouTube.”

“Yeah? Which was your favorite?”

“All of them,” I said before I could get a hold of myself. I rolled my eyes at how lame I sounded. “I mean … anyway, the commentators. A few of them said the same thing about you. You’re Mr. Cool Under Pressure. They said that’s where the nickname Grey Wolf came from. Is it true?”

He grunted and shook his head. “Those commentators talk a lot but don’t know much.”

“Sounded like they knew what they were talking about to me.”

“They know fighting. I’ll give them that.” He played with the hem of my dress, causing his fingers to brush against my thigh again. Though his hands were semi-calloused, his touch was gentle enough to stir up a heat deep in my belly.

“It’s a family name,” he said.

“Grey Wolf?”

Gabriel nodded. “It’s my middle name.”

“Why would your parents give you that for a middle name?”

He smiled. “My mother was part Native American. Apache. She gave us all middle names relating to her culture.”

I thought about that for a moment. I wasn’t sure if he knew it, but a deep sadness and longing filled Gabe’s voice when he spoke about his mother. His eyes glazed over a bit, too.

I heard the same sorrow in his voice when he spoke of his mother earlier on our balloon ride.

I remembered something. “Bright Sun. That’s Micah’s middle name, right? That’s what was on the wedding invitation.”

He nodded. “Each of our middle names comes with a special meaning.”

I didn’t have to ask what Gabe’s middle name represented. It was in the way he navigated through life. His overall confidence and demeanor. The way he took charge when I was afraid and in the little ways he revealed his protectiveness. He always ensured that I ate or had what I needed.

“Never let ’em see you sweat,” I murmured. It was something Gabriel said earlier in the day also. “Who taught you that?” I asked, my voice light. There’d been a stony look in his eyes as he revealed that motto.

“My ex,” he answered.

“What happened?” I suddenly wanted to know more about him. What were the things that made him tick?

Gabriel visibly swallowed. “She was a liar.” He looked me directly in the eyes. “She was the only person I talked to about my mother’s death. I got bullied a lot in elementary school, called too sensitive. So, I tucked everything inside. In college, I met Vanessa. Preston hated her, but I didn’t understand why.”

He snorted.

“We dated for two years. I finally shared with her about my mother and the pain her death caused me. Senior year I had my best wrestling season ever. My final match was against her brother for the championship. During the match, he talked shit in my ear about me being a bitch, crying about my mother. All the shit I shared with Vanessa. It threw me off, and I lost the match.”

The look of betrayal in his eyes aroused a wave of anger inside of me that I’d only experienced a few times in my life.

“Do you want me to find her and burn all of her shit inside of the bathtub?”

Gabriel’s eyes bulged and twinkled before he let out the deepest laugh I’d ever heard.

“I’m serious,” I said, laughing along with him. “I’ve done it once.”

He laughed even harder but shook his head. “C’mere.”

He cupped my face and brought our mouths to touch again. That kiss was even better than all the previous kisses combined. I moaned against his lips, but then had to pull away.

This was too much, too fast.

I was letting myself stray too far down a path I wasn’t ready to go.

Needing some space, I stood out of Gabe’s lap, brushing out the non-existent wrinkles on my dress.

“I think it’s time to call it a night.”

Gabe stood from the passenger seat. “You want to drive us back?”

“Hell no.”

He chuckled. “Get in.”

He shut the door behind me, and I watched him walk around the front of the car, illuminated by the headlights. He was almost too good to believe. I was having trouble believing he didn’t want any money for his car or that he hadn’t completely lost it on me about the damage.

That wasn’t something I was used to. I almost asked him again if he wanted me to pay for the fix, but then I remembered his warning. I kept my mouth shut.

We drove in the direction of my home to the sounds of his rock n’ roll playlist. Even still, Gabe reached over and took my hand into his. I wanted to pull away as much as I wanted to keep holding on to it.

This is not a relationship. I chanted those very words over and over in my head. By the time we reached my temporary home, I knew that I needed to figure something out between Gabe and me, or I might find myself treading in dangerous territory.