"Dude, you are not on your game tonight."
"Sorry. I never even saw that sniper."
"It's cool. You're fortunate enough to be playing with me and I'm good enough for both of us."
"You better keep your ego in check or I'll shoot you myself."
"Yeah, yeah."
Gabe tried to focus on the game, but he was having hard time. His eyes kept dropping to the bite mark on his hand where a purple bruise was already appearing behind the teeth marks. Every time he saw it he thought about that beautiful moment when Cassie lost it in his arms. Then he'd get all flushed and his dick would start throbbing in his pants. And then he'd feel guilty again.
He really hadn't meant to do it. Like he told her, he'd just seen her there in the kitchen, that sweater clinging to her curves, her cute little sock feet carelessly resting in third position as she stood at the sink washing dishes. She looked miserable, her shoulders slumped and her head down; she hadn't even looked up at him when he came in. And he'd remembered the resignation in her voice when she told her friends there must be something wrong with her.
No, he didn't regret it and despite the guilt he knew that given half a chance he'd do it again. And more. He could show her how to get what she wanted from a man even if he didn't know how to give it to her. He could make her see that it was alright to make noise, to let her body writhe in pleasure, to ask for exactly what she wanted. And it certainly wouldn't hurt if in the process he'd get to run his hands over all that smooth creamy skin, kiss those soft full lips, taste that silky wetness between her legs...
Jesus. He glanced over at Aaron nervously, but he was too involved in shooting their way out of an ambush to notice Gabe's sudden discomfort. He was walking a fine line, though. And really, there was no point getting himself worked up about it since she was clearly pissed at him and not likely to take him up on his offer.
Oddly enough he couldn't bring himself to feel guilty about eavesdropping; the conversation had been partly about him after all. The Dick. He felt a twinge of irritation and decided that if Cassie ever talked to him again he was going to ask her about that. And he didn't feel guilty on her account for what they'd done; she'd obviously enjoyed it. The guilt was about Aaron. He wouldn't understand. He'd see it as a betrayal of his trust; assume Gabe was just trying to get laid. That really wasn't what it was about, though.
Was it?
No. Definitely not. He honestly hadn't been thinking about getting anything for himself out of it. Okay, so laying his hands on her beautiful body was a definite plus. And he couldn't deny the ego boost he got from knowing he'd been able to give her something no other guy had. But mostly he'd just wanted to make her feel better; prove to her that there was nothing wrong with her. Mission accomplished.
So why couldn't he stop thinking about what else he wanted to do with her?
"Alright bro, I give up. We're getting slaughtered here."
"Sorry man, I can't seem to get my head in the game."
Aaron ended the game without saving it and stood up to stretch. "Did you drive all the way back this afternoon?"
"Yeah and I was up late last night."
"So what happened? I thought you were supposed to spend Christmas with your mom."
"Wildlife emergency in the Chattahoochie."
Aaron snorted and rolled his eyes.
"No really, we caught these idiots trying to shoot turkeys in the campground yesterday morning. Said they wanted fresh birds for Christmas dinner. Fortunately the campground was empty so no one got hurt, but the rangers arrested them for poaching in a national forest and I had to hunt down, catch, and help pick buckshot out of a bunch of traumatized turkeys. It took all damn day and I didn't want to drive at night so I stayed and had dinner with my boss and his family. I'm pretty sure he put an entire bottle of rum in the egg nog."
"No wonder you're fried. That's what you get for going to work after graduation instead of grad school like me."
"Yeah well, I've been a grade ahead of you our whole lives. I figured I should give you a chance to get ahead."
"Seriously though, do you like it out there? It sounds pretty sweet other than the catching turkeys thing."
"Yeah man, I love the job. I mean, I spend plenty of time sitting in front of a computer, but there's always something to do out in the park if I want an excuse to get out. And the cabin they gave me to live in is awesome. That alone makes the biology degree worth the four years I spent on it."
"I bet. I'll have to come out and visit soon. I've been meaning to since you started, but it was a crazy semester for me. Maybe I can make it for spring break."
"Any time, man."
"Okay, I'm beat. You can crash here if you want, I'm gonna go downstairs and sleep with Shelly."
"What's the deal with her, by the way?"
"Shit, I don't know. We've been going out a few weeks and we're not really that serious, but she kind of invited herself to visit. I only said yes because I knew my parents weren't gonna be here and she offered to bring a carload of boxes from my apartment in Birmingham. The more I'm around her the less I want to be around her, but I feel bad, you know? Dumping someone at Christmas just seems like such a dick move."
"I hear you, man."
"Anyway, she's only here for another couple days and I'm moving so it'll be a natural break."
"Right."
"Well, you know where everything is. I'll see you in the morning."
"Night."
