Gabe bent his arm for me to take without ever looking down at me. I stared up at him for a moment as I slid my hand around his offered arm. His split lip made him look sexier somehow. More rugged. More dangerous. It was as if the danger that was always lurking beneath the surface had somehow managed to start leaking out. His face was stoic. There was no indication of how he was feeling. His gorgeous green eyes that normally shined with laughter and happiness were darker and not just in color. He looked bitter. Hardness replaced the fun-loving Gabe I knew and loved.
I knew he could feel my hand shaking against his skin, but there was nothing I could do to stop it. I no longer just felt nervous to be around him. I was upset. I didn't know who had caused this change in him, but I was furious with them.
I turned my gaze back to the aisle as the wedding coordinator instructed us forward with a wave of her hand. It was driving me crazy thinking about where he had been. Did someone hurt him? I clinched my hands into fists to help extinguish my anger. When my right hand gripped Gabe's bicep, I felt him turn his gaze to me, but I didn't dare look at him. The emptiness in his eyes would only spur my anger.
As we made it to the end of the aisle, I swiftly removed my hand from Gabe and stormed to my position next to Kasey. I could feel several pairs of eyes looking at me, but I just stared ahead at my best friend.
I tried to focus on Kat and how happy I was for her, but I couldn't seem to control the anger that was flowing through my veins.
When Kat made it to Blake, she handed me her bouquet made of ribbons and turned toward her man. I looked toward Blake, but when my gaze crashed with Gabe's, I couldn't look away. His eyes were on fire, but I wasn't sure what fueled that fire. Lust or anger. I had no clue what he had to be angry about. He was the one that caused this chaos.
His jaw was tense and his eyes stared into mine. My gaze didn't waiver from him. My hands clutched Kat's bouquet so hard that I could feel my pulse in my fingertips. I was surprised it didn't rip in two pieces.
We continued to stare at each other until cheering around us startled me out of the trance he seemed to have me in. Kat and Blake were kissing like two teenagers who couldn't get enough of each other. I joined in the celebration and cheered for my best friend. Kat and Blake headed down the aisle and the rest of us followed behind them. I didn't hold on to Gabe on the way back down. I couldn't. I needed space from him.
I immediately ran up to Kat, and we gabbed like two school girls. Although I was letting my bitterness take over, I was truly happy for my best friend. She deserved everything Blake gave her.
The rest of the rehearsal went by smoothly, and I had very little interactions with Gabe. He sat at the opposite end of the room from me at the rehearsal dinner, and I was perfectly fine with that. The more space between us the better.
"Did Gabe say something to you?" Kat whispered into my ear as we sat at the table full of all our friends. "You seemed really upset earlier."
I smiled at her. "No. He didn't say anything, and I'm fine. Don't worry about me. Today and tomorrow are all about you."
She smiled back at me, but she searched my face looking for clues as to how I was really feeling.
"You're sure?" She scrunched her brow.
"Positive."
I felt suffocated in the suit and tie that I was currently wearing. If I was being honest, I had felt like I couldn't breathe from the moment I laid eyes on Erica yesterday.
I had almost pulled off the casual attitude, but that shit went out the window as soon as I saw Johnny put one of his filthy fucking hands on her. I could tell she wasn't interested in him by the way she was looking at me when he was next to her, but it didn't make it any easier. I had never wanted to rip one of my best friend's hands off before, but there was no hesitation in my thoughts.
I seemed to breathe easier when her hand wrapped around my arm. I avoided looking down into her gorgeous eyes that gutted me with every look until her small fingers dug into my bicep. I looked down at her and the anger I saw radiating off her face shocked me. I knew I had hurt her, but this was the first time I had seen this type of anger from her.
I stared at her through the entire rehearsal, but she gave nothing away. When she finally pulled her gaze away from mine, it was as if she didn't care anymore. She avoided looking at me or being around me for the rest of the evening, but that damn look she had on her face haunted me all night long.
My normal nightmares were interrupted by dreams of her. Her furious blue eyes staring straight into me and seeing everything I tried so hard to hide. No matter how much I needed to stay away from her, it didn't change the fact that I fucking wanted her. I hadn't stopped wanting her since the moment I met her.
While my dreams started off with those haunted blue eyes, they easily changed into the fantasies I normally had about her underneath me, on top of me, or wrapped around me. After trying to put it off as long as I could, I drug my ass into the shower at three in the morning and jerked off to the thought of her.
It pissed me off that I couldn't get her out of my head. Every night since I left her in her apartment had been the same. Thoughts of her swirled in my mind until I finally bit the bullet and pleasured myself while calling out her name.
A shot was shoved into my hand and pulled me from my thoughts.
"Alright, motherfuckers. We're losing one of our men today so it's time that we take a shot in mourning." Blake rolled his eyes at Cash's speech.
"How about we toast to the fact that Blake was lucky enough to snag a catch like Kat?" I interrupted Cash. "You deserve her, but I will never know how the fuck you got her."
All the guys laughed including Blake before we all slammed back our shots.
I could see the nerves running through Blake as we all gathered up our stuff to head out the door.
"Today is going to be perfect," I said only loud enough for him to hear.
"I know. I can't fucking wait to see her. I don't like being away from her this long."
Jealousy coursed through my veins at his words. I was so happy for him, but I wanted that. I wanted to be able to have that with someone, but I knew I never would.
"You'll see her soon enough man. Let's go."
Blake nodded at me as we walked out the door. We arrived at the ceremony site before the girls and watched as all the guests filled the chairs. Blake had just taken off to stand next to the preacher as we waited for the girls to arrive. I heard the bridesmaids before I saw them. Erica's laugh rang out through the room and it caused a small smile to form on my face.
I turned toward her laughter and stopped dead in my tracks.
Fuck me.
Her blonde curls were pinned back away from her face and showed off her long neck. The shit on her eyes made the blue pop and demand everyone's attention. She wore a long pink dress that had a split and showed off one long tan leg, and her perfect breasts looked phenomenal wrapped in the soft material.
I couldn't look away. She was always gorgeous, but there weren't words to describe how she looked then. It was unreal.
Her eyes met mine and I saw the small intake of breath she took in. She drank me as her gaze ran over my body, and I had to reach down and adjust myself in my pants. When she caught my action, her cheeks turned a shade of pink that matched her dress and she looked away from me.
I needed to get my shit together. Staying away from her was my ultimate goal. Letting the whole damn wedding see the boner she just gave me didn't help with that goal.
The wedding coordinator rushed through the door and lined us all up in a flurry. I felt like we were herded cattle, but I would do anything to make Blake and Kat happy.
I could smell Erica as soon as she stood next to me. She didn't smell overly sweet like most women. There was something unique about it. She smelled seductive. Delicious. Fucking torture.
I straightened out my suit and held out my arm for her to take. The music had started and it was almost our time to go.
As we stepped up to take our place, Erica stumbled slightly. I grabbed her arm to make sure she didn't fall.
Those beautiful blue eyes stared up at me. "Thank you," she whispered.
It was the first time she had spoken directly to me since I had been back. As her sweet voice washed over me, I remembered everything she had whispered into my ear during our night together. My chest ached because I would never get to experience that again.
The wedding coordinator waved Erica and I forward, and Erica tightened the grip of her hand on my arm as we took off down the aisle. We walked slowly toward our destination while smiling at all the guests. I couldn't help but imagine what Erica would look like when she walked down the aisle one day. It almost gutted to me to think about it because I knew it wouldn't be me standing at the end waiting on her. It would probably be some pompous asshole who didn't deserve her. Hell. No one deserved her. She was too fucking good.