In less than a second, I got what I wanted.
Gage moved in slowly and pressed his lips against mine, and I didn’t hold back. I hooked my arms around his neck and he picked me up so my legs could circle his waist. He grunted as he held me in his arms and stumbled down the hallway. I’m not sure which bedroom he kicked open, but within no time we were inside and he’d slammed the door behind us.
My head was still swimming. I was still seeing stars from earlier and it obviously meant I was still in a pretty high state of mind. It was a pleasant high—one I never wanted to come down from because I knew coming down meant facing reality, facing everything I never wanted to recollect. I didn’t want the negativity. I loved the feeling taking over me. I loved the Eliza I was while I was with the stars. While I was with Gage Grendel.
“Eliza,” Gage murmured against my neck. He laid my back on the bed and climbed on top of me, pushing my legs apart with his knee to get between them, but he didn’t stop kissing me. I cracked my eyelids open a little. They were heavy and low, and it was then that I realized how tired I was. I was completely drained. I wondered what time it was and how long we actually ended up staying at the party.
From the window above, the moonlight sprinkled across Gage, revealing his chiseled face. Most of his features had a soft edge. His nose wasn’t too pointy or too perfect. It was slightly crooked, but one could only tell if they were up close. It fit him, though. His jawline and chin were defined, sculpted, and the stubble around his lips and on his chin was faint, but I could feel the roughness of it every time he kissed me. The only thing baby-like on Gage were his eyes. They were bordered with long, thick lashes. He seemed almost innocent with them, but I knew he was far from it. Besides his beautiful, baby-like hazel eyes, Gage was all man.
“Yes?” I finally answered him, my voice faint. I could hardly hear myself. Lying against his sheets and pillows wasn’t helping the situation, either. I was so close to reaching slumber and to top it all off, my head was swimming. The feeling was like being rocked back and forth on a boat during a calm night at sea. Comforting.
Soundless.
Peaceful.
“You didn’t really have anything going on with Montana, did you?” The room stilled. He was probably waiting on me to answer because he’d gotten silent right after, but I couldn’t form the words. Of course I don’t have anything going on with Montana. I was about to say it, but he started talking again. “I mean, if so, it’s cool. We can stop what we’re doing. Neither one of us are worth your time anyway. Our lifestyles are crazy… something you don’t need. You deserve someone worthy and that’s neither of us.”
I frowned and my lips wanted to move and speak on it, but they wouldn’t. My body was working against me, begging me to just shut my eyes already. I allowed them to close briefly, but when I opened them again, Gage was staring at me.
I finally asked, “What do you mean ‘worthy of my time?’”
He sighed. “I don’t know. It’s hard to explain… I’ll never really be the kinda guy who knows how to treat someone like you—” He stopped talking abruptly, shaking his head. He then kissed the top of my hand, my knuckles, and then moved up to lie beside me.
Pulling me against him, he sighed while stroking my hair. His fingers felt good as they ran along the edges of my hair, but he was making me even more peaceful, which meant sleepier as well. I moved in and snuggled against his chest. I wrapped my arm around his waist and he stiffened. It seemed as if he’d stopped breathing, but I ignored it and moments after, he loosened up.
“Finish what you were you going to say,” I mumbled.
He didn’t respond right away, but I could feel his eyes on me. His thumb was still rubbing across my forehead and his arm was still wrapped around me. I breathed him in, satisfied with where I was. I wasn’t alone like usual. I was with him, and for some odd reason, it felt… good. It felt right.
“Never mind,” he whispered in my ear, his voice deep, husky. “Get some sleep, Eliza. We’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”
I don’t know if I nodded for real or not. I may have been thinking I did, but either way I agreed and had completely sunk against his chest. His body was hard but relaxing. I’d never slept next to anyone, but being here with Gage felt nice. Satisfying.
Soon my breath evened out. Gage continued stroking the edges of my hair, placing small kisses on my forehead, and then I fell asleep.
I woke up the next morning with a dull headache. I groaned, shielding my eyes from the sun blazing in through the window above. My senses were piqued. I smelled strong cologne everywhere and even coffee lingered in the air.
Stumbling out of bed and continuing to shield my eyes, I wobbled before taking a small look around. My head hurt so badly. I knew I shouldn’t have drunk so much the night before and at the thought of drinking, my eyes stretched. I yanked my hands down and took in the unfamiliar room. There were FireNine posters on each wall, all different with different colors and pictures of the boys. A few half-naked models were plastered on the walls as well and I shook my head because, unfortunately, I knew exactly where I was.
Gage’s bedroom.
The door swung open and my pulse paused as Gage stepped in, his hair wet, floppy, and messy as if he’d recently taken a shower. He had to have taken one because he had on fresher clothes. As soon as he looked into my eyes, his face softened and he clutched the doorknob. “Ellie,” he breathed.
“Uh… hi,” I whispered. Oh, goodness, it had gotten awkward. Seeing Gage made me go over how drunk I was the night before and then I remembered how he’d licked me in a spot that had never been licked or touched before. Slow, sensuous, and delicately sweet. Thinking of how great it felt caused my face to burn from embarrassment and he took a step in, his head tilted.
“I made some coffee and there’s some water right there on the nightstand.” He pointed at it and I looked over my shoulder.
“I’ll take the coffee,” I murmured.
He nodded, looking me over twice before stepping back. I knew I looked like complete shit, without a doubt. Gage turned around and I followed him down the hallway. To my luck, no one was in the living room and I let out a sigh of relief. I didn’t want the boys to see me looking like trash or even in the same attire from the previous night.
“Do you want crème?” he asked.
“Please.”
“Sugar?”
“Yes, please.” He nodded and I inhaled, taking a seat at the table. The coffee smelled pleasant, rich, and was already clearing my head of some of the throbbing.
Gage stirred a spoon around in a black mug and then placed it in front of me. Winking, he turned back around and went for the microwave. “I went out this morning to get some bagels from Panera. You mentioned last night how you liked the cinnamon crunch kind with hazelnut cream cheese?”
My eyes stretched. How did he remember that? I’d barely said much about it. The conversation about bagels was so minor that I couldn’t even remember it.
Instead of questioning it, I took a sip of my coffee and nodded. “Yeah, that’s my favorite,” I said after swallowing the hot liquid. He smirked over his shoulder and brought the brown bag to the table. He took the seat across from me and placed one of the plastic butter knives in front of me. “You know you didn’t have to do this, Gage,” I said.
“I wanted to.” He placed one of the sweet bagels in front of me. “I’ve never had Panera before.”
“Well, it’s really good.” I grabbed my bagel, the butter knife, and then one of the packets of cream cheese. “Their broccoli cheddar soup is my favorite.”
“Oh. I shoulda got you that, too.” He smirked.
“No.” I shook my head. “It’s fine. This is more than enough… Thank you.”
“My pleasure.”
Gage and I ate silently for the first few minutes. I was right about it being awkward on my behalf, but he didn’t seem to mind the silence. He would take a few glances at me whenever taking a bite into his bagel and I would force a smile, pretending I didn’t mind. It was cute… but weird. I was having breakfast… alone… with Gage Grendel. Who knew?
“We’re all going to the waterpark today,” he said, smiling.
“A waterpark? I’ve never been to one before.”
He gaped at me. “What?” He smiled so widely it revealed all his teeth. “You’ve never been to a waterpark before? What kind of childhood did you have?”
A shitty one. I shrugged it off. “Obviously one that wasn’t filled with waterparks.”
He laughed. “Well, today we’ll be changing that. I have to say, Ellie, I feel like I’ve introduced you to a ton of new things lately. The club, square dancing in Texas, house parties with tequila, and now the waterpark? You really are an innocent girl.”
I laughed off his statement. Innocent was far from what I was. I used to be terrible. “I guess so,” I sighed.
He looked me over, folding his fingers on top of the table. He then placed a leg on his knee, leaned his back against his chair, and brought his mug to his lips. “Did you have fun with me last night?” he asked after taking a sip.