Page 42 of Bedding The Best Man (Bedding the Bachelors)

“Gabe! Oh, yes!” she screamed, quivering from another orgasm as he continued to pound her, not slowing down, grunting as his forceful thrusts slammed their bodies together.

His grunts pushed her on, higher, hotter, and knowing he was loving their wild connection as much as she did touched her far more than physically. It made her feel in her heart of hearts that they were made to be together. She cried out again as another orgasm built, this one stronger than the others. “That’s it, baby, make me come for you,” she moaned, just on the verge…

Brianne’s answering machine beeped. And then a man’s voice came on the line.

Her eyes flew open, meeting Gabe’s own panicked stare.

It was Eric.

Chapter Seventeen

“Oh, shit,” Gabe mumbled, sliding out of Brianne, erection already receding in the face of panic. He pulled up his pants.

It was Gabe’s worst nightmare come true. How many times had he worried that Eric would find out how he felt about Bri?

Granted, Eric was simply leaving a message on the phone and couldn’t possibly know what was happening. Unless he’d tried to come by and seen Gabe’s car. Or heard them through the front door…

He was vaguely aware that Eric had stopped talking on the machine.

He looked at Brianne. Her face was pale, but she averted her gaze as she tugged down her top then pulled her panties on. Finally, she looked at him, and when she did, bitter laughter tore out of her.

Bitterness soon verged on hysterical. “God, if you could see your face right now.”

He’d fucked up, pulling out of her and away from her so quickly. As if her touch was toxic. But he hadn’t been thinking clearly. Only he couldn’t stand to see her looking so distressed. Abandoned once again. “Brianne,” he said, starting toward her.

She held up her hand. “No. Don’t come any closer.” Her voice was like diamond cutting through glass. “Tell yourself whatever you need to,” she said. “Whatever makes you feel better. Tell yourself you tried to do the right thing and I seduced you into being with me again.”

“Why would I tell myself that?” he barked. “It’s not true.”

“No, what’s true is you still think of me as Eric’s. That as soon as you heard his voice you couldn’t get away from me fast enough.”

“Brianne, please. You have to understand—”

“I understand perfectly, Gabe. And whether it’s that you feel guilty for stealing Eric’s woman even after he threw me away, or whether it’s that you’re afraid you’re going to give yourself completely to me and then Eric’s going to return and I’m going to pick him, I can’t do this anymore.”

He gritted his teeth, unable to deny that he’d been feeling both those things.

“Brianne, Eric is obviously reaching out, which means he’s ready to come back. And when he does, we can sit down together. We can work things out.”

“Gabe,” she said, her voice tired and quiet all of a sudden. “Do you really think that? We stayed away from each other for six years because of our friendship with Eric. I still care about him. I don’t want to lose him completely. And he’s yourbestfriend. What do you see happening? Even if he graciously steps aside, will you really be willing to claim me in public? In front of his family? His friends? Your friends?”

Her words immediately filled him with shame and panic. Granted, it was no one’s business what had happened between the three of them, and if they could work through it, that’s all that mattered. But some part of him tried to picture it—he and Brianne, holding hands, engaging in PDA in front of people who’d know he’d moved in on his best friend’s girl, and it made him feel sick.

Obviously seeing that, Brianne smiled sadly. “No. You were right. Eric will always be between us.”

“Bri—” He knew what he should say. That yes, Eric was his best friend. But that he loved Brianne. And that if he had to choose between them, he’d choose her. He’d choose spending the rest of his life with her.

But how could he? She could say she was choosing him all she wanted, but it was easy to say that when Eric wasn’t here. Just as she’d said, there was still a part of him that feared what would happen when Eric came back. That she’d realized that she’d made a mistake. That her fantasies of Gabe had been just that.

She couldn’t realistically choose Gabe over Eric either until she saw Eric face-to-face again.

Gabe closed his eyes. God, it suddenly hit him where Eric had disappeared to. With everything that had happened, he’d forgotten the one place Eric had always considered home even more than Los Angeles. Or more likely, Gabe had simply chosen to forget, because he’d wanted this time with Brianne.

When he opened his eyes, Brianne had moved to the front door and was now holding it open. “Please leave, Gabe.”

With a heavy heart, Gabe walked up to her. Stared at her. Then leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “I’m going to fix this, Brianne, I promise you. Whether that ends up with you and I together in the end, I can’t say. Not yet. But I’m going to make sure we can make the decisions we need to once and for all.”

For a moment, she looked confused. Intrigued. Then she shook her head. “Goodbye, Gabe.”

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