Page 2 of Butterfly Effect

“Me too,” I replied from behind. “Want me to fix it for us?”

She cursed under a breath, eyes fluttering shut as she dropped her head to one side.

“Whaddya say?”

“Crap,” Gabe lamented in the opposite direction before gazing at the tent above as if addressing a universal power. “Is this a joke? It’s like you want me to make a bad decision.”

“Bad? Never.” I took in some floral scent from her skin and held up two fingers. “Goalie’s guarantee.”

Her body stilled for a moment as if lost in thought. Those freckled cheeks tinged pink.

Oooh, she’s considering it. God knows I’ve fantasized about it for too long.

Slowly, she placed her drink on the table to her left and backpedaled.

Was that a yes?

I downed the rest of my glass and went after her, slinking away from the reception in the same way. Gabe bolted up the hill to the estate’s large farmhouse and skipped multiple porch steps so fast I had to catch my breath in the foyer.

Stretching my chest only did so much to recover from the short sprint. A hand yanked at my jacket before slamming my back against the inside of a closet door. My heart thudded under her palm as she loosened her grasp.

“Don’t. Say. Anything.”

I nodded, mouth parted.

“I’m gonna regret this,” she said through a sigh. “But I’m gonna kiss you now, okay?”

I nodded rapidly again, like a dope.

The tart sweetness from her champagne mixed with the Scotch’s leftover malted vanilla as Gabe’s lips covered mine. It was a hungry, desperate kiss, as desperate as the fingers fumbling to open my button-up.

She moaned before releasing with a frustrated noise. My belt clanged onto itself at the force of becoming undone. I reached for the back of her neck and rejoined our mouths, tongue angrily swiping across hers. Gabe broke us apart oncemore, her lips coasting across my jaw and below my ear. The teasing nibbles and sucks had me clenching her body to mine and replying with a groan.

The mask slipped.

“Fuck, Gabe. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since New Year’s.”

Or the way she squeezed my neck while yelling at me. And the fierce, heated kiss that followed? It branded itself deep into each wrinkled ridge of my brain.

“Ugh. What part of ‘Don’t say anything,’ do you not” —she interrupted herself by pressing me to the door by the throat— “Wait, what?”

Shit. Put the mask back on!

“I mean, what? Pfft,” I backtracked. “I’ve forgotten about it. I’ve made out with, like, dozens of women since then.”

Gabe scoffed from the corner of her upturned mouth. “Um, cool?” Her palm met the covered tip of my upright cock. “You have a condom, or what?”

“Yeah-yeah-yes.” I fished one from inside my suit jacket and tore it open. “Okay. It was a dozen. Maybe.”

You chump.

“Shut up and put it on.” She shimmied her dress up.

The boxer brief band was tugged down enough to roll it over my length. Gabe’s scowl shifted to surprise. I smirked back.

“Holy shit, you’re” —her eyes widened at my size— “You’re…”

Shocked at her verbal trip-up but impatient with the back and forth, I spun us, pinning her to the door with a hand on the dip of her waist. She wasn’t the only one who could be a fucking tease.

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