Break Me (The Summer Series) (10 page)

“Never.” She leaned forward and kissed him
deeper than before. She pulled back just enough to whisper, “I’ll never stop.
Promise.”

Eleven

“Abe?” Gemma leaned up on her elbow
and looked down at him after a solid twenty minutes of kissing.

“Yeah?” He reached up and slid her hair behind
her shoulder, kissing it before looking back into her eyes.

“I”—she swallowed her nerves—“I want to see
your room.”

Clearly stunned, he looked up at her and
searched her eyes for her meaning. Not getting any more detail, he finally
asked, “Baby, I need more information so I don’t do something stupid or make
assumptions.”

Loving him a little more for clarifying and not
assuming, she smiled down at him before standing and holding her hand out for
him to take. “I want to see your room. I want to spend tonight with you just as
we have all the others out on the beach. Please.”

He stood with her help and straightened his
shirt before kissing the top of her head and then pulling her behind him down
the hall and toward his bedroom. “Bathroom.” He pointed to a door on the left
side of the hall. “Laundry.” He gestured to a set of sliding doors that looked
like a closet on the right. “And this”—he opened a door—“is my bedroom.”

Suddenly nervous, she let go of his hand and
took a minute to walk around the tidy room. She had expected all guys to live
like her little brother with piles of dishes and clothes strewn about. Abe’s
bed was made, his clothes were in the hamper or put away, and the dresser and
desk in his room were orderly. The only thing she noticed that was even
remotely messy was his bulletin board. It was covered in sketches of the beach
and his Gramps and his friends, all pinned up sporadically. About to turn back
to face him, she noticed a small stack of papers on the shelf below the
corkboard. When he saw where her eyes had landed, he started to step forward
and intercept her. Knowing it must be something to see by his hasty reaction,
she placed her body between him and the stack and pulled it out to look. A part
of her feared this had something to do with Megan and they were about to start
the fight all over again, only now her heart was completely involved. What she
found instead shocked her.

It was as if he had been watching her every
minute of every day. There were pictures of her on the beach at night, reading
or looking at the stars. Some were of her on the beach, laughing with the girls
or lying in the sun. Her favorite, the one she pulled out of the stack before
placing the rest back where they had come from, was of the two of them. He was
sitting behind her, arms wrapped around her, and she had her head leaning back
against his chest. Her eyes were closed, and the wind was pulling her hair out
to the side while he stared down at her. The love he had proclaimed earlier was
so obvious it made her feel silly for doubting it.

“I draw a lot from memory. The first night I
saw you I couldn’t get you out of my head. I drew a couple that night . . . I
don’t know. Every night, I came home with more to get on paper.” He pulled her
into his arms and against his body, “That one is my favorite because it’s a
memory from the other day. That was the moment I knew you were it for me. I had
to have that on paper forever. I needed to put it down to prove to myself it
was real.”

She turned, still in his arms, and placed the
picture on the desk before facing him again. “I love you.” She looked up into
his eyes and brought her arms around his neck.

“You too. So much, Gem.” He leaned forward, and
their lips connected in a way they hadn’t before. The urgency they fought each
night was gone. It was as if they both knew the other wasn’t going anywhere,
finally. He ran his hand up her arm to her neck and then brought his fingers
around to the front before running them slowly, so sensually, down her middle.
She fought it but was unable to avoid jolting forward into him and moaning as
he drew his fingers back up and connected with her cleavage.

“Abe.” She moaned as she started walking
forward, inching them toward the bed.

He turned them and had the back of her knees
pressed into the mattress, not bending but so he could have her on the bed
easily with one simple push. Letting his fingers tease her stomach for a
moment, he felt her quiver just before he lifted her shirt and pulled it over
her head. As she began to lower her arms again, he stopped her and ran his
fingers from her still-extended hands, down her arms and then teasingly touched
her. She slowly lowered her now-shaking arms and wrapped them around his neck.
Her head fell back as his lips sucked her neck and then her ear.

“Gem,” he whispered huskily, “may I?” He
continued to ask permission, driving her crazy with want.

She pulled him against her and rose onto her
toes to kiss him again. He leaned forward and eased her onto the bed, stopping
the kiss only long enough to allow them to scoot further back on the bed. After
much more kissing and discovering of one another, she found herself at a point
of desire she hadn’t discovered. She wanted him with every ounce of her being.
It was as if she wanted something so much more and she had no idea what. She
found herself in a constant mental battle. When to stop. Wanting to go on.
Knowing it wasn’t the time. Fighting the conviction that told her it would soon
be time to stop.

“Gem.” He panted. “I don’t want to stop yet, I
promise we’ll draw the line. I just want to do something for you. I won’t go
too far. But, can I . . .” He couldn’t even finish the sentence. She was pretty
sure he didn’t even know what he wanted next, besides her, just more of her.”

“I don’t know, can you?” She moaned as he
teasingly bit down on her shoulder in response.

“Not funny.” He took her joke as approval.

Her thoughts became a blur and then ceased. The
only thing she could focus on was the way Abe made her feel. Her eyes drew
together tightly and one thought ran through her mind.
I love Abe North.

Later she lay next to him in the bed, her head
resting on his shoulder as he held her close.. “Gem, that was . . .” He let out
a heavy breath. “Even tasting your lips is enough to drive me crazy.”

“Really?” She was smiling up at him, and he
looked at her with complete adoration.

“You know it is, you compliment slut.” They
laughed, and he leaned over and put his lips to her ear. “That was perfect.
You’re perfect. I love you.”

“By the way, that was a cheap move, introducing
me to Gramps when I wanted to remove one of your testicles.” She yawned and he
smiled to himself.

“That was pure coincidence.”

“Bull. You didn’t have to take me to meet him
tonight. What? Were you saving him for our first fight?”

“No, but it did work out to my advantage we
hadn’t made it over here yet.”

“Yeah, well, you’ve used your secret weapon.
You’re screwed next time.”

Laughing, he pulled her closer and kissed her
head. “I think I may have found a brand new secret weapon tonight.” They both
laughed, but he noticed hers slow into deep breaths. Neither one spoke after
that, and he soon heard her softly snoring. He leaned over to his phone and set
the alarm for three in the morning, which would allow them just enough time to
get her home as he did every other night.

Twelve

When Gemma crawled through the
window, she noticed Kate’s bed was still empty. A part of her was still anxious
for her sister, but it was becoming more and more obvious that Kate could and
did take care of herself. Her lack of fear when leaving with Simon the day they
met only proved Kate was a little bit further along with this intimate stuff
than Gemma. She took her time getting ready for bed, hoping Kate would crawl
through the window before her head hit her pillow, but there was no sign of
her. Finally giving up, Gemma crawled under the sheets and was almost instantly
asleep.

A loud knock at the window woke her not much later.
She rolled first toward her clock, seeing it was five in the morning, and then
toward her window where Kate looked at her with a pleading expression. Gemma
crawled off her bed and, only when she went to lift her window, realized she
had accidentally locked it after coming in earlier that morning. “Sorry,” she
whispered as she helped Kate in, “habit.”

“No big deal.” Kate shrugged as she dropped her
shoes and walked toward the bathroom.

Gemma stood frozen for a moment and then came
to her senses as she hurried after Kate, just in time to see the shower curtain
close as she stepped into the steam. “That cannot be it.”

“What?” Kate leaned her head out of the curtain
and looked at Gemma in confusion.

“You don’t go home with a guy like Simon the
day you meet him and then just walk into the shower as if nothing happened when
you show up at the crack of dawn.”

“Technically”—Kate stepped back out of
sight—“it’s before the crack of dawn.”

“Kate!”

“Shhh. Fine. He’s amazing, okay? We went to his
place, hung out, and fooled around a little, grabbed some dinner, fooled around
a lot, and then fell asleep. I just woke up and bailed so I could get here
before Mom and Dad woke up.”

Gemma shook her head, processing everything,
and then her head snapped up to the curtain. “You bailed as in you didn’t even
wake him up?”

“Yes, okay.” Kate sighed from behind the
curtain. “I didn’t want it to be awkward, and let’s face it: I gave it up
pretty easily. I didn’t know how he would feel about getting his underage
hookup home in time for Mommy.”

“Oh, Kate.” Gemma felt sad for her. Only in the
final self-deprecating words did she notice that hint of regret in Kate’s
words.

“It’s no big deal. We talked last night, and if
we see each other again, cool. If not, it’s all good. We’re going to keep it
casual.”

“And you’re good with that?” Gemma knew she
wasn’t.

“Yep.” Kate popped her lips. “This is perfect.
I mean it’s not like I’m already falling for him or anything. We spent one day
and one night together. It’s cool.” Gemma chose not to mention to her that one
night alone with Abe was all it had taken for either of them. Instead, she
quietly agreed and headed back to the room for a little more sleep.

~~~

Gemma woke to Gray shaking her at
about nine the next morning. She was surprised she had been able to sleep with
the way Kate was snoring. “Gemma,” Gray whispered, “wake up.”

“I’m awake.” She groaned. “What is it?”

“Some guy is here and he wants to talk to you.”

“Oh”—she shot up—“let me brush my teeth and
I’ll be right there.”

Gray walked with her to the front door, which
surprised her, but she didn’t say anything. The new family understanding seemed
to be in effect, and she just guessed this was something he would do for Kate
as well. When she rounded the corner downstairs, she was surprised it wasn’t
Abe standing on the other side of the door, but Trey.

“Hey.” He smiled down at her, and instead of
being sexy as he was clearly aiming for, it was a bit intimidating. She inched
closer to Gray instinctively. It wasn’t that it came off as evil or scary;
there was just something insincere and desperate about it.

“Hi, Trey, what are you doing here?”

“Well, I knew that the group would be meeting
up later, so I thought I would see if you were interested in coming down to the
beach with me now?” He asked nervously, tucking his hands into his pockets.

“I’m sorry, what?” she asked, confused.

“I was just thinking we don’t know each other
that well, so maybe—”

“She can’t,” Gray interrupted, almost angrily.

Loving her brother for sensing her feelings
about the situation, she reached over and flung her arm over his shoulder.
“Yeah, sorry, Gray and I had plans for this morning.”

“Oh,” Trey said, clearly thrown off.

“Yep, taking the best brother in the world here
to the arcade.” She shrugged. “We need to start getting ready and see if we can
get Kate out of bed. See you later, Trey.” She hurriedly shut the door before
he could get another word out.

“Baby bro”—she let out a breath—“right now, you
are my new hero.” He laughed at what she could only assume was her confused
expression. “Seriously, that felt weird, right?”

“Yeah, it was even stranger when he got here.
It was almost as if he was asking for you but hoping you weren’t around.”

“Odd.” She shrugged and then started toward the
stairs. “Shall we take Kate or just head out and let Sleeping Loudly get some
more rest?”

“Oh.” Gray suddenly looked a little nervous.
“You don’t have to take me. I know it was just an excuse.”

“Psh.” She scoffed as she started to head into
her room. “Don’t try to get out of it. I have every intention of annihilating
you at some outdated video game that is very loud and bright.”

He smiled at her and his eyes grew wide.
“Really?”

“Duh, get ready and I’ll see if Kate feels up
for an outing yet.”

~~~

To say Kate wasn’t in the mood to get
up for the arcade was an understatement. The bruise on Gemma’s leg from the
punch Kate threw was proof. Gray told his mother where they were headed while
Gemma waited with the rental bikes in the driveway. She had yet to talk to
Karen since exploding on her, and she was completely fine with that. Just as
they were pulling on to the road from their house, Abe pulled up in his car.

“Hey.” Gemma smiled at him. “You remember Gray,
right?”

“Yeah.” Abe smiled at her brother. “How’s it
going, man?”

“Good.” Gray shrugged, noticeably calmer than
he had been with Trey.

“Where are you guys going?” She could see the
disappointment in Abe’s eyes. He hid it well, but after a week of staring at
his expressions, she was getting a hold of them.

“I’m taking Gray to the arcade.”

“Oh, okay.” Abe smiled at them both. “Want to
call me after? Maybe we can hang out.” Lucky for them both Gray was slightly
out of eye shot because the hungry look he gave her was a bit too obvious. She
eased herself to standing, considering blowing her brother off for what those
eyes promised.

“You can come,” Gray interrupted their mental back
and forth.

“Really?” They both spoke at the same time as
Gemma looked over her shoulder to see if Gray was serious or disappointed.

“Why not? At least this way I’ll have someone
who actually knows how to play the games. He smirked at Gemma in a challenge.

“Oh, it is on, you little brat.” She held up a
finger to Abe, telling him to wait and then walked her bike back to the garage
with Gray. “You sure you’re okay with this,” she whispered to Gray as they
walked back to Abe’s car.

“Yeah.” Gray kicked a rock and avoided her
eyes. “I like him. I’m cool with it.”

The drive was actually pretty fun. Though she
had spent a little time with Gray since deciding to call a truce, Kate had
always been there or they were always around a large group. Here, alone with
him and Abe, she realized they had a lot in common. Gray was funny, like Kate,
but he was a bit more serious too. He liked to read like his sisters, but he
had the writing bug like Gemma and unlike Kate. He was also quick-witted and a
touch dry too. She loved it. He would sit quietly as they talked and then
subtly chime in and have Abe and Gemma cracking up. A part of her realized she
hated how much she missed while the other was just glad Kate had talked some
sense into her before it was too late.

Gray kicked their butts and made them like it,
or at least that’s what he threatened to do before they walked in and then
succeeded in doing within an hour. Even he said it was getting boring at that
point. Gemma had never played video games, and Abe had grown up in places where
kids actually wanted to be outside, not stuck in front of a television. Gray
suggested they text Kate to meet them and then grab some food. Before anyone could
make any suggestions for lunch, Abe insisted on Hank’s hotdogs. They left with
a brand new deck of cards because Gray couldn’t figure out what he wanted to do
with his tickets and they figured at least with this they might have something
fun to do later.

When they made it to the beach, Abe offered to
go get the food while Gemma and Gray found somewhere to sit. Once they had a
couple towels down from the back of Abe’s car, they sat side by side, facing
the water. “I really do like him. I like you with him,” Gray said to the water,
not looking Gemma in the eye.

“I do too.” She looked toward him, surprised at
how easy he was to get along with. “You’re pretty cool too.” She shoved his
shoulder and he laughed quietly.

“I’m glad we’re, you know, talking this year.”

She snorted. “Yeah. You aren’t too hard to get
along with.”

“You know what’s weird?” He finally turned his
head and then body to face her. She followed his cue and gave him her full
attention. “All these years, with you being the disgruntled kid and Kate being
the outgoing, somewhat crazy kid, I kind of fell into a certain role.”

“All these years?” She raised a sarcastic
eyebrow at him. “What are you, thirty?”

“Okay.” He laughed. “For the past few years
anyway, you two have been playing these over-the-top parts, so I kind of took
on this persona around the house. I decided to try for invisibility. I didn’t
want to get in your way.” He looked at her pointedly.

“Because I was such a peach.”

“Yep, that’s it. My big sister, the delightful
peach.”

“Anyway . . .”

“Anyway, I kind of tried to hide out. I would
stay downstairs when we were all together or ask to go to the arcade,
whatever.”

“But?”

“But the arcade is boring. I’m not twelve; it
isn’t exactly exciting to drive video game cars all summer.”

“Oh.” She looked at him surprised.

“Yeah, I just kind of had to do my own thing
all summer, and I’m young enough that I didn’t exactly want to go to the beach
and make friends as you have this summer. It just isn’t that exciting when I’m
by myself, you know? So I guess what I’m saying is thanks for getting over
yourself a little; it’s helped.”

She laughed and pushed his chest. “Shut up, you
little brat.”

“I mean it. It’s been fun today, hanging out
with people I can actually relate to instead of a bunch of ten-year-olds.”

“Well, it doesn’t have to be a one-time thing.
You’re welcome to hang out with us whenever you want. You know that, right?”

“Uh, no?”

Gemma laughed loudly, “I promise I’ll make Kate
be nice if she has a problem with it. You
are
my brother too, remember?
I say that you’re welcome to hang with us anytime, and my feelings will be hurt
if you don’t start.”

“Cool.” He smiled down at his hands, and Gemma
felt a little of the guilt for her behavior toward Kate and Gray fall away.
It’s never too late to make amends.

Just then Abe walked up with a brown paper bag
and a tray of drinks. “Dude, this is seriously your lucky day,” he said to Gray
as he sat down. “He had pretzel buns. You’re welcome.”

“Uh, thanks?” Gray replied, looking to Gemma in
confusion.

“He has a thing about his hot dogs. These hot
dogs in particular. Just humor him and say it’s the greatest thing you’ve ever
eaten, even if you hate it.”

“If you hate it, you’re dead to me.” Abe said
before stuffing a huge bite into his mouth.

“Sounds good,” Gray said before taking his own
bite and closing his eyes in ecstasy.

Gemma looked down at her phone when it buzzed
in her lap. “Kate must finally be awake,” she told the boys as she unlocked her
screen.

Kate: Where are you?

Gemma: At the beach come join.

Kate: Simon?

Gemma: No.

There was a delay after the text and Gemma was
almost certain Kate wouldn’t be joining the group without Simon. She chuckled
to herself as she followed up with a second text.

Gemma: Slut.

Kate: Shut up.

Gemma: Truth too much to handle this
late in the day.

Kate: You’re one to talk. Is he coming
L8R?