Diamonds Are Forever (18 page)

“Could I get another Thrust, please?” Gemma asked.

“Of course you can,” the waitress winked.  Gemma smirked, shaking her head as she sat back into the wide, cushy daybed.  She rested her head back against the throw pillows, letting herself sink into the down-stuffed cushions.  The cabana was more contained and dimly lit than the one she had been sitting in with Zoe, the interior softly aglow from the creamy candles in the lanterns that hung from the cabana’s metal frame.  Through the saffron curtains, she could see the flickering silhouettes of dancing bodies.  It felt like a safer place to enjoy the fun. 
Guess I never really had a wild side.

“Got your drink.”

Gemma looked towards the opened curtain, watching as Damian walked in with a lowball glass in his hand.  Behind him, the cocktail waitress gave her another wink and a thumbs-up.

“They’re making you work your own party?” Gemma exclaimed, sitting up to make room for Damian.  “That’s kind of inappropriate, don’t you think?”

“It’s probably the least inappropriate thing going on here,” Damian laughed.  Gemma smiled, leaning up against the side of the daybed with her legs up as he handed her the drink.  “Not really your scene out there?”

“Guess not,” Gemma smiled.  “How about you? Are you liking it at all?”

“It’s… an experience,” Damian smiled back.  “It’s definitely more Zoe and Gavin’s thing than mine.”

“Honestly, even Zoe seemed kind of taken aback when she got here.”

“I’ll spare you the details, but last I saw she’s enjoying herself fine, now,” Damian said.

“Oh, God, okay,” Gemma grimaced.  Damian laughed, sitting down next to her bent legs.  He leaned back against the pillows, stretching his long legs out in front of him and draping an arm over his eyes.  “Are you tired?” she asked, wrapping her arms around her shins and leaning her chin on her knee as she watched him.

“Just a little,” Damian replied, dropping his arm to rub the back of his neck.  “I didn’t get much sleep back in Oakland.”

“And here we are, forcing you to party the day you come back.”

“No one’s forcing me to do anything.  I couldn’t be happier to have all of you care as much as you do to throw a party.  Though I would’ve been fine with just pizza in Gavin’s car or something.”

Gemma laughed.  “Are you planning on swimming later?”

“I feel a little overdressed,” Damian answered, a small smile on his face as he looked down at his knee-length swim trunks.  “You know, being dressed at all.”

“So, what?” Gemma laughed.  “Are we just going to hide in here all night just chatting?”

“I don’t know,” Damian shrugged.  He turned to look at Gemma.  The candlelight caught that mischievous glint in his eyes.  He bit into his lips as he looked at hers.  “Did you have something else in mind?”

Gemma swallowed, bringing the drink to her mouth to hide her own mischievous smile.  She watched as Damian’s eyes fell past her face, slowly taking in the curves of her body.  He returned his gaze to her eyes as he sat up, taking the glass from her hand.  He placed it on the side table behind him before turning back towards her.  Damian slipped a strong arm under the curve of her back, pulling her body down until she was lying flat against the surface of the daybed.  She gasped at the sudden motion, throwing her arms around his neck to steady herself.

“I got you,” Damian smiled.

“What are you doing?” Gemma asked.

“Getting comfortable,” he said, his lips a teasing couple of inches from hers.  “Are
you
comfortable?” Gemma wet her lips, nodding quietly as she looked up at him.  She felt his hands wander from her hips, his fingers trailing down over her bare thighs.  He leaned in, touching the tip of his nose to hers.  Gemma closed her eyes, feeling his steady breath on her skin as she waited for the touch of his lips.  But instead, he pulled away.

Gemma’s eyes snapped open to see Damian kneeling on the daybed, looking out at the now open curtain of their cabana.  Before she could turn to see what he was looking at, a large group of men had burst through the curtains, lifting Damian up off the daybed and out of the cabana.  She rushed to her feet, just in time to see the group toss Damian into the pool.  And as soon as Damian resurfaced, the men who had thrown him in jumped in after him.

“It’s
your
party dude!” one of them yelled.  “What are you doing hiding?”

Gemma looked to see the source of the voice.  It was Walter Tabor.  He, Sebastian Marcos and his fellow Yankee, Aaron Brewer, swam among a handful of the other athletes that she had seen at Damian’s party.  Damian ignored him, wiping the water from his eyes and looking up at the crowd for Gemma.  She smiled back at him, giving him a playful wave as he shook his head sheepishly.  Walter caught Damian’s stare, looking behind him to see Gemma standing there.

“Oh, shit man,” Walter said, his words a little slurred.  “I didn’t mean to cockblock.”

“I told you he wouldn’t be
alone
in there,” Aaron said, shaking his head.

“Sorry, dude,” Walter burped, looking over at Damian.  “I didn’t see her.  I mean I
thought
it was kind of weird that you were just chillin’ in there by yourself.”

Before Gemma could do anything, a group of girls that had been lounging topless on the other side of the pool also jumped in.  Their timed jump caused a giant splash despite the fact that they were all relatively small.  Gemma shut her eyes as she felt a wave of the saltwater pool come up at her.  She opened them to find her cover-up clinging to her body, her white bikini showing through.  But she didn’t have to worry about anybody looking.  The topless girls in the water swarmed around the pool full of pro athletes, two girls to a guy.  Gemma searched the now crowded waters for Damian.  He was backed up against the infinity end of the pool, the lucky recipient of
three
girls’ attentions.  To her dismay, one of them was Clara.

Gemma didn’t want to be the territorial type.  Just remembering the way Tyler handled Damian back in the day and remembering her own jealousy with Madison made her cringe.  It was nothing she wanted repeated.  But she also never thought she’d have to deal with seeing the object of her desire covered in a group of topless women, one of whom was considered quite desirable herself.

“Gemma!” Clara called out, turning to face her despite having both her arms around Damian’s neck.  Her bare skin was pressed up against his.  “Why are you still dressed? Come join us!”

“I’m good, thanks,” Gemma said, her arms still crossed as she walked the perimeter of the pool. 
Am I allowed to be mad?
It wasn’t like she and Damian were really, truly, officially together yet.  And Clara didn’t necessarily know what was going on.

“Aw, come on! Damian wants you to join, right, Damian?” Clara said, running her hand over his hair.  Whatever Damian said in response was muffled by one of the other girls wading up in front of him.  The trio giggled as Damian averted his eyes, teasing him for being “shy.”  Gemma looked around to see the other athletes adjusting just fine to their surroundings.  She looked back towards the first cabana she was in with Zoe, noticing that the curtains were now closed.  She was beginning to feel less and less in the mood to stay.

“Hey, girls,” Gemma managed to say.  Clara and the others all turned towards her.  “Could I maybe get a moment alone with Damian?” She had been dying for it since the day he left for Oakland and despite being within ten feet of Damian for the past six hours, she had yet to get more than those brief moments in the cabana.

“Now that’s kind of selfish, don’t you think?” Clara laughed, though Gemma suspected she wasn’t joking.  “You can’t just take the man of the hour away from his own party.”

“Just give us a second,” Damian said, politely.  He put a gentle hand to Clara’s shoulder, pushing her away just enough so that he could get by without touching her further.  He waded across the pool, jumping out of the pool next to Gemma as his party guests booed.  Gemma immediately regretted her request.

“Hey, sorry,” she started.  “To take you away from all that.”

“I’m just fine being away from all that,” Damian laughed.

“I think I’m gonna head home.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“No,” she shook her head, her eyes on the crowd that had continued to watch them.  “I’m not taking you from your party.  You can’t leave.  Everyone’s here for
you
.”

“You’re the only reason I’m staying,” Damian said.

Gemma bit her lip.  “Damian, this is your coming out party.  I don’t want everyone hating me right now for being a buzzkill.  If you leave with me right now, you’re going to make me the most hated girl in New York.”

“How?” Damian laughed.

“I don’t want to be the reason you do something.  Especially if it means taking you from the good graces of your new friends back there.  I don’t want to mess with your career here before it even starts.”

“You don’t want to be a reason I do something?” Damian looked truly confused as his brows dropped into a questioning stare.  “And my career has nothing to do with those guys back there, so what are you talking about?”  Gemma bit back her lip, looking at Damian’s pleading eyes.  He definitely wanted her to stay – that much was clear.  But Gemma’s own mind was muddied.  She thought about what Gavin had said in the car, wondering what he meant.  He was rarely serious, so when it popped up on rare occasion, Gemma had a tendency to listen.  And his thought had been left unfinished, interrupted because Damian had returned to the car.  She almost wanted to excuse herself and venture into Gavin and Zoe’s curtained cabana to ask for advice, but she knew she didn’t want to see what was going on back there.

“Damian, I’m keeping you from your party,” she said, softly.  Gavin had said to support him.  She wasn’t sure what it meant, but she figured it didn’t mean to let him leave his own party not even an hour in, especially not with what felt like half of New York already watching him expectantly.  “And as much as I don’t want to send you back into a sea of naked girls, I’m going to feel bad if you don’t get back to everyone.”  Gemma turned, making her way towards the exit.  Damian followed closely behind.

“Gemma.  Please don’t go,” he said, grabbing her by the waist.  He leaned forward, kissing her behind the ear.  “I’ve been dying to see you since I left.”

“I know,” she exhaled, closing her eyes and leaning back against him.  “I was too.”

“Then stay.”  He turned her around, his face brightening as he met her eyes.  Gemma couldn’t help but smile at his expression.  He grabbed her by the waist, lowering his lips to hers.  Her stomach jumped and her heart fluttered as he pulled her in, kissing her more deeply than he had that day back in the studio.  Suddenly, her legs were around his waist.  She could feel the breeze as Damian walked them back towards the cabana.

“Wait,” she whispered, pulling away to see the entire pool staring.  “What are you doing?”

“Getting us some alone time,” he breathed, dragging his lips across her collarbone.  Gemma blushed, unable to enjoy the moment when there was a rowdy audience behind her.  The boys were laughing, making crude gestures and smacking their lips in an exaggerated manner.  The girls were just watching, perhaps even judging.  She was thankful when Damian finally carried her to privacy.

In the cabana, he laid her down in the same position they had been in before the boys had dragged him into the pool.  It didn’t feel the same though, now that everyone outside knew where they were and what they were up to.

“Damian, I can’t,” she said, sitting up.  “You can’t possibly think this is a good idea.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, kneeling on the daybed beside her.

“I don’t want us to do this… like this.  While everyone’s out there.”

“We don’t have to do anything,” Damian said.  “I just wanted you to myself.  We can sit here not touching and just staring at each other and I’d be just fine.”

“Everyone out there is going to think we’re…”

“Everyone already thinks we’re something,” he laughed.  “And they have for years, so what does it matter now?” When Gemma didn’t laugh with him, his smile faded.  His expression turned serious as he reached forward, rubbing her knee in a comforting manner.

“I’m sorry,” she said, averting her gaze.

“It’s okay,” he replied.  “We can take it all back a couple of steps.”

“No, it’s not that,” Gemma said, slipping her hand over his.  She wanted to just say everything that she was feeling, but none of it could be put into words.

“Then what is it?” Damian asked.

“I want to be careful,” she whispered.  “I know that sounds weird but everything is different.  I’ve started a new career and you’ve started a new chapter of yours.  We’re not the teenagers we were the last time the two of us were actually
something
.  There’s so much more to worry about now and I’m just scared.  I want thinks to be perfect between us.  I want to have everything thought out and I don’t want an audience in my relationship, for once.”

Damian sat at her feet, quiet as he nodded.  She could see him mulling over her words, his handsome face frowning in concentration.  Gemma leaned forward, kneeling perpendicular to his body and sliding her arms around his wet shoulders.  A small smile broke as soon as her skin hit his, despite the fact that he still looked away, deep in thought.

“I’m sorry I did that just now, in front of everyone,” he said, turning to face her.  His gaze fell to her lips.  “I just couldn’t help myself.”

“Well, it’s too bad these curtains don’t have locks on them,” she smiled, stealing quick kisses from him as she pulled herself in closer.  Damian groaned, pushing her back against the daybed and pulling his body on top of hers.

“Then let me leave with you,” he growled, slipping his hands under her cover-up.  She gasped at the sensation of his fingers slipping under the string of her bikini.  “Let’s just get out of here, already.”  Gemma’s eyes fluttered shut as Damian buried his face in her neck, kissing her delicate skin.  She moaned, prompting him to do the same as he tightened his grasp on her.  She could safely say that he had never touched her like this before.  But as good as it felt, she could still hear the faint noises outside, still see the looming silhouettes of curious figures that passed the cabana.