Lying With Temptation (6 page)

I smile, “I’m glad to hear this…I love you as if you’re my brother and I’m glad you like her.  Like I said I think she likes you too.  I like her a lot.”

A few drinks later, I’m feeling tipsy. 
Daria and I have been out to dance a few times for the faster stuff.  She asked me if I thought Cade was into her…I had to laugh.  I felt like I was having a conversation about them all night.  Whew all of a sudden I feel like I need to rest.  I take a big swig of the beer I’ve been drinking.  I haven’t had this much to drink in a long time; those shots Russ got me to do with him probably didn’t help either.  The D.J. announces that up next is a slow ballad for everybody to find someone to snuggle with on the dance floor.  Cade leans down in Daria’s ear, she smiles and nods.  He finally asked her to dance.  I just realized I’m leaning back on Linc’s knee.  “Oh shit I’m sorry Linc; I think Russ’s shots put me close to my limit.”

He laughs, “Well how about we go dance and I’ll forgive you.”

I nod and smile.  When I realize that Hinder’s song
Thing For You
is playing my heart flutters.  I’m pretty much leaning on Linc so I don’t lose my balance.  He leans down to my ear, “For what it’s worth, that guy Reece must have been fucking BLIND.”

That’
s funny; well he’s been drinking too.  About that time I look over to see Daria and Cade practically mauling each other, moving over to a booth.  I laugh, “Um so Linc you think Russ is going to hook up with someone so I can crash in his bed because from the looks of things my room may be occupied.”

He burst out laughing, “Well if he doesn’t you can have my bed and I’ll crash on the floor.”

“No if Russ comes home I’ll crash on the couch.”

He laughs, “I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.”  I look up and see Russ motioning that he’s leaving with a cute little blonde girl. I shake my head as the song ends.  Linc pulls my chin up, “Hey are you ready to go?”

I can tell I’m done for the night, “Yes, I need to go interrupt my roommate and my best friend and tell them we are leaving and I won’t be in my room tonight.”

He laughs, “Okay, I’ll call for us a cab.”

I walk over and tap Cade on the shoulder, “Ahemm.”  He looks up at me from the booth he and Daria have moved to, “What’s up Gab?”

“Russ left with some girl; Linc and I are heading out.  I’m going to crash on Russ’s bed, so Cade you can crash or whatever on mine.”

He laughs, “Okay, your assuming the worst in me Gab.”

I laugh, “No I just know…well never mind…I don’t think of it badly lets just put it that way…I’m giving my warped blessing.”  They have been checking each other out for weeks.

He smiles, “We’ll be behind you guys soon.”

“Good thanks for the warning, I’ll wear my ear buds to bed.”

He pops my arm, “You’re such a bitch sometimes.”

“I know and you still love me.”

He nods, “That I do, be careful.”  He kisses my forehead.

~*~

I walk outside and see Linc’s muscular build standing in front of me.  He looks up from the ground, “Hey
, the cab should be here any minute…Did you get those two separated long enough to let them know we were leaving?”

“Yeah,
they’ve been checking each other out for weeks…I know Cade.  Which Daria is not the typical girl he goes for and I’m glad.”

The cab pulls up and we climb in.  He looks at me, “What do you mean by that?”

“Well, Cade normally goes for the easy lay.  The girl who spends too much time on her make-up and clothes.  The girl who agrees with everything he says just to agree with him.” 

“Oh and Daria’s not that way?”

“You do live in the same apartment with us right?  She’s very opinionated, she puts very little thought into getting ready, she’s just naturally beautiful.  She actually doesn’t like football all that much and she doesn’t mind telling anyone who will listen.  She’s into older music not current stuff.  Just the opposite from what Cade normally picks up.”    

“So you are saying he’s growing up.”

I laugh, “Yeah I guess that is what I’m saying.”

As the cab pulls up to the front of our dorms he helps me out of the cab.  We climb the stairs to get to our apartment.  He unlocks our door and I trip over my own freakin feet. 
How graceful Gabby!
  He catches me though and helps me up.  His lips brush across mine and we begin to kiss slowly and sensually.  My cell phone buzzes and brings us both back to reality.  I look at my phone, “It’s Cade he said they are on their way.  So I guess I’m going to get my PJs.”

I can tell we are both a little uncomfortable now.  He looks at me and rubs the back of his neck, “Gabby I’m sorry.  I ugh, well that was nice.  But I didn’t mean to assume.”

I laugh, “Its okay Linc.  It just happened, neither of us planned it and you’re right it was nice.”

I walk to
my room and change into my PJs.  I take a deep breath;
we can’t get involved we are roommates.  Daria says these things always screw everything up.
  I walk back across the apartment and knock on his door.  I hear him clear his throat, “Come in Gab.”

I walk over and lie down on Russ’s bed, “Good night Linc.”

He turns the lamp off and I hear him sigh, “Good night Gabby.”

Chapter 7

Linc

I’ve got to get up and go take a freakin cold shower so I can go to sleep…I can hear her breathing .
It’s taking everything I have in me not to crawl over there.  I get in the shower and I smell her soap, her shampoo, jeez this girl…I think I’m going to have to move out just so I can date her.  After a LONG COLD shower I walk back and climb into bed. 

The next morning I wake up to a blood curdling scream.  I look over and I don’t see Gabby in the bed I run out in my boxers about that time Cade is coming out of her bedroom in his boxers.  Gabby is in the bathroom screaming, we can hear stuff being thrown around in there, I’m scared someone has came in and is hurting her in there.  Cade and I try to open the door but it’s locked…Cade yell’s at her, “Gabby what’s wrong open the damn door!”  She still screaming, I look at Cade and he looks at me we both throw our shoulders into the door breaking the frame so we can get in.  We both stop suddenly as we bust in.  Cade looks at Gabby, “Fuck Really Gabby!  A damn mouse you had me and Linc break the door for a fucking mouse!”

I was about to be pissed too until I saw her up on the vanity in nothing but a towel. 

She’s mad, “Cade get it out of here, you know I hate those things.”

Cade rubs his head, “I should leave you in here with it Gabby, why didn’t you just run out of the bathroom?”

“Well because it was blocking the door.”

I can’t help but laugh at that point, “Gabby you play football with us, you train endlessly and a four ounce mouse scares you to the point you can’t move?”

“Yes Shut up Linc!”

Cade and I manage to get the mouse in a garbage can and he takes it outside. 

She looks at me like she could kill me, “Don’t give me shit Linc…I have an irrational fear of mice, I know it’s stupid and I don’t care.”

She walks in her room and slams the door.

Cade comes back in and flops down on the couch with me, he laughs, “Welcome to being Gabby’s friend.”

I laugh, “Where’s Daria?  She didn’t come out with all of that screaming.”

“She had to
work; she left a couple of hours ago.”

“Oh, So things between you and Daria???”

He nods, “They’re good.  We didn’t have sex…I’m for once in my life trying not to base a relationship off of that.”

I nod, “Gabby seems happy about the two of you.”

“She is or she says she is.  I hope so; Daria is a breath of fresh air.  You know how it is when you’re on the football team; you can’t tell if girls want to date you or the image.”

I nod, “Yeah, my crazy ass ex was
definitely that way.”

“Yeah Russ kinda filled me in on her.  Sounds like you got burned pretty bad man.”

“Yeah, more like I felt pretty damn stupid.”

“So Gabby told me that she told you the
whole
story.”

I nod, “Yeah those guys really did a number on her.”

“Oh trust me, the day it all hit the fan is probably the closest I’ve came to murdering someone.  When Gabby walked in that cafeteria and the entire football team started giving me Reece’s description of events, all I could think was I had to get her out of there.  I was so mad with them, mad with her…I’d begged her to leave the Reece thing alone and she wouldn’t listen.  She thought she saw something in him no one else did, telling her that day about him, her, her best friend…it nearly killed me.  The only bright spot of the day was later that afternoon when I saw Elle running from her house bleeding and I walked over to find Gabby crying but she told me she broke Elle’s nose and blacked her eye…Hell I couldn’t have been prouder.”

I start laughing, the thought of Gabby hurting anyone just doesn’t sound like her…she seems hard, but you can tell she’s not.

She walks out of her room dressed to work out, “Are you douche bags gonna sit around in your underwear all day or are you going to come work out with me at the weight room?”

I jump up, “I’ll be ready in a few minutes.”

Cade looks up, “I told Daria I’d be here when she got back from work and I’m hung over sooooo ummm no.”

She runs over and jumps on him on the couch, “You gave me shit about getting soft and you’re going to just be a lump on my couch today.”

He pulls her into a head lock, “Yep because I work my ass off all week.  Now go Linc will go with you.”

She shoves off of him, “Fine asshole…when is the entire Shitville Gang due here this week?”

“Leslie said sometime Thursday night.”

“You better not be messing around with Leslie when she gets here…if you screw up things with Daria I will cut your balls off.”

He looks at her, “Damn Gabby have a little faith in me.”

“I’m just saying you don’t always make the wisest decisions.”

“I don’t want Leslie okay…just leave it.  Go work out.”

She stomps to the door, “Come on Linc, before I kick his ass.”

~*~

I look ov
er at her huffing I can tell she’s pissed.  I probably shouldn’t go here but I am, “Cade is really into Daria you know.”

She unemotionally says, “I know.  He just has a tendency sometimes to think with the wrong head.  Especially when it comes to that skank Leslie.”

“Oh so they have history?”

“Well if you call hooking up at random events, her chasing after him like some sort of blood hound after a biscuit, then yeah you could say they have history.”

I laugh, “Well they’re over what’s the big deal?”

“I just didn’t want any of them to come here.  She screwed with his head bad…when she found out that we were coming here together…she claimed to be pregnant.  When I told him to demand to go to the doctor with her to see a live ultrasound she finally gave up and basically told him that he was just a pathetic loser following me off like a lost puppy.  So I may or may not have punched her in the face and said that she was trailer trash and that all she wanted was for some pathetic moron to take her out of her trailer.  That he was coming here for an education and that wasn’t pathetic at all
, but she was.”

I laugh, “So you get violent with anyone who crosses you except for mice.”

She punched me in the arm, “Shut it ass munch.”

I laugh, “I’m really beginning to think you need anger management Gabby.”

Once we are in the weight room I look over at Gabby,
God I just want to lick the sweat off of her body…slowly.
“Hey Gab let’s workout on the boxing bag, maybe burn off some of that frustration you have going on with…what was it you called them The Shitville Gang.”

She laughed, “Yeah, trust me it really was Shitville.”

We take turns sparring with the bag.  I look over at her she’s really working this out, “So do you have a problem with your entire hometown or just some select people?”

“Well since the entire town got a great laugh at my expense and my parents acted like I was some sort of embarrassment because the town knew about my sex life…I pretty much say yes the whole town…Well except Cade and my sister Anna.”

It was my turn with the bag, “You’ve never told me much about your sister.”

“Oh Anna she’s thirteen months younger than me.  She may be coming here next year, she’s that great kid in the family you know…the one
that makes the good grades without trying, has the perfect little cookie cutter boyfriend, dresses like a million dollars, is in all of the important junior society clubs and helps little old ladies cross the street.  She’s not a jock like me, doesn’t have a best friend that is a guy.  As a matter of fact the only time she’s ever gotten out of the way with my parents was during this whole mess, with Reece and Elle.”

“Sounds familiar…well about the parents anyway, they live in a gated neighborhood.  My sisters Vivian and Miranda went to the private high school in town, my Dad sought out the highest rated football team in our area and that’s where I went to school…His dream is for me to play in the NFL
.  My sisters tend to baby me and Rand even slapped Jules across the face one night…my mother is your typical country club mom, she’s lit most of the time on bloody marys and prescription meds.  Russ has always been my outlet, when I made my Dad let him come to high school with me, he wasn’t happy…My mothers family has money, so my Dad married into money, Russ doesn’t come from money.  I knew a scholarship would be the only way he’d make it to college so we busted our asses to get Russ a scholarship.  He and I looked like the ultimate team.”