Ten Year Crush (15 page)

Cam mumbles something before fleeing the kitchen.

When he turns, I get a good look at his ass in those tight jeans. Asshole.
He did this on purpose.

“Let’s do a shot to start the night off!” Tiff starts pulling out plastic shot glasses the guys must have picked up while they were out.

“Just one, and then I’m sticking to hooch. I don’t want to be sick.” I scrunch up my nose. The thought of drunk puking makes my stomach roll.

“Hey, Tiff, if I’m bad tonight… will you arrest me?” Josh wiggles his eyebrows.

“I don’t know…if I’m good, will you dance for me, Magic?” She raises a brow at him, putting her hand on her hip, and cocking it out to the side.

“What do you want me to dance to, kitten?” He stalks toward her in his Magic Mike costume.

What the hell is going on here? Do Josh and Tiff have something going on and I don’t know about it?

“First of all, I’m not your kitten. And second, you can’t pull off moves like Channing.” She shoves a shot glass in his hands and passes me one.

Cam comes walking into the room, looking a little pained.

Tiff hands him his shot. “A toast.” She shoots a devilish smirk at Josh.

I’m almost afraid of what is going to come out of her mouth.

“May the girls with itty bitties, let you pet their pretty kitties!” She winks at Josh and tips her head back taking the shot.

A giggle bubbles up my throat and I can’t breathe to take the shot. Josh is standing there speechless with his mouth open.

Cam takes his shot and sets the glass down. “Did I miss something? What the hell’s so funny about that?”

“Ol’ Magic over here called me kitten.” She slaps Josh on the chest, grabs a glass, and walks off to get ice.

“I really don’t know about you sometimes.” Josh finally takes his shot, and then shakes his head.

I calm down enough and down mine, feeling the burn run down my throat into my gut. I breathe in through my nose and blow it out of my mouth.

We all grab a drink and put the final touches on everything, pouring the chips in bowls, setting out all of the snacks. Right after we finish, people start showing up. It reminds me that I haven’t heard from Brandon all day.

I go back to Cam’s room and send Brandon a quick message.

ME
:
PPL R SHOWIN UP, HOPE U GET HERE SOON!

I really need to get everything figured out, but I don’t want to be unfair to Brandon. I blow out a breath. I’ll do that tomorrow. I’m going to enjoy myself tonight and just let it all go for tonight.

I go to leave when my phone pings with a new text.

BRANDON
: ALM
O
ST THERE SEE U IN A MIN

Now, I just hope that Cam can keep his thoughts and hands to himself. I don’t want to cause drama and I don’t want to have to go into all of it tonight with Brandon.

“There you are.” Tiff pulls me from my thoughts.

“Yeah, I wanted to text Brandon and find out when he was coming. He’s almost here.”

“Well let’s go. Do one more shot with me? Please.” She pouts her lip out and bats her lashes.

“Tiff,” I groan and throw my head back. I really don’t want to puke and mixing whisky with Hooch is a bad idea.

“Pretty please. I love you.”

“Fine, but you’re holding my hair if I puke.” I point my finger in her face.

“Done!” She jumps up and down and wraps her arms around my neck. “Let’s go.” She grabs my hand and drags me into the kitchen.

Chapter Nineteen

*Gabby*

The kitchen is full with guys from Cam and Josh’s work. They form a semi-circle around Tiff, Josh, and I. Cam is over in the corner talking to one of them when Brandon comes strolling in. A few minutes my ass. I motion him over, glad he at least made it. Now, hopefully, I can forget the conversation with Cam from last night. Brandon pecks my cheek, butterflies flutter for a very different reason. My eyes shoot to Cam.

His jaw is clenched shut and fists balled at his side. Is he jealous? Oh shit, this could get bad. I plead with my eyes for him to behave. He gives me a slight nod and it’s a relief. Surly he wouldn’t start something at his own party.

“Hey, babe, sorry, I got lost. This place is hard to find.” He kisses me on the lips.

“It’s okay, glad you found it. Want something to drink?” I hold my glass up.

“A beer?”

Josh reaches down to the cooler and pulls out a Bud Light, handing it to Brandon. “This okay?”

“Perfect. Thanks, man. It’s good to see you again.” Brandon puts his hand out.

“You already know Cam, this is Morgan, and Zack; they both work for us.” Josh goes around pointing everyone out to introduce them.

After shaking hands with everyone, Brandon leans back and wraps his arm around me. He whispers in my ear, “You look fuckin’ hot. I’m going to enjoy taking that off you tonight.”

I bite my lip. I don’t know if I’ll be able to have sex with him knowing that I’m going to break up with him. I’m making the right decision…right? I’ve given it a couple months and nothing’s changed. So, it’s not fair to keep stringing Brandon along. “You don’t look too bad yourself.” I smile at him, and then lean in and press my lips to his.
Why can’t I get chills when I kiss him?
Brandon’s hot. He’s wearing boots, tactical pants, a skintight black shirt that shows off his arms, and a SWAT vest. Any girl would be an idiot not to think he’s hot.
So, why doesn’t he get me worked up, like Cam does?

Cam glares at Brandon and when he catches me watching him he nods and leaves the room. He’s hurt. I can feel it. But what does he want me to do about it? He made his choice back then. Just because he up and decides he wants a relationship with me now, I’m not going to jump and put my heart at risk if he changes his mind.

The rest of us hang out talking, then “Dayum, Baby” by Florida Georgia Line comes on.

Tiff squeals and jumps down off the counter. She grabs my hand, “Come on, this is our favorite song. We gotta dance.”

I jump down and follow her in the living room where a small dance floor has been formed in the middle. I can’t wait to go see them live! We start moving our hips and singing out loud.

*Cam*

Tiffany squeals in the kitchen, then she and Gabby come barreling into the living room and make their way to the middle of the floor. Watching Gabby move her hips to one of my favorite songs is killing me. I want to go up to her, wrap my arms around her, and dance with her like I want to. But, I can’t.

I see Brandon make his way through the crowd and watch Gabby move. When the song ends and an upbeat rap song starts to play he makes his way over to her, and that’s my queue to head for the kitchen. I can’t stand back and watch them grind on each other.

In the kitchen, I drain my beer, grab a couple cold ones out of the cooler, and then head out on the back porch, wanting a few minutes to myself. What am I going to do if Gabby stays with him? Does he really make her happy? Am I just imagining things? I could have sworn that she felt the same way I do.

People here and there come out to smoke a cigarette and I make small talk with them until they go back in, but for the most part, I’m left alone. I finish my two beers and head inside to piss and grab another.

The hall bathroom is in use so I head down the hall for my room. We closed the bedroom doors so people would know they were off limits. Closing the door behind me, I hear noises coming from my bathroom. I saw Josh and the girls before I came in here, so no one else should be in here. I almost call out to whoever it is, but then I hear it. The crunching sound of something being crushed, and then the tap and scrape of plastic against the countertop. No. It can’t be. When the long, hard inhale is followed by a sigh of relief, I’m boiling mad.
Hell fucking no, not in my house.

White-hot fury floods through me. A pounding erupts in my ears as my heart pumps double time. I fling the bathroom door open so hard it smacks the wall.

Bent over my sink is Brandon.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I storm in to the bathroom and grab him by the vest.

“None of your damn business.” He tries to shove me off, but I have him on height and muscle.

“It’s my god-damned house. So yeah, it
is
my fucking business.” I slam him against the wall. “And I know for a fact you’re doing that shit behind Gabby’s back,” I say, jabbing a thumb over my shoulder in the directions of the shit still on my counter.

“No matter what you say she won’t believe you. The stupid bit
—
”

I rear my fist back and slam it into his face. Blood splatters on mine. He immediately cups his nose as thick crimson seeps through his fingers. I shove away from him to clean the red mess off me.

“You just broke my nose, you fucking asshole!” He slams his body into me.

I stumble back, but catch my footing. Grabbing the fucker, I toss him from the bathroom. The bedroom has more room to kill this son of a bitch.

“That will be the last time you call her a bitch. I love that girl, and I won’t let a sorry piece of shit like you treat her bad.”

“Then why am I the one fuck
—
”

I tackle him to the floor and start throwing punch after punch. Hearing him say he fucked her sent a knife straight through my heart. Gabby isn’t a girl you fuck. She’s a girl you make love to, and I’m going to teach this bastard a lesson about mistreating my girl. After tonight, I’ll walk through hell to make her mine.

*Gabby*

Tiff, Josh, and I are standing at the edge of the living room by the hall when we hear shouting, and then a big crash. We take off running down the hall in the direction the noise came from. Cam’s room.

Josh opens the door and rushes in, me and Tiff right behind him. I see Cam on top of Brandon, throwing punch after punch, hitting him in the face and sides.

Oh my god. What the hell is going on? I have to get Cam off him; he’ll kill him. My stomach rolls and I feel bile moving up my throat from the sight of Brandon’s blood. It’s everywhere. Oh, god. Did I cause this?

“It’s my name she screams when she comes.” Brandon gets out between punches.

My heart drops to the pit of my stomach. “Stop!” I yell. Why is he saying that? Oh, shit. Did Cam say something to Brandon? Does he know?

Josh runs over and starts trying to pull Cam off.

I rush over and get in Cam’s face. “Stop it, Cam! What the hell are you doing?”

He finally stops and gets up, jerking his arm to get Josh off of him. “I caught that mother-fucker snorting shit in my bathroom. Then he called Gabby a bitch, and I lost it.”

All the blood drains from my face. “You lied to me?” Brandon climbs to his feet and I’m in his face. “You told me you didn’t know anything about that shit.” My body is shaking with fury. “What else have you lied to me about? Have you been cheating on me too? Is that why you didn’t want me over last weekend?” I shove his chest.

“I don’t need this shit. You were a good fuck and that’s all. And if you would have come a couple hours sooner, you would have seen the bitch in my bed.”

I pull my arm back and slap Brandon across the face. “You son of a bitch.” My eyes burn with unshed tears and my body ignites with humiliation.

“Gabby, get back!” Josh’s arms wrap around my waist, jerking me back, and as soon as I’m out of the way, Cam has Brandon up against the wall with a fist in his vest.

“Get out of my house now. And if I ever see you around her again, I’ll kill you. Do you understand me?” Cam jerks Brandon forward and shoves him toward the door.

“Thanks for the easy pussy, Gabby.”

My body goes numb and I feel like I’ll pass out. How could he say that? Weren’t we more than just sex? Didn’t I mean more?

Cam punches Brandon in the jaw and he falls out into the hall. “Get the fuck out!” He roars.

I’ve never heard Cam sound and look so menacing before. His jaw is clenched and eyes almost black. My heart swells. He would do anything to protect me.

Josh lets go of me and Tiff is there wrapping me in her arms. My chest heaves and I lose it. Pouring all of my anger and humiliation out on her shoulder, she just holds me, stroking my hair.
How stupid am I? I should have known when I found that stuff last weekend. God, I’m so stupid.
Everyone is going to think I’m a whore now. I can’t believe Brandon said that stuff.

“It’s going to be okay, baby girl. An asshole like that doesn’t deserve someone as great as you.”

“But everyone is going to think I’m a stupid hoe.” I hiccup.

“Don’t be crazy. You are beautiful, amazing, smart, and funny. Nobody is going to think anything other than Brandon is a dumb jackass. Plus, he’s going to be walking around with a broken nose, two black eyes, and some ugly bruises on his ribs. I doubt he’ll be snorting anything for a while.”

I giggle. That is going to be pretty funny to see next week in class. Fear strikes me. I’m going to have to face him every week in class. How is that going to work out with him calling me names, everyone is going to think I’m some stupid whore.