Page 81 of Tangled Up In You

Sophie raised her eyebrows. “Seems she’s not that into it. Says it’s a lot of ‘fuss’ over nothing much.”

“Oh, poor Marty!” he groaned. “And he’s completely fucked ’cause he’s so in love with her.”

“And she’s in love with him, too. But she’s just not into sex. It’s too sweaty,” she said, her nose crinkled with distaste.

“Jesus, what else did she say?” he asked and they giggled together.

Gossiping about their friends’ unsatisfactory sex life and agreeing they had no such worries oddly helped to alleviate their earlier tension.

“I’ve missed you, Gavin,” Sophie said. She wrapped one arm around his neck and tried to tame his wavy hair with her other hand.

It had been months now of the band working together tirelessly, first at Conor’s and now in the studio. Gavin had been keeping opposite hours from her, meeting with the guys in the afternoon and returning home at four or five in the morning, while she was committed to early classes and daytime study groups. Despite the lack of quality time together, they had stayed connected in bed. Once home, Gavin would strip naked and coax Sophie into lovemaking that began each morning with him trailing kisses and gentle bites over every exposed part of her body. She began to sleep nude in tingling anticipation of his arrival. They established a delicious routine where he would kiss, lick, and touch her while she feigned sleep. When he’d brought her close to the edge, and she could no longer maintain normal breathing, he would whisper in her ear, “now I’m going to fuck you” and she would reach for him. The extended foreplay combined with his forceful confidence always led to an intense experience.

Wrapping his arms around her waist, Gavin examined her. “We have been a bit off these last few weeks.”

“Try months.”

“Yeah, suppose so. It’s been hard to keep up with you in school and me working on the album, right?”

She nodded. “I don’t want to lose you.”

“Never gonna happen. You’re my girl.”

“That’s true,” she agreed with a smile. “But do you think there’s going to be an end to these studio sessions?”

“Yes. We’re mostly there. Just need the final push. Be patient for me.”

“I can do that.” She kissed him.

“We have our Christmas trip to look forward to, don’t we?”

Christian Hale had invited them all to his Sunshine Beach home near Brisbane for the Christmas holiday. Martin had opted out to spend his first Christmas at home with his wife, but Conor, Shay, Gavin, and Sophie had accepted the offer. Both Conor and Shay would be going solo. Conor had ended things with Sondra, suggesting maybe they could get together again after the band finished the album, but both knew the truth about his lack of commitment to her.

“We do! I’m so excited about having a summertime Christmas.” The Australian seasons were opposite of theirs, so they would be arriving in time for a warm celebration.

“Look, we’ll wrap this up with plenty of time to go shopping for togs.”

She laughed. “Togs,” she mocked. “Doesn’t bikini have a nicer ring to it?”

“When I’m picturing you in one, it does.” He pressed his lips to hers for a long, slow kiss.

“Okay, I’ve distracted you long enough,” she said reluctantly. “Time for you to go back in and apologize to Shay.”

“Apologize? Guys don’t apologize to other guys, darlin’.”

She rolled her eyes. “Okay, then do whatever you do to make it right.”

“That I will. Let’s go in.”

46

SOPHIE

Their vacation began with the flight from Dublin to Brisbane, as even though it took almost twenty-four hours, including one stop in Dubai, they had splurged on first-class tickets and were rewarded with a luxurious journey. Flying on an Emirates Airlines Airbus A380 for the fourteen-hour flight from Dubai to Brisbane, they each had a private “suite” with a remote-controlled door that closed for privacy and chairs that relaxed back to full sleeping position. When the cabin lights dimmed, the ceiling of the plane sparkled with faux stars. The meals offered along the way were exceptional and included caviar and the finest collection of spirits and wine.

Gavin and Sophie’s suites were next to each other, separated with a wall that could be lowered to waist height but wouldn’t allow them to combine their spaces, so she spent a lot of the flight in his seat with him. They took advantage of the time to reconnect after having been apart for a week prior to the trip. Rogue’s final task for their second album,That Need, was to take it to London for the record label to hear it.

The label’s response to the album was so enthusiastic that Rogue ended up staying in London for several more days than initially planned so that the marketing department could jump on how they would roll out the new music. They also used the opportunity to celebrate, and while out partying at a club one night they met Jackson Armstrong, Britain’s leading romantic-comedy actor and renowned bachelor playboy. He delighted in showing his new friends all of London’s hotspots and made sure Conor and Shay had plenty of women to choose from. While they were living the high life, Sophie was in Dublin, taking her end-of-term exams. The demands of Trinity were greater than that of USC, and she had struggled with the workload for the whole year. Gavin’s frequent and unapologetic ways of distracting her from her studies hadn’t helped, but in the end, she did well.

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