Page 92 of If This is Love

I groaned from deep in my throat as I lay back against the pillows and gripped my throbbing cock. I thought of the sight of her absolutely perfect tits, and the feel of her hard nipples as my tongue had swirled around each of them, fisting my length. Her quiet, breathy moans and whimpers echoed in my mind, and I stroked harder and faster, squeezing my eyes shut. The feel of her beautiful body’s subtle jolt and the gasp from her lips against my neck as she climaxed in my arms, on my fucking kitchen table, andfuck.

My hips jerked as my own climax exploded into my palm just as another deep, long groan drained from me.

“Hey, bruh…?” Luke’s voice came from the direction of the front of my house.

My heart skipped about three beats, and I whipped my head sideways to check that I’d locked my bedroom doorin my own fucking house, just in case drunk Luke was planning to burst in here. Fortunately, it was locked because I was just that fucking paranoid and apparently had a good reason to be.

“What do you need, Luke?” I called back.

There was a pause. “Ruth’s not back there with you, is she?”

Part of me wanted to laugh loudly just because I was basically high on gettingalmosteverything I wanted tonight. It really was the perfect date. A perfect evening. The kind that made me feel good about everything in my life for once. So good that I wasn’t even mad at him for moseying into my house at a time like this. “Jesus Christ, Luke, you think you’d be standing in my living room right now if she was?”

“Oh.Right.”

“She went home to change. She’ll be back in a bit.” I shoved off the bed, holding the mess in my palm as I marched to the bathroom. “I’m getting out of this friggin’ monkey suit.”

“Hey, can I have some of this scotch from the cabinet?”

I groaned for an entirely different reason, but I still couldn’t even be mad. I’d had a great fucking night, and he was celebrating his engagement, and life was fuckinggoodright now. “Knock yourself out, bambino.”

I quickly washed up and pulled on fresh clothes, just some jeans and a basic, collared shirt, shoving my feet into an old pair of work boots. Before leaving the privacy of my bathroom, I opened the cabinet and stared at the box of condoms.

I had severely mixed feelings about the condoms. It was the first time I’d bought any since my divorce. And the last time I’d bought a box of condoms was about three yearsbeforemy divorce when I figured out that Mia had started cheating on me from time to time. So I had to buy them just to protect myself from whatever she may or may not have been picking up from other guys, even though what Ishould’vedone was throw her ass out as soon as I figured it out. But I was delusional enough at the time to think that we could work it out, so I bought condoms. I used three with her before eventually having to throw them out. And then I bought this box today while I was picking up flowers. Because I was going on a date. WithRuth.

I honestly didn’t expect to need them at all. And even though I still hadn’t needed to pull one out, things were clearly changing and fast. So it was time for me to start keeping some on me, just in case.

Just in case the woman of my dreams wanted to have sex with me. Like she almost just did on mykitchen table. Where shelet me get her off. Which was the single greatest sexual experience of my life.

For now.

I tore offthreeand stuffed them into my wallet, then slipped out of my room.

In the living room, Chloe was sitting cross-legged on the rug next to Gunner, wearing a white, high-neck sweater, jeans, and sneakers, and Luke was standing in the middle of the room, pouring a glass of my best scotch while still wearing the white dinner jacket and black slacks.

“Hi, Gabe,” Chloe chirped sweetly, smiling up at me.

“Hey.” I nodded at her, passing through the living room to the kitchen where I’d left my phone. “Luke, why are you still wearing Riley’s clothes?”

“You know what?” he said a bit sloppily, gesturing at me with both the bottle and the glass. “I lookhot. I now understand why Riley’s always dressing like this. McDermott, too.Thatmotherfucker even wearscufflinks, and I’m gonna get some of those. And I think I’m gonna startalwaysdressing like this.” He did a dramatic half turn to face Chloe. “You love this, right, baby? I heard that ladies love suits and ties kinda like guys love lingerie, and that’s why Justin Timberlake did a song about it.”

Chloe snickered into Gunner’s neck. “You do look super sexy when you’re all dressed up.”

Luke pivoted back to me, thrusting his hips to a silent beat. “Ow! I’m bringin’ sexy back!”

I ignored my tipsy, gyrating little brother and stepped into the kitchen, just as my phone started buzzing on the counter. I picked it up and saw Ruth was calling me, and anxiety gripped my gut.

“Hey,” I answered, cutting straight to the chase, “Everything okay?”

I heard Jax first, him whining and panting and in obvious distress, and my hackles went way up.

“Gabe?” She sounded kind of far away.

“I’m here,” I said quickly, my extremities starting to tingle. “Are you okay, Ruth?”

“Yeah, I…” There was a pause and the distinctive sound of Jax’s nails clicking on the hardwood floor in her house. “I hate to call you like this…”

“What happened, honey?” I said slowly, a tense calm settling over me; the kind that came from adrenaline because something bad had happened. I didn’t know what, but it was obvious.

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