Page 51 of For Always
When Tyler turned away from her, Gabriella saw Hannah move to the table and grab the bottle of wine, holding it up like she was going to pour it on him. Moving quickly, Gabriella eased around Tyler and snatched the bottle of wine from Hannah.
“You may not want Tyler to touch you, so I will,” Gabriella said and with her free hand pushed Hannah so hard she fell back in the booth seat.
Then Gabriella put the bottle of wine to her mouth, tossed her head back and took a gulp, before slamming the bottle down onto the table. She leaned in until she was face-to-face with Hannah.
“If you ever spout your racist bullshit in my presence again, I’ll bash your head in with the next bottle of wine. You got that, Becky?” Gabriella said before standing up straight and walking away.
She didn’t look at anyone else in the restaurant. In fact, she didn’t even see where Tyler was at that point. She went to the truck and stood there until she heard the click of the door unlocking. Then she climbed inside the truck and snapped her seat belt in place. She did not speak another word until they arrived at the ranch.
“I think I’m going to sleep in my room tonight,” she said to Tyler when she stepped out of the truck.
“Gabriella,” he started.
She shook her head. “Let’s not do this tonight. I’ve had enough.”
Gabriella didn’t know if it was because her voice had cracked when she spoke, or the fact that a tear had escaped and rolled slowly down her cheek. But Tyler only nodded in response. He led them into the house and locked the door behind them. When they walked up the stairs he stopped at her door and waited while she went inside and closed it behind her, before going to his own room.
Gabriella fell face-first onto that bed and cried. Not because Hannah Palmer had embarrassed her, or even really offended her. But because despite what year this was and how far they’d seemingly come, some things just did not change. And if it wasn’t just the fact that racism in this country didn’t change, Gabriella sobbed because her luck with men didn’t seem to shift any either.
Chapter 13
She was drunk.
It had only taken half the bottle of scotch she’d snatched from the bar at P&P. He watched as she swayed to music that only played in her head.
“I love to sing love songs,” she was saying. “Don’t you? Falling in love is like a wild roller coaster ride. You go up and down and up again and then he spins you all around.”
She was spinning in circles, her feet tangling together until she tumbled forward. He caught her.
“Yesssss,” she sighed, her scotch-breath filtering up to his nostrils. “That’s how you’re supposed to do it. You’re my hero not him. Not Tyler Stupid-As-Fuck West!”
She yelled his name and he cringed inside. How many times had he called Tyler West by that same name? How many times had he wished that bastard and his brother dead? Too many to count.
“Yeah, I can be your hero,” he told her. “I can be whatever you want me to be.”
“You will? You promise?”
She’d clumsily tried to wrap her arms around him. He let her and they fell back onto the stacks of hay. He hated the prickly feel of it sticking into the bare skin of his neck and his arms, but he didn’t complain. He wrapped his arms tight around her, enjoying the feel of her heavy breasts against his chest.
“I promise, baby. I’ll be everything you need.” It was the least he could do since she was going to give him something better in return.
“Oh, yes, I need so much. Tyler and that black bitch were so mean to me tonight. Making me look like a fool in front of half the town.”
He almost chuckled.
She’d been going on and on about black people and white people and half breeds for most of the ride out here. She was clearly from the white privilege side of the tracks. And she thought he was too. They always did. Nobody knew his mother had been a black woman with skin as dark as the tires on his truck. His father was a white man. Looking down at his fingers as they toyed with strands of her golden blonde hair, he figured he’d gotten most of the white genes in that exchange. Goody for him.
“I don’t love Tyler anymore. He’s a jerk!”
“He is,” he conceded. “He doesn’t know what he’s doing getting tangled up with her.”
“No! He doesn’t!”
“But we’ll show him, baby. We’re gonna show him!” he said and then he kissed her.
He hadn’t planned that part. When he’d followed Tyler and Gabriella into the restaurant he hadn’t been sure what he was going to do. He only knew that it was time to do something. Then he’d seen Hannah approach them and he knew something was about to happen. Hannah Palmer was just that type of woman. The scene had been glorifying up until the end. Seeing Tyler flustered and angry was a highlight. He knew then that Hannah was the next step.
She was a sloppy kisser. Perhaps because of her inebriated state, he wasn’t sure, but he generally didn’t like the feeling that his lips might be eaten off his face. Still, she was eager to please as she reached down and gripped his dick. He wasn’t hard yet. It didn’t usually take long to get him worked up but she wasn’t his first choice as a sex partner tonight. But, he’d decided he would have sex with her, just because he could.
