Just a Game Ch. 01

"Your friends were right. It definitely isn't you," he said before lifting the bottle to his lips and taking a long drink.

Oh. My. God. The anger and the blush welled up in her at the same time, but just as she was about to shove that beer bottle down his throat Aaron walked in wearing nothing but jeans and a grin that looked suspiciously similar to the one on Gabe's face. She closed her mouth and tried to quiet the pounding of blood in her ears. Her hands were shaking and the fact that she couldn't tell if it was from anger or the after-effects of that amazing orgasm just pissed her off even more.

"Thanks bro," he said as Gabe handed him the unopened beer. "Shelly conked out. I sent her to sleep in my parents' room so we can get back to our game."

Unable to turn her anger on its real object, Cass shot a glare at her brother. "Damn it Aaron, I told you I was planning to sleep in there while they were gone."

"Get over it. What's got your panties in a bunch?"

"Why don't you ask Gabe."

Gabe, who'd been in the middle of a swig of beer, made an odd strangling noise and beer exploded out of the corners of his mouth. Aaron tossed him a dishtowel and watched with a raised eyebrow while he wiped his streaming eyes and tried to clean the beer off the side of the refrigerator.

"What'd you do to piss her off this time?"

"Nothing dude, your sister is a surly drunk."

"Your friend is a nosy douchebag."

"Y'all are both crazy. Come on man, let's go finish that mission."

"I'll be right there. I've got beer all over my hands."

Gabe moved to the sink, nudging Cass out of the way so he could wash his hands. "Are you trying to get my ass kicked?" he asked quietly, unsure how far away Aaron was.

"It's a pretty tempting proposition right now. I can't believe you listened to our private conversation, you asshole."

"Maybe you shouldn't have private conversations in the living room." He switched the water off and turned to look at her. "Come on Cassie, three hot girls discussing orgasms and vibrators? There's not a straight man in the world that wouldn't stop and try to listen to that."

"My name is Cass," she snapped, trying to distract them both from the fact that she knew he was right on both points. All the things she and her friends had talked about were coming back to her and suddenly she didn't feel so good. She turned to the sink, afraid she was going to throw up. "How much did you hear?"

"Enough to know I could give you something you needed." He'd moved close again, the warm firmness of his chest pressing along her arm. "Call it a belated Christmas present," he said with a mischievous grin. Her blush in full bloom, she tried to turn away but Gabe stopped her with a hand on her arm. "Don't be embarrassed."

"Yeah, nothing to be embarrassed about here; you only heard me discussing my most humiliating secrets and then cornered me in the kitchen to see if you could take on the challenge-"

"Hey!" His hand tightened on her arm and he pulled her close. "It wasn't like that. I was just coming in to say bye, but I saw you standing here and you looked so... I wanted to make you feel good. I knew I could do that for you." The quiet insistence of his voice washed over her and made her tingle all over. Damn him. She shivered as his hand slid up her neck and worked its way into her hair. "I still can; I wasn't finished."

A thump from upstairs had them jumping apart like guilty kids. Cass turned her back to him, grabbed the dish towel and a wine glass and started wiping it dry. "Yes you were. And you better get up there before he comes looking for you."

He took a half step toward her, but hesitated and glanced over his shoulder toward the door. "You know where to find me if you change your mind."

Cass didn't know what to feel. There were so many conflicting emotions rolling around inside her it was easiest to just focus on cleaning up the kitchen and try, unsuccessfully, to pretend like nothing had happened. Her head was still spinning, whether from the wine or the orgasm she wasn't sure, and her thoughts kept returning to that knee-buckling moment of pleasure.

Good lord, Jill was right. There was definitely no maybe about that orgasm.

She was just putting away the last wine glass when her phone beeped in her pocket indicating she'd missed a call. Her cheeks burned with the thought that it had probably rung while she was grinding against Gabe like a wild woman. She rolled her eyes at herself. It was a wonder the rest of her body could still function since all her blood seemed to be located in her face tonight.

A quick glance at the display and she froze. Trey. Her boyfriend called while another guy had his fingers inside her and she never once gave him a single thought; she'd forgotten all about him. What kind of a girlfriend was she?

The cheating kind apparently.

Tears sprung into her eyes at the thought. Great, now she could add shame and guilt to that long list of confusing emotions. How could she have done that to Trey? He might not be the greatest lover, and he certainly wasn't someone she saw herself marrying or anything, but he was a sweet guy and they had fun together. He didn't deserve this.

There was only one thing she could do in a situation like this. She dialed Avery. After the fifth ring she hung up and dialed Jill. Again, no answer. What the hell were they doing? Surely they weren't asleep already, it was only...good lord, was it really only ten o'clock? After chewing on her lip for a while, staring blankly at the phone in her hand, she hit speed dial once more.

"Trey's love nest, how can he service you?"

"Becky, goddammit give me the phone." Trey's voice didn't quite drown out the girlish giggles in the background. "Hello?"

"Hi."

There was a pause during which Cass was pretty sure Trey was shutting Becky up because the giggles cut off abruptly.

"Um, hey Cass. Sorry about that my, ah, cousin got a hold of my phone."

"Your cousin?"

"Yeah."

"Who happens to have the same name as your high school sweetheart?"

"I, um...shit. Cass, I-"

"Don't. Seriously, Trey. Look, to be honest I kind of have my own issues going on here at the moment. Maybe-"

"Wait, what kind of issues?"

"Are you really gonna ask me that from Trey's love nest?"

Another pause and then she heard him sigh heavily. "Fair enough."

"Maybe we should just take advantage of Christmas break and have our own little break. You go have fun with Becky and...well, we can see how we feel about things when we get back to school next semester."

"I am sorry, Cass."

"I'm sorry too."

"I'll call you when we get back?"

"Okay."

As she hung up she found herself surprised at how little she cared. There had been a small thrill of anger when she heard the female voice answer the phone, but not much. Not nearly as much as there should have been. And she wasn't all that surprised; she'd often wondered if Trey was really over his ex the way he talked about her so frequently.

No, she wasn't upset about the way things had turned out, though she still felt guilty about her own actions. As much as she wanted to blame Gabe entirely, she knew she was equally responsible. He may have started it, but he'd given her plenty of opportunity to stop it. As she headed up the stairs to her bedroom she shivered at the memory of his voice in her ear.

'Cassie? What do you want, baby?'

She knew what she wanted; it was just a matter of whether she could. Or should. The sound of male laughter made her pause outside of Aaron's door. The rumble of Gabe's voice, too low for her to hear his words, sent a little shiver of anticipation through her.

Who was she kidding? There was no way she was going to pass up this opportunity. She'd been fantasizing about Gabe ever since she could remember and now she finally had her chance at him. She just had to keep in mind exactly what he was offering and not fool herself into thinking it was anything more than...what had he called it? Physical recreation.

A smile crept across her face as she closed her bedroom door behind her. Jill and Avery were always telling her to loosen up; this time she was going to take their advice. Gabe obviously knew what he was doing. She'd take the chance, maybe learn a few things, definitely have some fun. Yes, she could do this.