"Maybe you did." His mouth curves into a wicked smile, taunting me.

What happened to the man that Kimber said just two hours ago was beating himself up over the way he treated me? "He's so in love with you." She had said. "You guys really need to work this out." She had said.

Well, f.u.c.k that.

I have no interest in working anything out with a man who thinks it's okay to dangle other women in front of my face. I should never have come here.

"You're an a.s.shole." I try to push against his body when he presses into me harder, but it's like pushing against a brick wall, and he doesn't move an inch.

"Get off me, Gavin," I warn.

"Or what?" He leans down, his lips so close to mine I can practically taste them. "What are you going to do, Harlee?" He grinds against me, making the presence of his hardening erection known.

I wish my stomach didn't clench tightly at this knowledge. I wish it didn't cause my skin to p.r.i.c.kle or little beads of sweat to form at my hairline, but it does. My entire body comes to life in that one action.

Traitor.

"Why are you here?" he growls close to my lips, his hard gaze remaining firmly on me.

"I....I." I can't get the words out. My mind can't form a coherent thought with him so close to me, his smell invading all my senses.

He studies my reaction for a fraction of a second before another wicked smile lights up his face. There is no time for me to react, no time for me to speak. His lips crash down onto mine so suddenly that for a good five seconds I stand completely motionless, my brain unable to process the sudden change in events.

His hands trail down my sides before I feel the material of my shirt being lifted. He breaks away from my mouth just long enough to pull the tunic over my head and toss it somewhere behind him.

My hands go into his hair as his head dips, his lips trailing down my neck, across my chest. Pulling the material of my bra aside, he sucks a nipple into his mouth on one long pull, the sensation causing me to cry out.

I can feel his smile against my damp flesh as he moves to the other nipple, repeating the process. By the time his mouth finds mine again, I am desperate and greedy. I grip the back of his head and kiss him so deeply, I swear there's not an inch of him I can't taste.

"f.u.c.k, I've missed you," he growls against my mouth, his thumbs. .h.i.tching inside the band of my pants before pulling them and my panties down in one quick tug.

I hear the zipper of his jeans next, followed by the rustle of fabric just before I feel his hard length bare against my stomach. He slides off his shirt before grabbing me at the back of my thighs, lifting me into the air, pinning my back against the door behind me.

"I want to feel you," he groans, sliding his erection between my wet folds.

"Then do it," I speak against his mouth, grinding myself downward.

"f.u.c.k." He slides deep inside of me without another moment of hesitation.

Dropping his face into the crook of my neck, he stills, savoring the feeling of me bare around him.

I run my fingers through the back of his hair, overtaken by this moment of intimacy.

"Look at me." I pull Gavin's face up to meet mine. "I love you," I say, pressing my lips to his.

I don't know why I felt the need to say it. Things are so up in the air with us right now but honestly, that doesn't make my statement any less true. I need him to know that I'm his, that I will always be his.

My statement seems to be his undoing as he deepens the kiss and starts to move beneath me. It's slow at first. He pulls in and out at a snail's pace, making sure I feel every single inch of him. But as the pleasure mounts so does his movements.

Within minutes we are tearing at each other's skin: biting, sucking, licking as he forcefully pounds into me. My body collides with the steel door behind me over and over but I continue to beg him for more; harder, faster, deeper. I want to feel him, all of him.

I'm the first to explode, my o.r.g.a.s.m hitting me so suddenly and intensely that I can't control the sound of pleasure that rips from my mouth. It hits me in waves, pulling me under with each one before I'm able to resurface for air.

I can tell by the way Gavin tightens his grip on me that he's there, too. He thrusts inside of me so hard all I can hear is our two bodies slapping together and little spurts of air as we both struggle for breath.

On one deep growl, he spills his release inside of me. The feeling so intense, I feel like my body might come apart again at any second. His movements slow until finally he stops completely, his head dropping to my shoulder as he tries to even his breathing.

We remain like that for several long seconds before he finally pulls out of me and sets me on my feet. My legs wobble slightly under my weight as I work to rea.s.semble my clothing. After locating my shirt thrown across a stack of paper towels, I slide it on and then turn back to face Gavin.

He's fully dressed again, his black shirt clinging to his muscular torso with his faded jeans hanging loosely on his hips. His hair is sticking out in different directions, my fingers running through it over and over again giving it a messy, just woke up kind of look. My G.o.d, this man looks like he just stepped out of a modeling magazine. Every single bit of him is pure and complete perfection.

He stalks toward me, each step so slow I wonder if he will ever close the short distance between us. Stopping directly in front of me, he grabs my chin and tilts my face upward, leaning down to hover just inches from my face.

"I love you, too." His whispered words are a complete contrast to the intensity in his eyes, and I all but melt right here on the spot.

Chapter Twenty-one.

Harlee It's still dark when I leave Gavin's condo the next morning. It took everything I had to climb out of his bed and leave him there sleeping but there's no way I could miss cla.s.s this morning. I've already fallen behind because I've been so distracted. Missing my exam today would only make my situation that much worse.

The traffic is light as I make the two-hour drive back to Eugene. My mind wanders as I watch headlights filter through the darkness. So much has changed over the course of a few short weeks. So many things are different, me being the most prominent difference of all.

Gavin has altered me in a way I never thought possible. I didn't know one person could affect your life on such an epic scale. I thought I knew what I was getting with him. I thought I had him all figured out, but he has turned out to be something I never expected.

I can still hear his voice as he whispered how much he loved me into the early hours of the morning. I can still see his eyes, the way they looked at me like I was the most precious thing in the world. I can still feel his hands, the way they brushed against my skin so gently and yet with so much power.

I am completely and utterly lost to this man.

Now there's only one thing left to do.

Gavin didn't mention Bryan through the course of the night, not even once. While the last thing I wanted was to dredge it up, a part of me still feels in limbo because nothing has really been settled. I felt even worse when I woke up this morning to three missed calls from Bryan, having turned my phone on vibrate before entering the bar last night.

Regardless, I know what I have to do and I have every intention of going back to Portland tonight, this time to tell Gavin I have finally ended it. Because that is exactly what I plan to do today. I know it won't be easy and I know Bryan will be upset, but at the end of the day, I know that dragging this out is only going to make matters worse for everyone involved.

I'm not going to tell him about Gavin. Maybe that makes me an even more despicable human being, but I just don't see why I need to add insult to injury. Is it not bad enough to be broken up with? To add being cheated on to the mix just seems like a blow I don't need to land. It doesn't change anything.

Bryan is an amazing guy and someone I do honestly care about. I want to make this as painless as possible for him. I honestly don't know why I've waited so long. I think in a way hanging on to Bryan gave me an excuse not to commit to Gavin. Because being with Gavin isn't just amazing and wonderful, it's also scary as h.e.l.l.

My phone buzzes to life on my pa.s.senger seat just as I pull into my dorm room parking lot. It's just after seven in the morning so I'm more than a little surprised when I see Angel's name flash across the screen.

"You're up early," I say, holding the device to my ear.

"Ugh. Don't remind me," she groans.

"Wow, don't you sound chipper," I joke. "Long night?"

"You have no idea. Trenton took me to a party at his friend's house last night."

"Oh yeah. How'd that go?" I ask, killing the engine of the car before leaning back against the seat.

"I haven't been to bed yet. I just got home," she replies on a ridiculous giggle.

"Oh my G.o.d, are you still drunk?" I laugh, shaking my head even though she can't see me.

"Maybe a little," she admits. "So there's no way I'm gonna make it to cla.s.ses. I was wondering if you could send me your notes from Ethics cla.s.s today," she says, referring to the one and only cla.s.s we have together this semester.

It's my second cla.s.s of the morning and starts at eleven.

"Yeah, I can do that," I agree. "Now get some sleep. I'll call you later."

"You're the best." She yawns into the phone. "Love you. Love you."

"Love you, too," I say, ending the call.

The morning drags on so slowly that by the time the afternoon rolls around it feels like it should be evening. I think part of it has to do with the dread I feel over talking to Bryan. The other is my excitement to see Gavin after it's all said and done.

Needless to say, the last thing I expect to see when I finally exit my last cla.s.s of the day just after three o'clock is Gavin. At first, I think I'm imagining things when I see him stand from a bench just outside the building. But then when he walks toward me and flashes me that incredible smile, I know he must be real.

"What are you doing here?" I ask the moment we reach each other.

"You left me this morning." He snags my book bag off my arm and throws it on his shoulder.

The action makes me feel like I'm in high school again and my hot popular boyfriend is carrying my books through the hall. Not that anything like that ever happened to me, but I've seen it in movies a hundred times.

"Sorry. I've missed so much cla.s.s here recently, and I had a pretty big test this morning." I smile, walking with him when he takes off in the direction of the dorms.

My building is less than a ten-minute walk from this current location and clearly, Gavin knows the way. Having grown up not far from here, I'd say he's been here more than a couple times.

"Did you sleep at all?" He keeps the conversation casual as we stroll across the grounds.

"I got a couple of hours." I shrug. "So you drove all this way because you woke up and I was gone?" I question, finding that reason hard to believe.

"Pretty much." His mouth pulls up into a one-sided grin.

He flashes his eyes down to my face for a brief moment before turning his attention forward again. "I didn't have any plans for the day," he adds.

After a couple minutes of casual back and forth chit chat, I finally decide that I might as well get the hard part over with. Him showing up kinda throws a wrench in my plans to talk to Bryan, but I'm still determined to take care of this today and I want him to know this information.

"Listen, we should probably talk about Bryan." I let out a slow exhale and keep my eyes facing ahead of me.

"O-k-a-y," he drags out, waiting for me to continue.

"I owe you an apology." I stop next to a large tree that sits in the open green s.p.a.ce in front of my dorm building, finally meeting his gaze.

"What for?" he asks when I take a long pause.

"I never should have entered into anything with you while I had a boyfriend. It wasn't fair to Bryan and it certainly wasn't fair to you. I just want you to know that I plan to speak with him today."

"I'm sorry ,too." His statement surprises me. "I'm sorry for the way I spoke to you. It wasn't right. I've just never been in a situation like this before. I've never cared enough about a girl to care who or what she's doing when she's not with me. All I knew is I wanted you, I didn't care who I hurt along the way, including you. I don't know the rules here."

"Me either," I answer truthfully.

"All I know is the thought of someone else touching you makes me raving f.u.c.king mad." He lets out a gruff laugh. "I can't take it. I can't deal with the way that makes me feel. I won't share you, now or ever."

"And you won't have to," I rea.s.sure him, reaching up to cup his face. "I love you, Gavin Porter. So much," I say, pulling his face down toward me.

His lips brush against mine for only a fraction of a second before I hear a throat clear behind me. My entire body freezes and my stomach clenches tightly with dread. I know it's Bryan before I even turn around and look at him.

"So now I know why you've been so distant here recently." His voice is laced with anger. His normal laid back demeanor is nowhere in sight.

I've never seen angry Bryan. I didn't know he was capable of looking at me the way he's looking at me right now.

"Bryan, I can explain," I start, taking a step toward him.

"Explain what, Harlee? How you've been f.u.c.king him behind my back?" He bites, gesturing to Gavin who is standing completely still behind me.

"How long?" he continues, his nostrils flaring as he stares daggers at me. "How long have you been f.u.c.king him, Harlee?"

"Bryan... I," I start, but he doesn't let me get anything out.

"Don't f.u.c.king say it. I can't believe a word that comes out of your mouth. You know I thought I was the luckiest f.u.c.king guy in the world when we started dating. I even told my parents how I thought I had finally found the one. What a f.u.c.king joke." He lets out a high-pitched laugh that sounds almost devilish.

"And you know the real kicker?" he spits. "Who knows how much longer you would have strung me along; you clearly had no intention of telling me the truth. How long ago was it that we went to dinner? That I told you I loved you? That you let me sit in that restaurant and pour my heart out to you, all the while you were f.u.c.king him on the side? f.u.c.k, that was just days ago! Who the f.u.c.k does that to another person?"

"I'm so sorry." I try to apologize, fighting back the tears that are welling in my eyes.

I'm sad that I hurt Bryan. I'm upset about the things he's saying, no matter how true they are. But most of all I'm embarra.s.sed that Gavin is here to witness every last second of it.

"Don't. Don't you dare f.u.c.king apologize to me. I won't let you rid yourself of this guilt. I want it to fester. I want you to have face who you are and what you're capable of doing to someone who loved you. I can only imagine what you're in for." He says this last part to Gavin. "Good luck with that." He nods at him and then spins on his heel, disappearing almost as quickly as he had appeared.

My mind swirls as I stare across the grounds, watching him grow further and further away until I can no longer see him at all. His words play over and over in my head, the way he looked at Gavin in almost appreciation making me feel sick to my stomach. It's like he already knew about Gavin well before he saw us kissing just moments ago. Something about what he said just doesn't add up.

Turning to face Gavin, I wipe at the tears flowing down my face.

"You?" I force out in disbelief. "You told him?"

His expression remains completely unreadable. He doesn't deny or admit my accusation, he just simply stands there staring at me.

"Say something," I scream, my voice carrying across the open s.p.a.ce, drawing the attention of a couple students exiting the dorm building.