"Will you be okay if I go back to Portland with Decklan tonight?" she asks, clearly not needing my permission but just wanting to be considerate since we came here together.

I ignore the fact that just two seconds prior Gavin proposed I leave with him. Kimber was my excuse not to. I can already feel the panic start to creep up my spine like a swarm of tiny spiders climbing across my flesh.

"Of course," I say like it should be obvious. "I can catch a cab back to the dorm."

"I'll take you back," Gavin offers, pulling my attention back to him.

"You don't have room for me, do you?" I struggle to find an excuse, remembering Kimber said Paxton and Charlie were riding with Gavin.

"Paxton drove separately. I can drop Charlie at the house and then take you home," he says, causing my stomach to double over in a flutter of nervousness.

"Paxton can run me home," Charlie interjects, turning to Paxton who immediately nods like it's not a problem.

"There, it's settled." Gavin hits me with a wide, mischievous smile.

"Awesome." I try to hide the sarcasm that drips from my voice.

The last thing I want is to be stuck alone with Gavin. I wish I could say I trust myself enough to resist him, but if I'm being honest I don't. I know the effect he has on me. I know the way he makes me feel and the way my entire mind seems to turn to mush when he kisses me.

These are the thoughts that plague my mind for the remainder of dinner. By the time we exit the restaurant a half an hour later, my anxiousness has only intensified. I feel like a bundle of nerves that's about to split apart and float off in a million different directions.

"Thanks again for taking her home, Gavin." Kimber smiles up at him before pulling me into a brief hug. "Be good," she whispers, meeting me with a knowing smile when she releases me.

"Don't freeze to death," I tease, watching her zip her coat and pull her gloves on.

"No promises," she laughs, taking the helmet Decklan hands to her.

"Be safe," I say, throwing her and Decklan one last small wave before turning to follow Gavin toward the opposite side of the parking lot.

I open my mouth to speak several times during the short walk toward Gavin's truck, but by the time we reach it I still haven't managed to get even one word out. I don't know what to say and honestly, I'm not sure any of it would make a difference.

"Thank you." I muster a small nod as Gavin pulls the pa.s.senger door of the truck open and gestures for me to climb inside.

He lets out a small chuckle, clearly enjoying the fact that he's making me squirm. I'm not really sure why I'm so nervous. Then again, I think I know exactly why I am at the same time.

"You know." He grabs the seat belt and stretches it across my waist. "I don't bite." His words dance across my face as he latches the buckle. "There." He smiles.

"You realize I can buckle my own seat belt." I fake annoyance even though the protective gesture makes my heart flutter inside my chest.

"Good for you." His smile turns wicked as he steps back and slams the door shut.

Within seconds he's climbing into the driver's side and snapping his own seatbelt before firing the engine to life. He slowly pulls from the parking lot, purposely keeping his focus on the road as he avoids meeting my gaze.

After a few long moments of silence, I feel like my head might explode if I don't say something. I blurt the first thing that comes to mind.

"You didn't seem surprised about Decklan and Kimber's announcement," I observe, keeping my eyes locked out the window.

"That's because I already knew."

"How long have you known?" I ask, a little offended that I was left out of the loop.

"I went with him to get the ring," he answers flatly.

"And how long ago was that?" I ask, realizing that in the surprise of hearing the marriage news, I never actually got around to asking when he had proposed.

"Last week."

"Last week?" I flip my gaze to him. "You mean you knew on Tuesday and you never said anything?" I gape at him in disbelief.

"He hadn't asked her yet." He chuckles lightly. "I wasn't about to ruin his proposal before he even got a chance to make it."

"I guess that makes sense," I agree, knowing I would have done the same thing. "But you still could have said something. It's not like I would've run off to tell Kimber or anything."

"Not a chance I was willing to take. Not when it wasn't my s.h.i.t to tell." He shrugs, meeting my eyes for a brief moment before flipping them back toward the road.

Seconds later he pulls the truck into a vacant spot outside of my dorm building and kills the engine. I immediately reach to unbuckle my seatbelt, anxious to escape the confines of this vehicle. Before I can even get my hand to the latch, Gavin stops me. His fingers close down around my forearm, pulling my gaze up to his.

"Just where do you think you're going?" He gives me a wicked smile, his eyes growing impossibly dark.

My stomach does a flip for the millionth time this evening and I suck in a ragged inhale, determined not to let this man cloud my better judgment. The judgment that tells me sleeping with him would be about the worst thing I could do. Not just to Bryan but myself as well.

I don't know if I can walk away from Gavin a second time. I don't know that I even want to. What I do want is to not be put in the position to make that choice at all.

Gavin unlatches his seatbelt and slides across the bench seat until he's right next to me, his breath hot on my cheek as I try to look anywhere but into his eyes. The eyes that suck me in and blind me from everything but the gorgeous man they belong to.

"Look at me, Harlee," he commands, his voice causing a shiver to run down my back.

"No." The word is weak and barely breaks the surface.

"Look at me," he repeats, his hand closing down on my chin as he pulls my face toward him.

When my eyes find his face, I expect to see humor, a teasing smile telling me he knows he's got me. What I see instead takes my breath away. It catches in my throat, making it impossible for my lungs to suck in the air they feel so desperate for.

I can't grasp what the look means or even begin to understand it. All I know is that something has shifted. This is no longer funny to him. It's no longer a game. He wants me and not because he knows he can have me.

And now he's got me. Before his face lowers to mine. Before his lips brush gently against my mouth. Before his hand unlatches my seatbelt and his strong arms pull me against his rock hard torso.

He had me in that one look.

Chapter Ten.

Gavin "Gavin." Her whispered word against my lips is enough to make my hunger for her d.a.m.n near unbearable.

I suck her bottom lip into my mouth, loving the way it coaxes a light groan from the back of her throat.

"Please," she whimpers, begging me.

I tighten my grip on her waist, hoisting her into my lap. She rests both her knees on either side of me, her mess of hair hanging down around us, tickling my face. Wrapping my hand around the back of her neck, I pull her face back down to mine, running my tongue along the seam of her lips before plunging it into her mouth.

She grinds down on my erection, another moan escaping when she realizes just how badly I want her.

All I want is to feel her tight around me, to show her exactly why she belongs right here and not with that douche she calls a boyfriend. She's mine now, whether she knows it or not.

There's no way in f.u.c.k I am letting her go again.

Grabbing the hem of her dress, I break away from her mouth just long enough to slide it over her head before tossing it onto the floorboard of the truck. I don't worry about anyone seeing us, given that it's pitch black outside and the windows are completely fogged.

I doubt Harlee even cares at this point.

Her fingers dig into the back of my hair and she slams her mouth back down onto mine, her entire body rigid with want and need. The thought that I'm the one doing this to her brings out an almost animalistic need to claim her.

Pushing up, I spin, dropping her onto her back against the seat of the truck. Grabbing the waistband of her pants, I have them and her panties down before she has even processed my action.

I am so desperate to get inside of her; my hands are shaking by the time I unlatch my belt and jeans. Retrieving a condom from the glove box of the truck, I roll it down onto my c.o.c.k, which is so hard it's borderline painful, before spreading Harlee's legs wider.

I settle in between them, her thighs squeezing tightly against my hips as I line my erection at her entrance. With one last look into her l.u.s.t filled eyes, I push forward, groaning out when the tightness of her settles around me.

She feels so good. So f.u.c.king good.

"This isn't going to last long, baby," I breathe against her mouth before dropping a heated kiss to her lips. "You feel so f.u.c.king good around me." I groan, pulling almost completely out of her before plunging back in.

Placing my hands on the door behind her, I throw one of her legs over my shoulder, sinking into her so deeply her head rolls to the side and a deep moan sounds from her throat. I pull out and then ram in again, loving that every time I do her actions and sounds become less censored and wilder and out of control.

It isn't long before I have worked myself into a steady rhythm, pounding in and out with so much force she has to push against the door above her head to keep herself in place.

"You. Are. Mine," I grind out, my release threatening to rip through me at any moment. "Say it Harlee." I increase my speed. "Tell me you're mine," I demand.

"I'm yours," she cries moments before I feel her tighten around me.

"f.u.c.k!" I groan, her o.r.g.a.s.m sending me soaring over the edge. The pleasure rips through me; the feeling of her clenching around me the most f.u.c.king incredible thing in the world.

Once I'm sure I have drained every last ounce of pleasure I can from her, I collapse down on top of her, resting my head against her chest. Her heart is beating so rapidly I can feel it pounding against the side of my face.

"What the f.u.c.k are you doing to me?" I ask, loving the way her chest rises and falls beneath me as she tries to catch her breath.

"I could ask you the same question," she whispers, dropping her hands into my hair.

She runs her fingertips along my scalp, the feeling d.a.m.n near lulling me to sleep despite the fact that I'm anything but tired.

It took everything I had in me to let Harlee leave my truck. After lying with her in my arms for almost an hour, it was nearly impossible to drive away.

The combined scents of our bodies danced around me in the cab of the truck the entire way back to Portland. You would think after a two-hour drive I wouldn't still be wearing this ridiculous a.s.s smile, but as I pull my truck into the parking garage of my condo building, I still haven't managed to shake it.

I shove the truck into park after pulling into my a.s.signed s.p.a.ce, killing the engine before climbing out. Within minutes, I'm stepping out of the elevator onto the seventeenth floor, turning right as I take the hall all the way to the end. I shove my key into the door the moment I reach it.

I immediately spot Paxton, lounging in the living s.p.a.ce that sits directly off the foyer, a beer in one hand, the television remote in the other.

"Where the f.u.c.k have you been?" He tosses the remote next to him on the black leather couch, giving up on finding anything to watch.

"With Harlee." I hang my keys on the wall before sliding off my converse.

"As in with Harlee?" He raises his eyebrows suggestively, taking a long drag of his beer.

"As in none of your f.u.c.king business," I huff, crossing through the living room into the kitchen-dining room combo that is separated from the living s.p.a.ce by a half wall.

"Defensive; that's new," Paxton observes. "I didn't realize you guys were a real thing." He stands, crossing into the kitchen to grab another beer from the fridge. "Here." He slides one into my hand before coming around to face me on the other side of the half wall.

"We aren't. I mean, we weren't," I correct, not really sure what the f.u.c.k we're doing.

All I know is I want more. So much f.u.c.king more.

"Isn't she seeing someone?" He eyes me curiously.

"So what if she is?" I twist the cap off my beer and take a long swig, the cold liquid causing my eyes to water slightly as it slides down my throat.

"I didn't realize you were that guy," he states matter of fact.

"If you mean the kind of guy who takes what the f.u.c.k he wants no matter what stands in his way, then yes, I guess I am that guy," I say, not the least bit sorry for my actions.

Harlee belongs with me. Bryan is just going to have to move the f.u.c.k along. I may have been willing to share in the past, having never wanted someone the way I want Harlee, but I sure as s.h.i.t am not willing to share her.

I want her all to myself. Every single f.u.c.king piece of her.

"You're really into this girl," he observes.

"I am," I admit, letting out a slow breath.

Harlee owns me. I've accepted it. There's no point in trying to hide it from my brothers. Paxton and Deck are my family. I have no qualms about leaving all my s.h.i.t out on display for them to see. I know at the end of the day I get no judgment from them.

"I'm happy for you." He takes a drink of his beer. "I'm just not sure how good of an idea it is to get attached to a girl who has another guy in her life."

"What the f.u.c.k is it to you?" I bite, taking another drink of my own beer.

"I don't give a f.u.c.k about the other dude." He holds his hands up in front of himself, misunderstanding my meaning. "I just want you to think long and hard about what you're doing. You're f.u.c.king another dude's girl. Have you considered that at the end of the day you're just the guy she's f.u.c.king and not the one she wants a real relationship with?"

"You don't know what you're talking about." I drain the rest of my beer in one long drink, dropping the empty bottle into the trash can next to me.

While I may not be willing to entertain the thought that somehow this doesn't go the way I want, I'd be lying if I said it hadn't crossed my mind at least once or twice over the last few days.