GRIT: A Spartan Riders Novel (12 page)

SEVENTEEN

Sometimes you just had to know when to throw in the towel. Blake was learning that lesson very well. “Goddamn ungrateful, sonofa—”

“Daddy,” Ash said, his tone filled with warning.

Catching Gabby’s eye, Blake’s lips quirked and he reigned it in, cursing inside his head instead. Fresh out of quarters, he couldn’t afford another for the swear jar. The kid was a real ballbuster, just like his daddy, so he really couldn’t be mad. Pushing up from the floor, Blake ruffled Ash’s hair. “Sorry, buddy, but the little shhhhh…uh, brat scratched me up.”

After spending some time at the pet store selecting all kinds of what Blake suspected was unnecessary crap—did a cat really need a Snuggie?—they finally arrived home and gave the little turd, who they’d officially named Ninja on the account of him being found in a sewer drain which Ash attributed to
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
, a bath.

The second the water touched his feet, Turd—as he’d taken to calling him—had gone ape shit. Blake tried clamping down on his scruff, but the little bastard was wily, squirming this way and that like the girl in the damn
Exorcist
. When the thing started clawing its way up his arm in a desperate bid to flee, he couldn’t lie and say that the thought hadn’t crossed his mind to twist the little jerk’s head right off his shoulders.

But for all the blood he’d drawn and all the shredded skin Blake now sported, one look into those huge, round eyes so full of terror, and he felt sorry for the pitiful creature. It reminded him of Ash’s first bath after he was brought home from the hospital. Neither he nor Jodi knew what the hell they were doing. They were sloppy and awkward, and despite their best efforts to control the water, when it’d gotten into Ash’s eyes, he’d gotten the same look that Ninja had.

He just couldn’t stay mad after that.

But he sure as shit wasn’t stupid enough to sit there and continue to take it. Thank God for Gabby. Regardless of her assertions that she didn’t know the first thing about caring for animals, she was proving now that she had the nurturing gene built in.

Her tenderness, compassion, and patience with the kitten caught and held his attention. Blake stood behind her and Ash, bent over the tub, gently soaping and rinsing the subdued cat. It was calm in her hands, his little face turned up to hers as she cooed softly to him as if he were a baby. Which, in a way, he guessed it was.

Watching the scene unfold, Blake was instantly hard. There was just something about the way she was sitting there, handling that kitten like a pro, that made him want to strip her naked, bend her over, and get inside her.

“Okay, little guy,” Gabby said as she wrapped the kitten in one of his towels and roughed him up a bit, “all clean.” Ash stood, and Gabby handed him the cat. Climbing to her feet, she gave her back a stretch that pushed her tits up and out, and Blake’s pants grew impossibly tighter.

As Ash brought the cat over to Blake to show him their handiwork, he rushed to cover what she’d done to him before his kid got an eyeful. 

“See, Daddy. Ninja’s happy now.”

Forcing his gaze away from Gabby, Blake looked down and pulled the fabric back to reveal the tiny face. He heard the distinct vibration of purring going on and smiled. “Yep, he sure is. Good job, buddy. Now why don’t you go on and take him to your room and show him his new bed.”

Ash skipped off, this time forgetting to issue his standard complaints. In his absence, the tension in the room thickened as Blake and Gabby faced off. Her lips twitching in a nervous smile, Gabby’s gaze darted away from his, and Blake felt his temperature spike in response. He liked that she wasn’t easy. She was more likely to run the other way if given enough quarter to do so, so he kept pushing. Edging her into corners like a cat chasing a mouse was almost as entertaining as catching her.

And he liked catching her a whole lot.

While she busied herself cleaning up the bathroom, sopping up water from the floor and closing the shampoo bottle, he made his move.

Closing in, Blake eliminated any possibility for escape. Bent over the tub, he made sure that when she stood, her back was flush with his front, all those delicious curves rubbing against all the right parts.

“Oh!” Surprised, Gabby jumped, spinning around and losing her footing in the process. Before she could fall backwards into the stall, Blake grabbed her arms and hauled her up against his chest, crushing her so close he could feel her heart slamming against his ribcage.

“Thanks for helping out tonight.”

“You’re welcome,” she said, and Blake smiled, pleased at the breathy tremble he heard in her voice. “You didn’t fare so well, though.” Her lips pursed and she turned her attention to his arms, drawing back enough to trace her fingertips lightly over the myriad, angry red scratches that covered him from wrist to elbow.

Inspecting his torn flesh and noting the dried blood, he shrugged. “Yeah, that’s the first time I had pussy fight back.”

A shocked laugh stuttered out of her. “I hope you don’t kiss your mother with that mouth.”

His expression serious, he said, “Not since she died.” Gabby’s eyes widened almost comically, and Blake couldn’t hold back his smile. “Totally yanking your leg, teach. She’s in Colorado, hiking up mountains or some shit.”

Huffing, Gabby shoved against his chest. “Ohh,
you
! You’re incorrigible. Come on, help me get this place straightened up. I’m hungry, and I seem to recall you promising to feed me.”

Blake slanted her a lewd grin and got a slap in the chest for the effort. He laughed, loud and deep, because he’d never known a woman with balls big enough to take a hand to him. Not even Jodi, and her decision-making skills were questionable at best. It was her tough-as-nails attitude that had first drawn him her way, and it was her soft underbelly that convinced him she was worth sticking around for. He’d been wrong on all counts, as far as Jodi was concerned, too young and stupid to understand the difference between a girl and a woman, but he was under no such illusions now.

Blake had learned life’s lessons hard and well, and Gabby was one hundred percent woman if ever he’d met one.

Within the hour, they were all sitting together on the couch, Ash in the middle, chowing on lo mein and shouting out letters and wrong answers to
Wheel of Fortune
. Normally, this kind of thing wasn’t exactly Blake’s idea of family fun night, what with all the letters and words and reading going on, but Gabby somehow made it light, easy, and he was surprised to find that he was enjoying himself.

He was especially enjoying watching Ash. The kid hadn’t smiled or laughed so much in longer than Blake could remember. He was usually so solemn, reserved. Serious. Whenever Gabby was around, though, he’d noticed that Ash was much more vocal and expressive. He was better around her, more confident and determined.

Gabby was bringing something good out of him, and Blake liked it. He liked her. As if she felt him staring, Gabby’s head swiveled around and, catching his eye, she smiled softly, almost shyly.

That was the moment Blake began to truly wonder what it would take to make her stay.

***

Blake heard someone whimpering. Caught in a deep sleep, it was difficult to grasp the origin at first, the sound seeming to come from a great distance. Then it happened again, this time more pitiful, and was accompanied by movement. Slowly, he withdrew from sleep and became aware of his surroundings. Aware of the soft, warm female pressed up against his side.

Gabby.

It hadn’t taken much to get her to agree to stay. Especially after he stole her car keys and hid them, refusing to give them back until morning.

He wasn’t above manipulation to get what he wanted.

“
No.
”

Gabby’s sharp plea brought Blake’s attention ‘round and he frowned, his hand automatically cupping her cheek in an attempt to sooth her. There was just enough light in the room to see her strained expression. Her softly parted lips gasped as if she couldn’t get enough air, and her cries grew increasingly pitiful, desperate.

“Shh, Gabby,” he whispered, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. “Wake up, teach. You’re dreamin.’” A nightmare was more like it, from the sound of it. That was twice now that she’d descended into one while in his bed, and Blake found himself wanting to know—needing to know—what the cause was.

Gently, he smoothed her hair back from her face and placed a series of kisses down the bridge of her nose, finally landing at her tender lips. He knew she was awake when her muscles began to relax and she exhaled into his mouth. Feeling her fingers in his hair, Blake allowed a moment to get lost as she kissed him back, languid and sweet, before pulling away to look her in the eye.

“Hi.”

Her eyes glossy and heavy with sleep, she smiled softly. “Hey.”

“You were having a nightmare again,” he informed, searching her face. Immediately, her expression shuttered in an attempt to close him out. Rubbing the pad of his thumb over her plush bottom lip, Blake asked, “You wanna talk about it?”

Her gaze skittered away. “I don’t remember.”

“I don’t buy that.” Her eyes flew back to his, a question in them. “The way you cry? It sounds soul-deep, Gabby,” he said, losing the pet name so she knew he was serious. “Never heard anyone make a sound like that without there being a story behind it.”

Giving up the pretense, she continued to avoid his gaze, but said, “It’s in the past.”

“A past you’re afraid is still out there, waiting?”

He waited patiently, until she finally gathered the courage to meet him head-on. “Yes.”

Blake’s insides clenched. He hadn’t been expecting such honesty. He thought he’d have to work on her, really dig at her until he wore her down before he’d get a straight answer. Maybe it was because she was still half asleep, or because she simply needed someone to help shoulder the pain, but there it was, raw and unfiltered. “What are you afraid of?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Well, that destroyed that theory.

Breaking their connection, Gabby rolled out from under him and left the bed. Blake watched her leave, sensing that she wasn’t going far. He waited while she disappeared into the bathroom, watched her every step as she returned a few minutes later.

The air between them felt different now, heavier. The proverbial elephant in the room, Blake thought. Which only confirmed that whatever was plaguing her sleeping mind was something he should be concerned about. If it was something simple, like ex-boyfriend drama like her parents would have him believe, then she wouldn’t be this standoffish about sharing what was up. She wouldn’t be avoiding him now. No, whatever this was, it was bad enough to haunt her dreams and follow her into the waking hours.

As Gabby climbed back into bed beside him and hunkered down under the blankets, he took stock of her too-pale skin and the slight tremble in her hands as she pulled the blankets up higher under her chin.

Just like a child afraid of the dark would do, he thought.

Rolling onto his side to face her, Blake stared into Gabby’s eyes, silently asking her to open up, to give him what he wanted. He didn’t want to pry it out of her—okay, he did—but the more he thought on it, the more desperate he became to have answers. And it was far easier to catch flies with honey.

“I understand if you don’t want to talk about it,” he started, easing her into conversation. His gut roiled as he considered telling her a truth of his own, something he’d spent his life trying to keep under wraps for fear of being ridiculed. But he knew, a healthy relationship of any kind required sacrifices on both sides, and if he expected her to bear her soul, he needed to do the same.

It was going to be the hardest thing he’d ever done, but Blake decided that if ever there was going to be a time to do it, to test Gabby’s mettle, this could very well be it. The moment of truth, so to speak.

Blowing out a breath, he continued down the path he’d started. “I need you to tell me what’s going on, but I understand if it’s something that scares you to share. In fact, that’s something we have in common.” Her eyes found his, a question in them. He forged ahead. “If I tell you my secret, you have to tell me yours. Deal?”

He waited for her nod, then he blew out a heavy breath and told himself to just spit it out. “I’m dyslexic.”

At first, she said nothing. The silence felt like a pall over the room, and Blake’s heart sank as his thoughts raced. What must she think of him? Did she think he was weak now, unworthy of her time? Was she already plotting her escape, but just trying to find the words to let him down easy?

Doubts and insecurities ate at him until all Blake could do was grit his teeth and wait for the inevitable. Convinced she was about to bail, he was utterly shocked when she reached out to cup his grizzled chin and said softly, “I know.”

Stunned, he searched her eyes. “You do?”

“I spotted some signs and connected the dots.” He didn’t know how to respond, unable to believe that something he’d tried so hard over the years to hide had been so easily figured out. Was he that readable? She must have read the questions in his eyes, the insecurities that dogged him since childhood. “I don’t think any less of you, if that’s what you’re worried about. I think you’re just as smart and handsome and sexy as ever. Nothing has changed for me.”