Right Side Up ((MMG Novella)) (8 page)

Ellie and Sarah squealed when I opened the door and climbed in.

“I cannot believe you pulled this off,” Sarah said.

“I thought Max was never going to leave this morning,” Ellie responded.

“Why is he acting like such a drill sergeant?” Sarah asked. “He questioned me for at least ten minutes this morning about what we were all doing tonight.” Ellie and I both groaned in response.

“We’ll explain later. Tonight is strictly about having fun,” Ellie told her.

I buckled my seatbelt and turned to see what they were wearing. Ellie had on a sexy sleeveless red dress with black platform heels. Sarah had on what looked like a dark red bustier and black form fitting pants. Her red and black matching heels were the shit. Both ladies had their hair pulled back, and both looked amazing. Joss had on an emerald green silk sheath dress with gorgeous silver heels. Instead of straightening her long blonde hair, she wore it curly. I had on a strapless blue-grey lace top with a black silk knee length skirt. The top fit like a glove and the skirt would allow me to move around on the dance floor. Due to our time limitations and venue choice, there would be no strippers tonight. Truthfully, I was relieved. We’d already done the stripper thing. Tonight, I just wanted to drink and dance with my friends. Joss cranked up some obscure eighties tune and we all groaned at her crappy taste in music. I would usually give her hell. However, with how things had been lately, the normalcy of it soothed my frayed nerves. I can’t remember the last time it was just me, the girls and zero stress.

Zane was waiting at the downstairs door when we arrived at Whisky’s. I didn’t know him very well. I knew he was an old army buddy of Dillon’s, and he’d hired Dillon to work at Whisky’s when Dillon first got out of the army. He had stopped in at Dragonfly a few times while I was working with Dillon and we had talked. He seemed like a good enough guy, but then again, so did Zippo. Zane introduced us to his two managers, Blake and Hunter. All three were extremely nice looking men. Once upon a time I would have mercilessly flirted with all three of them. A pang of guilt swept through me and I twirled my engagement ring around my finger several times.
Why am I thinking about all of this now?
I gave myself a mental slap, before following everyone upstairs to the roof top deck. My mouth hit the floor when I saw the private table.

My eyes darted from the perfectly set table to Zane. “You didn’t have to do this,” I gasped.

With a smile and a wink, he said, “It’s just for dinner. When you all head to the Dungeon, I’ll open it back up.”

“Thank you, honey,” Joss told him.

He gave her a hug and patted her slightly rounded belly. “Kurt is one lucky son of a bitch.”

“I know,” she sighed, and we all laughed. When Lena and Polly arrived, Ellie and I went downstairs to look for Isabella and Sally.

As we hit the bottom step, Ellie said, “Do you want to put a stop to this and go home?”

Her question took me by surprise. “What? No! Why do you ask?”

“I saw the guilty look on your face when Zane introduced you to the guys. This night is for you to relax and have fun, not worry.” Her eyes lowered to where I was unconsciously twisting my ring back and forth and I stopped. She shook her head at me. “Have you told Gage how you feel or are you going to end up like me and just explode when you’ve had enough?” Ellie and I hadn’t really talked about what happened that day in Joss and Kurt’s driveway.

“I miss the old Gage,” I blurted.

“I take it he’s still suffocating you?”

“It’s more than that…a lot more, but I feel wrong for talking about it, if that makes any sense.”

“More than you know,” she said with a sigh.

“Are things any better with you and Max?”

She smiled. “They are so much better, but only because we finally talked about it. Is Gage still talking to Dr. Parker?”

“He is, but –”

She squeezed my arm. “Either the Doc will get through or you are just going to have to take it into your own hands.”

“I’ve been taunting him,” I admitted.

She giggled. “I taunted Max for weeks.”

“And?”

She shrugged. “It worked in a very round-about way.”

“Details?” I asked.

“Nope,” she responded.

We shared a conspiratorial smile as we watched Sally pull up. After greeting both she and Isabella, we all went upstairs for dinner.

As soon as dinner was over, we were led down into the Dungeon, which was a large, dark bar with a kick ass dance floor. I had to laugh when Joss ordered us all shots and herself a glass of water. We danced and drank and for the first time in what seemed like forever, I felt like myself again. No one was hovering or worrying about me. No one was telling me what to do, where to go or how to feel. We lasted a little over an hour before the evening started going off the rails. I’m not sure if it was when Dillon showed up, carted Isabella away, and blamed me for her wasted condition. Or if it was when I twirled Ellie so hard, she lost her balance and, like a human slingshot, took out six people before landing in an unladylike heap under our table. It doesn’t really matter. Either way, we were having fun, which was something I hadn’t experienced in forever. That is, until Gage and Max showed up. At first, I thought Joss was the culprit, but I couldn’t find her to ask. To say the guys were angry is an understatement. Ellie was drunk, but still functional. With her fuck me hair, ripped dress and bar floor knees, I can imagine what Max must have thought. He shot me a scathing look. Then he collected Ellie and they left.

Without speaking a word to me, Gage settled the bar tab, shook Zane’s hand and walked out the door.
What the hell?

As I passed by Zane, he grabbed my arm. “Sorry Piper. Kurt called asking if Joss was here. I didn’t realize…”

I patted him on the arm and smiled. “It’s not your fault. Thanks for a great night.” With a deep breath, I followed after Gage. When I saw him waiting outside his truck glaring daggers through me, all the air came whooshing out at once.
Damn.

“Did you have fun tonight?” he asked. In the past, if I had pulled a stunt like this, he would have blown a gasket. The new Gage was all about calm and control.

Looking deep into his eyes, I spoke the truth. “I had more fun tonight than I’ve had in months. Thanks for asking.”

“Is that so?” His quiet, chilling tone of voice gave me a second’s pause, but I quickly shook it off.

“Yep,” I responded with a smile. Before he could say anything else, I turned my back in dismissal and walked around to the passenger side and got in. A minute or so later, he opened the door and slid behind the wheel. As he started the car, I flipped on the radio and turned it to the most obnoxious song I could find. When I didn’t get a reaction, I rolled down the window and started singing at the top of my lungs, “We going to rock down to Electric Avenue and then we’ll take it higher. Oh No! Out in the street! Out in the street! Out in the…”

He lasted five lines longer than I thought he would, before he turned off the radio and rolled up the window. “Hey!” I huffed, “I was listening to that.” He didn’t respond. I swear, the man had a will of steel.

We rode in silence for a few minutes before he broke. “When did you plan this get together?”

I contemplated lying and then thought,
why? Why lie. I want him to react. I want him to get mad. I want to know the guy I fell in love with hasn’t completely disappeared.
“Mentally plan it or actually plan it?” I flippantly asked.

A frown appeared on his face and he responded through a clinched his jaw, “Both.”

“I decided to have my bachelorette party when you told me you were going out of town. I did not set the plan in motion, though, until this morning.”

“Did we not discuss having a couple’s party?” His eyes flicked to me and then back to the road.

“No. You, Max and Kurt discussed having a couple’s party. I had nothing to do with it.”

“That’s bullshit, Piper.”

He only called me Piper when he was really angry. Finally, I was getting to him. “Whatever,” I said, waving my hand in dismissal.

“Whatever?” he asked. His incredulous tone let me know how close to the edge he was. All he needed was one final push.

“Truthfully, I’m kind of glad you showed when you did. I was torn between wanting to smoke the joint Blake and Sally had, and drinking a few more shots with Ellie and Zane.”

“What?” he roared and I tried not to flinch.
Uh-oh.
It looked as if the bear had finally awakened. Suddenly, he whipped the truck off onto a side road and parked beneath some trees. He unbuckled his seatbelt before turning to me. “Say that again,” he commanded in his do-not-fuck-with-me voice. I closed my eyes and tried not to cry in relief. The Gage I fell in love with was finally back.
Now, all I have to do is keep him here.

Instead of repeating the stupidity I’d spouted earlier, I calmly said, “Dooley is dead, Cowboy.”

“What the fuck does Dooley have to do with you lying to me about tonight? What the fuck does Dooley have to do with you doing shots and wanting to smoke pot? What the fuck does Dooley have to do with anything?” he shouted.

This had been a long time coming, so I made sure to hold nothing back. I didn’t want to hurt him, but I had to get through. “Everything, Gage! The day I was shot, the man I love disappeared! Who the fuck are you?” I screeched. He reared back as if I’d slapped him. “The man I fell in love with would have put me over his knee for the shit I pulled tonight! The man I fell in love with showed me every second of every day how much I was wanted and loved!” I slapped myself on the chest. “The day Selina and Zeke shot me, I became invisible to you!” Gage reached out his hand and I slapped it away. I wiped the tears from my face and whispered, “You don’t touch me the same way. You don’t talk to me the same way. You don’t treat me the same way. You want to protect me, but you are just suffocating me and destroying us.”

Regret flashed in his eyes and he raked his fingers through his hair. “If it wasn’t for me, you never would have fucking met Dooley Shane! He never would have kidnapped or tried to rape you, because he wouldn’t have known you! If I had gone after him, like I wanted, he never would have taken you the second time!” His voice cracked, “None of this would have happened if it wasn’t for me!” He slapped himself on the chest. “This is what I live with every single day!”

My whole body shivered and my heart stuttered in my chest.
What is he saying? “
Are you saying you regret us?”

His sad eyed stare ripped me to shreds. “I could never regret you, Princess. You’re my everything. When I look at you, though, all I see is how I’ve failed you. The only way I know how to deal with all of this guilt, is to protect you from anything else that could hurt you.”

Flipping off my heels, I unsnapped my seatbelt. Then I hiked up my skirt, crawled across the console and straddled his lap. He pushed his seat back and settled his hands on my hips. We were nose to nose. I could smell a hint of mint on his breath. I wanted to taste him, to eat him up, but that would have to wait. First, we needed to settle things once and for all. He tried to turn his head away, but I placed both hands on his face and refused to let him disappear on me again. “Dooley Shane was a sick man, Cowboy. Neither of us could have predicted his actions. To tell you the truth, I am a better person because of what happened.” His eyes widened in shock, and I explained. “I value my life and the people I love so much more now. I know what I need and I’m not afraid to ask for it. I need you to laugh and mean it. I need you to touch me the way you used to and know I am not going to break.” His fingers flexed on my hips and I could feel every hard inch of him pressed against me. Only strength of will kept me talking and not taking what I wanted. “I’m okay with you protecting me, but you have to stop trying to control me. I know it will take time for you to get over that day, and I have no problem giving you this time, but not if it means you change the way you love me.” His blue gaze held mine. “I need to know you love me now just as much as you did before I was shot, because if something has changed for you…”

Before I could get the rest of my sentence out, his lips were on mine. One of his hands slid up my back and into my hair. Using slight pressure, he tilted my head and deepened the kiss. Without a word, he reached between us, opened his fly and released his hard cock from his jeans. I let out a surprised gasp. This was both bold and exciting, something the old Gage would do. Another gasp escaped when he reached under my skirt and found the side seam of my panties. His tongue licked across mine as he ripped them from my body and tossed them onto the floorboard. His mouth still devouring mine, he lifted me up and pulled me down onto his hard shaft. As always, he more than filled me. I dropped my head back and moaned. He took this as an invitation to suck on my neck, something that drove me crazy with lust, not to mention full body tingles. His large hands grasped my bare hips under my skirt and held tight, stopping me from moving. My head snapped up and our eyes met. His were bright with emotion.

“I love you more than I did before. I love how brave you are. Every day I wake up wondering if that’s the day you will decide I’m not enough for you. I’m scared shitless someone or something is going to take you from me. I live with this fear every second of every day. Never, ever doubt how much I love you, Piper O’Connell. I promise to do better, but you have to promise not to leave me.”

My heart melted into a massive mush puddle. Softly, I brushed my lips across his and whispered, “I’m not going to leave you, sweetheart. I’m going to marry you.”

A flicker of relief passed over his face and then his lips were back on mine. I wound my fingers into his hair as he lifted me up and slid me back down his hard cock. Instead of gently making love to me, like I expected, he took me hard and fast in a punishing pace. In no time at all, we were both shouting our releases. Not able to help myself, I buried my face in his neck and burst into tears of joy.

My Gage was finally back.

Kurt