CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“I do not see any beauty in self-restraint.”
-Mary MacLane
GIANNA
It was so fun teasing Caleb about double-dating with Cece and Dante. The last double-dating experience was enough for me. I wouldn’t want to do that again, even with friends.
Josh hadn’t bothered me since the guys had a talk with him. Although, he did show up pretty banged up the next day at school. I almost felt guilty.
Thursday afternoon I went up to my room to do some math homework. Caleb plopped down on my bed. “What are you doing?”
“What does it look like I’m doing? Homework. You should try it,” I joked.
“I already did mine,” he informed me smugly.
I was surprised. “You did? When?”
“Study hall.”
“I have study hall too, but I can’t finish it that quickly,” I told him. “I bet you get horrible grades rushing like that.”
“You shouldn’t assume things.” He looked slightly annoyed with me. “I’ve never gotten anything below a ‘B’ in my life.”
“So, you’re a juvenile delinquent, who got expelled from two different high schools, but you’re also an honor student?”
“Yep.”
His palm running down my back and over my bottom almost distracted me. “Do you also work as a janitor and solve impossible math problems in your spare time?”
“Ha, ha, ha,” he faked humor. “I saw that movie, Miss Bring It On.”
I gave him a dirty look. “I’m not a cheerleader anymore, remember? Plus, I like that movie.”
“You would,” he teased.
“Can you go find something else to do? Isn’t there a shed somewhere you need to burn down for fun?”
His palm landed hard on my behind. “Fine, since my girlfriend isn’t going to give me any attention, I’m out of here. I’ll be in my room. You can find me there when you start to miss me.” He got off the bed and I couldn’t help but watch him leave until the door closed behind him.
I forced myself to stay in my room and finish my homework. Since I started it in study hall, I was done only thirty minutes later. Taking my time, I checked my email and sat on my bed playing with my phone. I was not going to rush over to Caleb’s room like some sort of lovesick girl. But, dammit, I did miss him. I waited a whole ten more minutes before knocking on his door.
“Come in!” Caleb yelled. He shut a notebook and shoved it under his pillow.
“What was that?” I asked, intrigued.
“Nothing. Miss me already?”
“Nope,” I denied, locking his door.
He raised one pierced eyebrow. “Why are you locking the door? Are you here to molest me?”
“Shut up,” I said, pushing him onto his back so I could lie on top of him. Hungry for him, I initiated the kiss. Not that he seemed to mind in the least bit. Wanting to see more of him, I started to yank off his shirt when there was a knock on the door.
“Caleb, I can’t find Gianna! Did she come home yet?” Oh shit, my mom was home early from work!
Seeing the panic on my face, Caleb’s chest rumbled from the laughter he held back. “Um, no, Julie! She was going over a friend’s house.”
“Okay, Caleb. Dinner will be ready in an hour, so make sure to wash up!” my mom called through the door. He made a face at that. My mom must’ve thought he was one dirty boy.
“I have everything I’m hungry for right here,” Caleb growled in a sexy voice while squeezing my butt.
“Nice line,” I said sarcastically. “But what if I hadn’t locked the door and my mom had walked in?”
“Then we would’ve had to politely ask her to leave so we could finish,” he kidded, thrusting against me.
“You are so bad.” I lifted up the front of his shirt to suck on both of his pierced nipples. He groaned, grinding his hips into mine. Reaching down between our bodies, I grabbed his crotch through his pants.
He jumped at the contact. “Now who’s bad? With your mother downstairs, Gianna? Shame on you!”
“So spank me.” I suggested. Before I could react, he maneuvered us so he sat at the edge of the bed with me draped facedown over his lap. “I was kidding, Caleb!”
“It’s too late to take it back now. I’ve already accepted your offer. So take your punishment like a big girl.”
He smacked my ass. I started laughing so hard I had to hold a hand over my mouth to muffle it. I didn’t want to try explaining this to my mom, especially the part about it kinda turning me on.
After a few hits, Caleb propped me upright on the bed next to him. “Now, if you didn’t learn your lesson, I’ll be more than happy to punish you again.”
I straddled him on the bed and we began making out again. This time I took his shirt all the way off so I could run my hands up and down his chest and abs. He removed my shirt and I started unbuttoning his pants.
“What are you doing?” he mumbled against my skin.
“Getting in your pants,” I told him. I was dying to see if he really did have a tattoo somewhere under there. If he did, I planned to lick it. Maybe I was the bad one, but my guy was so freaking hot. After I unzipped his pants, he put his hands over mine to stop me.
“What?” I huffed, frustrated.
“I am not fucking you with your mom downstairs.”
“Oh, baby, you say the sweetest things,” I crooned sarcastically. “Seriously, Caleb, you need to watch a few chick flicks to learn what not to say to girls.”
“My apologies, Gianna darling. I do not wish to make love to you with your mother downstairs. How was that?”
That was a smart-ass.
“Whatever!” I announced while climbing off him. “You’re lame and boring. I was planning something involving my tongue down there, but if you’re too scared. . . .” I trailed off with a shrug. Putting my shirt back on, I left.
CALEB
What a tease she was. She wasn’t serious about that, was she? Damn!
After dinner, Gianna and I pretended we were going to the library to study. My dad gave me a hard, knowing look while Julie asked us what time we’d be home. That woman was dense, lost in her la-la land of hanging curtains and pie-making.
We went for a drive to a nearby park. Going for a walk, we found a bench and sat down. Gianna leaned her head against my shoulder. How weird it was to just be with a girl like this.
“So, do you want to spend the weekend at my mom’s place with me?” I asked, trying to remember what my mom said she had going on this weekend.
She squeezed my hand, cuddling closer. “I can’t.”
“Why not?”
She brought her head up at my abrupt tone. “I’m going camping up in the mountains.”
“When were you going to tell me this?”
“Before I left tomorrow,” she explained, looking as guilty as she should.
What the hell was going on? “Who are you going with?”
“The crew,” she said slowly.
I was beginning to see where this was going. “Does that include Jared?”
“Of course it does, he’s part of the crew.” When she tried burrowing into me again, I inched away.
“So, you’re telling me that my girlfriend is going to be alone for a whole weekend with some dude who has the hots for her?” I tried to keep my voice down so the guys playing a game of basketball close by wouldn’t hear.
She looked even guiltier. “Well, when you put it that way, I guess it sounds kind of bad.”
“It sounds really bad to my ears,” I said. “That’s okay. I’ll just go out partying with Dante.”
“Are you trying to make me jealous?” she asked, sitting up straighter.
“No, but since my girlfriend will be busy on a camping trip with a bunch of other dudes, I feel like I’m entitled to a night with my best friend.”
“Cece will be there too,” she pointed out.
“Oh, so sorry, my bad. You each only have a few guys to yourselves,” I said sarcas
tically.
“You know it’s not like that!” she yelled. “You could come, you know.”
“Yeah, you invite me as an afterthought. No, that’s okay, I’ll pass.”
Gianna moved closer. “No really, I want you to come. And you can bring Dante, since Cece will be there!”
“I’ll think about it,” I told her, upset that she’d been planning on ditching me to hang out with Jared and the crew. She could keep her damn charity invite.
Since the mood was ruined, I grabbed her by the hand and took her home.
Should I go with her? It seemed like a sort of bitch move, to tag along with my girlfriend and her friends. Of course, Taye would be there and I was friends with him. Also, if I brought Dante, I could just call it doing a favor for a friend, since Cece would be there and he wanted to get to know her better.
Who was I kidding? If I went, it’d be to keep Jared away my girlfriend.