Rush: Part One & Two (The Pitstop Series Book 3)

“Is it because of the way I reacted yesterday?” Eduardo asks, and I look into his light brown eyes, which are filled with guilt, and maybe even regret.

“A little, but mostly because I’m a mess. I’m so sorry for dragging you along, for doing this,” I say, and Eduardo gets up from the bed. For a moment, he hesitates. Eventually, he walks out of my room and slams the door without saying another word to me. I let out the breath I’ve been holding.

“I just saw Eduardo in the hall, and he did not seem happy,” Adrian tells me, and I flinch.

“How the hell did you get in?” I ask, my breathing uneven and my heart racing. Adrian only laughs and holds up a spare key card. He hugs me before he lies down next to me on the bed. “Eduardo and I were kind of fooling around, but I told him I couldn’t do it anymore. Gabriel and I are trying to figure everything out, which is complicated when you’ve already fallen for one another.” Adrian sits up and stares at me.

“He finally told you?” The brown in his eyes seems lighter than usual, but the green and blue are more dominant, as always.

“Wait, you knew?” I ask with disbelief on my face.

“Yes, since the day you slammed the door in his face. Gabriel came to me in tears and asked me what he could do so you would forgive him. He was frustrated and devastated, and he started yelling at me. I think his words were something like ‘I don’t know what to do anymore, man’,” Adrian starts, horribly imitating Gabriel’s wonderful accent. “‘I’ve really messed up, and all I want to do is just tell her how much I-’”

“Don’t,” I cut him off and put my hand to his mouth, accidentally smacking him harder than I mean to. “He hasn’t said those words to me yet, and I won’t hear them for the first time from you, especially not with that terrible accent you are making.” Adrian chuckles and removes my hand from his face.

“What are you going to do?” He leans back on my bed, and I start to fumble with my dress.

“For now, fly home,” I reply, and he shoots me a ‘you-know-that’s-not-what-I-mean’ expression. “I don’t know, but Gabriel is not pressuring me to find out soon. I love him. I’ve loved him for a while. I want him, yet at the same time, I don’t know if I’m ready.” Adrian is watching me closely, and I know he’s trying to figure out how to help me. “I think for now it’s best if Gabriel and I don’t commit to each other, which is fine because we’re young, and we shouldn’t commit anyway. Right? We can’t all have relationships like the one Evangelin and Carlos have.” I’m rambling, and Adrian and I both know it. My face drops into my hands.

“Only you can know what to do,” he replies, and I let out a small laugh. “You have to know, Val.” Adrian gets up and stretches his arms into the air. “By the way, if he breaks your heart, I’m going to have to break that pretty-boy face of his.” I smile at my brother while I hold my breath from his words. “Come on, we have to catch our flight home.” I nod and follow him, grabbing my suitcase and backpack.

Adrian and I check out of our rooms, and when I turn around, I find Gabriel sitting on a couch in the lobby, smiling at me. A blush settles on my cheek, and an involuntary grin spreads over my lips. Gabriel gets up from the couch, and my mouth waters. His dark grey sweatpants hang snugly on his hips, his white shirt is almost see-through, and his white sneakers fit the rest of his outfit. He turns around for a second to pick up his backpack, and as he leans down, my body starts to ache.

He makes his way over to where I am standing, but I smile and turn around, focusing on something inside my purse so he doesn’t see me drooling. Adrian turns around and throws my purse on the ground.

“Shit, sorry, Val,” he says, and we both bent over to get it.

“My, my, Romana, that’s an impressive view,” Gabriel says from behind us, and my eyes go wide.

“Thank you, I work out,” Adrian replies, and I laugh. Gabriel winks at my brother, and Adrian fans air to his face with his hand. He then walks away to call for a taxi, leaving Gabriel and me alone.

“You know, I expected him not to react so playfully,” I tell Gabriel, who is amused by what I’m saying.

“Oh, no, I’m sorry, beautiful, I meant your brother,” he informs me, and I swat his arm teasingly. “Your ass doesn’t create an impressive view; it creates a heavenly view,” he jokes. I roll my eyes, and he grabs my elbows to pull me closer to him. My heart is racing when he drops his lips to my ear. “Let me kiss you,” he whispers, and I shiver.

“No,” I reply, using all of my willpower to reject him. Gabriel steps back but never lets go of my arms. “Although, I probably wouldn’t be mad if you did,” I admit in a low whisper. His eyes are on my face.

“Okay, chérie,” he says before quickly grabbing my face and connecting our lips. I gasp, which only makes him take advantage of my open mouth to slide his tongue in ever so slightly. My stomach is turning upside down in the best way, and my skin lights on fire. Goosebumps spread over my arms involuntarily. His hands are at each side of my face, and he releases me before I’m allowed to get more. “I’ll sit with you on the plane,” he assures me, and I can only nod. I have no idea how he’s going to make that happen, but I know somehow, he will. Gabriel touches my neck at the same place James punched me about two weeks ago, and I can tell he is glad about how well the bruise has healed. It is barely visible anymore.

The drive to the airport is quiet. Gabriel is sitting in the front passenger seat, I’m in the back on the left side, James is in the middle, and Adrian is on the right. It’s hard for me to comprehend why we are all sharing a single taxi, but it’s better for the environment. Except for James and I, who exchange a few sentences, no one talks. Gabriel turns his head every now and then to smile at me.

The metal detector shows up red as we go through security, and I’m pulled to the side to ensure I’m not carrying anything forbidden. At one point, the woman even has to frisk me down. After not finding anything and me getting annoyed at how they’re treating me, they let me get back to making my way to my terminal. I look around for James, Adrian, and Gabriel, but I don’t find any of them. I pick up my things, and strong arms wrap around me from behind.

“I almost punched that girl,” Gabriel whispers before he nibbles on my earlobe, and I explode into a million pieces. What he’s doing feels incredible. “The way she was touching you? No, chérie, that made me very unhappy,” he goes on and touches his lips to the sweet spot just underneath my ear. We’re in public, and I don’t understand why he’s not worried anyone sees, but no one seems to be watching.

“We should go,” I croak out and, finally, put some distance between us. Gabriel grins and nods in agreement. He must know what he does to me because my cheeks are most likely a bright red, and my breathing is very uneven.

Halfway to our terminal, two guys and a girl come up to Gabriel, excitement written all over their young features. They ask him for an autograph and a selfie, and Gabriel begs me to wait for him before we continue making our way to the terminal.

It’s unbelievable that Gabriel ends up sitting next to me, but he lets me take his window seat. Once I’m seated and organized, I turn to the handsome man, who is already watching me. The smile on his face brings one to my own.

“You know, you’re starting to worry me. You’ve been smiling an awful lot recently,” I state, and he lets out a sweet laugh.

“You can only blame yourself for that. Ever since you spent the night with me, I can’t stop. Every time I look at you, I remember how it felt when you were in my arms, snoring peacefully.” My eyes go wide, and I swat his arm.

“I do not snore,” I reply firmly, and Gabriel chuckles. His long lashes frame his green-brown eyes, which makes them captivating. Yet the thing that makes his eyes the most beautiful is the sparkle in them, the one I know comes from happiness. When I realize I’m part of the reason why he’s happy, I place my hand around his and pull it onto my lap. He gives me a confused look but doesn’t remove it.

“Okay, you may not snore, but you did drool a lot,” he tells me, and I get embarrassed immediately. My hand leaves his, and I cover my face with both of mine. “No, chérie, I’m kidding.” He laughs a little and removes my hands from my face. “Valentina, I’m just joking, but even if I wasn’t, what does it matter?” I look at him again.

“It’s embarrassing,” I point out, and he smiles at me.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

“You know, if we were dating, I don’t think it would be so embarrassing for you.” He laughs, and I lace my fingers through his again.

“I’m not involved with Eduardo anymore, in any way.” A slight smirk starts to settle on Gabriel’s face, but he bites his bottom lip in an attempt to hide it. “I think it’s best if we stay friends, no matter how badly we want each other,” I tell him, trying to tease him, but since I am watching his lips more than his eyes, he notices my lie.

“Oh, really?” His hand moves from my cheek to my collarbone, stopping above my breast. “You don’t want me?” he whispers and only moves his index finger to my breast. My eyes close involuntarily, and I force them to open again. “You don’t want me to touch you like this?” He moves his finger from my boob to my cleavage and runs it down.

“I do, but I don’t think now is the right time for us,” I lie and grin, and he smiles more brightly. Gabriel removes his hand, and I try to calm my aching body. Everything inside of me wants him to continue to touch me, to never stop.

“And you don’t want to touch me either?” He takes my hand in his and brings it underneath his shirt. My hand is flat on his abs, and I have to use all of my self-control not to pull his head down and kiss him. “Not like this?” He brings my hand down to his waistband, and my finger runs along there without him having to do anything. “You don’t want me?” he asks again, lifting my hand back onto his stomach. I’m speechless, and all I want is to continue feeling his hard muscles underneath my fingertips. I started this game, but now I’m the one losing. “Because I really want to know what it feels like to be inside of you,” he whispers in a raspy voice, so the other passengers don’t hear. My insides turn upside down, and I have to cross my legs to make that persistent aching between them stop. Gabriel notices that too, and a victorious smile spreads over his full lips. “You want to know what it would feel like, too, don’t you?” Before I can think, I nod. My fingers run over his hot skin underneath his shirt, and he leans back, making my hand lose contact with his body. “Too bad we’re just friends.” He puts his headphones on, and it takes me a minute to get back to reality. My hands reach out, and I remove his headphones and pull his head down so I can press my lips against his. Gabriel puts one hand on my cheek, but I lean away sooner than either of us wants.

“We are friends, friends who do this,” I tell him, and he grins.

“Okay, friends who will have phenomenal sex,” he says, and I shake my head, smiling. Gabriel plants his lips on mine one more time before taking out his sketchbook and pencil. I place one earpiece into his ear and the other into mine, playing some of the songs we both like. My eyes don’t leave the page while he sketches a Formula One car on it. I’m confused until he draws the number nine on it, making tears shoot into my eyes. “One day,” he promises as he hands the paper to me. My eyes meet his, and a small smile covers my lips.

“One day,” I mumble, falling more in love with Gabriel Matteo Biancheri.