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

My eyes flutter open, and, like yesterday morning, I’m awake before Gabriel. A smile stretches across my face as I inch closer, and he wraps his arms around me in his sleep. My fingers trail across his naked torso, studying every birthmark and little scar they can find.

His heartbeat is steady, I can hear it perfectly with my ear flat against his chest. Gabriel’s hand drops from my back to my butt, and I look up to see if he’s still asleep. His eyes are closed, but there is a hint of a smile on his lips now. Two can play this game.

I reach for his morning wood but don’t touch him. All I do is swiftly graze it, as if by accident, and then shove my hands between my legs. Gabriel squeezes my ass, making the smile on my face uncontrollable. My fingers move back to his chest, and I lean forward to press a kiss on his hard nipple.

Almost instantly, he pushes my behind toward him, and my aching clit presses against his groin. A low moan leaves me, my needy body happy because of the pressure against my most sensitive area.

I lift my head to see his eyes are open now, his lips are parted, and lust is all over his face.

“Good morning,” I whisper, and the sweetest grin appears on his lips. His dimples seem to be everything I want to see at this point along with his stubble and green-brown eyes.

“Bonjour,” he replies, his mouth brushing over mine. My body lights on fire when I feel him rub against me.

“Touch me,” I beg and command at the same time, bringing a sexy smirk to his full lips.

His hand slips inside of my panties without hesitation, running over my swollen clit before his index and middle fingers slide inside of me. They curl at the perfect spot, making a loud gasp escape me.

“You’re so wet for me, chérie, this early in the morning,” he whispers into my ear, his voice husky and rough from just waking up.

He moves his fingers back out before he glides them in again, this time a little faster than before. Fire spreads through my stomach and chest, my eyes rolling into the back of my head at the same time.

“Look at me,” he says, but I don’t listen. “Keep your eyes on me or I’ll stop,” he demands, and I smile as I obey. He’s so bossy… I love it.

His thumb rubs over my clit, tracing perfect circles. My moans are quiet, but they are also coming out fast and breathless. Gabriel brings his lips to mine and lets his tongue enter my mouth to massage mine with his. Pleasure grabs hold of every cell in my body, making them vibrate.

My eyes close in response, but he stops his movements.

“Eyes on me, baby,” he reminds me, and I force them open again.

Gabriel keeps going before lifting his free hand to grab my chin between his fingers, tilting my head to face him completely.

“That’s my girl,” he praises, picking up speed and bringing back the familiar tension in my body.

I reach for his erection, the need to make him orgasm at the same time as me taking over.

“Shit, Val,” he moans as soon as my hand glides down his hard cock. My eyes stay on him but his are closed now.

A wicked grin dances onto my face before I say, “Keep looking at me, Gabriel, or I will stop.”

He half-chuckles, half-moans before obeying, his gaze revealing how good I make him feel. I rub faster, putting a little more pressure when he groans my name. It’s so hot, I keep going to hear it over and over again. Every little sound from him pushes me further toward my release.

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His usually firm voice has lost its strength now. I feel his legs go stiff before his high takes over and his body starts to tremble. He pumps into my hand, riding out his pleasure for as long as he can.

Gabriel’s lips crash onto mine a moment before my own orgasm pumps through my veins, releasing my entire body from the build-up he was responsible for. I cover my mouth to muffle my scream and grind myself against his hand to enjoy the orgasm and all of its after-effects.

“Fuck,” I breathe and roll onto my back, trying to calm my accelerated heartbeat, which is useless until he removes his hand from my panties.

Gabriel disappears into my bathroom, but he returns soon, wearing his sweatpants from yesterday and smiling brightly at me. I’m still out of breath, and my mind is in a trance.

“Can we wake up like this every morning?” I joke, but Gabriel’s expression is dead-serious.

“Say the word, I’ll move in tomorrow.” I shake my head, the smile on my face never fading. He cocks an eyebrow but grins too. That beautiful, handsome grin of his. “Fine, I guess we can just pretend we don’t belong together for a bit longer if that’s what you need.”

He makes everything sound so easy, as if we could run away together into a fairytale land where problems don’t exist, and we could live happily ever after. Just trying to put myself in a mindset like that is absurd. Worlds like this don’t exist, but mine is pretty good, even if I have to push through things, like my anger. James and I have to figure this out.

“What do you want to do today?” Gabriel asks me after a while of silence, and I take his hand in mine.

“I have to go make things right between James and me. We got into a fight yesterday, and I don’t want this painful feeling in my stomach to be permanent,” I explain, and Gabriel nods.

“I think that sounds like a great plan. You should talk to him,” Gabriel agrees.

I place my hand on his foot and tickle him, making him jerk his feet toward his body.

“What are you trying to do?” he asks, a big grin on his face.

“I’m trying to be cute,” I reply, and he chuckles.

Gabriel pulls me toward him by my wrists and starts to tickle my stomach. I don’t know if he knows my feet aren’t ticklish, or if he just wanted more surface to attack. I start screaming and laughing, and eventually, he just pins me to the bed.

“You don’t have to try to be cute. It comes naturally to you.” He gives me a swift kiss on the lips before he gets off me.

My hand has been in the same position, a few centimeters away from James’ door, for about five minutes now. I cannot make my fist connect with the wood. I want to talk to him, I need to, but, somehow, my body is refusing to take the first step in the right direction.

It’s been twenty-four hours since the fight started, and I don’t know if it’s the best idea to talk to him already. Maybe I’m too much of a chicken to find out what he meant when he said he was in love with me. If his feelings are still there, they will change everything.

But will they?

I don’t know anymore, which is why I finally bring myself to knock on the door. Uncertainty is scarier than anything James could ever tell me.

When nobody answers, I walk around the side of the house and open the gate leading to his garden. James is sitting on one of the lounge chairs in front of his pool, his head between his arms and empty bottles of beer scattered around him. He must have slept out here.

“James?” His head snaps up, and I can see his red, puffy eyes and the dark circles underneath them. “Good God,” I say and walk over to him. I wrap my arms around his head, ignoring the stench of alcohol coming off his clothes. “What the hell are you doing?” I step back, letting my eyes scan his sad face.

“I’m so sorry,” is the first thing slipping out of his mouth. He’s not drunk anymore, I’m sure of it, but he is exhausted.

His blue eyes seem lighter because the white part has turned blood-red, and his blonde hair is all over the place.

“I know, I’m sorry too. We should have talked yesterday, and I shouldn’t have made you leave.”

James probably spent the whole night hating himself, trying to forget about everything by consuming too much alcohol and putting himself in a dreadful head space.

“Let’s talk,” I tell him, and he nods.

“I should have told you the day after. I should have never kept such an important piece of information from you. But you have to understand why. You—you just have to,” he tells me, his hand wrapping around mine and his eyes pleading with me. I don’t know what he’s begging me for, but it seems important. “I was in love with you for years, pretty much from when we were kids to only a couple of months ago.”

My heart is racing in my chest, and I feel like throwing up.

“I’ve since realized we aren’t supposed to be together. I am supposed to protect you, love you, care for you, and always be there for you in a brotherly kind of way. You need me as a friend, and I need you, which is why I never want to do anything to ruin that, even if I already did.”

Tears are rolling down his cheeks, which bring some to my own eyes. We are two people who love each other too much for their own good.

“Once I realized what we both need, it was a lot easier to let go of my feelings. I even met someone a couple of weeks ago, and she and I have been getting along well, but I can’t let myself connect with her fully. Until yesterday, I had no idea the reason for that was my deception. I’ve been lying to you for too long, and I just couldn’t do it anymore, especially not after you were saying all of those things about me.”

He rubs his face with his hands before he takes mine again.

“I should have always put protecting you first, and I’m sorry I let a ridiculous fantasy cloud my judgment. You deserve better, my love. You deserve a friend who would never do something like this to you, and it hurts me that I messed up our relationship. I know there is nothing I can do anymore, so I’m hoping you can find it in your heart to forgive the behavior of a stupid, immature boy, even if he doesn’t deserve anything more from you.”

His hand slips out of mine, but I take it back and lift it to my cheek. It lies flat against my skin, and I take a deep, calming breath. This is a lot to take in all at once, but at least I finally understand him. I can make sense of his feelings, which is all I’ve ever wanted.

“I’m sorry for all the pain I have caused you over the years. It must have taken everything out of you to give me advice and listen when I talked to you about Luke and Gabriel, or every time I friend-zoned you,” I say and laugh a little.

“Yeah,” he mumbles, and his thumb caresses my cheek.

“I’m so sorry something like this happened,” I tell him, my voice cracking.

He’s about to talk when I cover his mouth to stop him.

“You had your turn, now it’s mine,” I scold, and he grins at me. There it is, this is all I wanted to see. “There is nothing you could ever do that would make me hate you. You’ve made a mess out of a situation we could have dealt with a year ago, but we can also address it now. I wish you would have told me sooner, but I also know you won’t ever lie to me again.”

He shakes his head, shame in his features. I let out a strained breath.

“Let’s just move on from this and get back to annoying each other.” He nods, relief clear on his face. “I love you.” James pulls me into a tight embrace.

“I love you so much, Valentina.”

We hug for what feels like an eternity before I pull back to look at him. The smile on his face warms my insides because I’m glad to see happiness has taken over again.

“Now, tell me, what’s been going on?”

A small, nervous laugh escapes me before I tell him about my spot at the Ferrari Driver Academy.

“Shut up, luv!” he says, shaking me out of excitement. “It finally happened! Soon, you’ll be kicking all of our arses,” he cheers, and I cover my face to hide the blush on my cheeks.

Soon…