Try Me
Page 17“So what do you want to eat, Mel?” Gabe asked. “I thought you were starving.”
She settled her hand on his thigh and leaned closer to share his menu. When he planted a gentle kiss on her hair, she looked up at him hesitantly. He smiled. There was a longing in his gaze she didn’t understand. It differed from the look of sexual longing that made her crave his body. This one made her want more than a single night with him. But that was stupid. She knew a relationship with him would never work out. Why would he even suggest it when he could have as many hot-and-heavy, no-strings-attached affairs as he wanted?
“What are you having?” she asked.
“Steak and eggs.”
“That sounds good. Will you order for me too?”
“Of course. How do you like your steak?”
“Medium-well.”
“Eggs?”
“Over medium.”
“What do you want to drink?”
Gabe was still staring at Melanie as if this totally normal conversation meant the world to him. She cupped his strong jaw in one hand, delighting in the roughness of his beard stubble against her fingertips, and lured him closer for a tender kiss. When she drew away, she stared up into his green eyes and released a dreamy sigh. It took her a moment to remember he’d asked her a question.
“Cranberry juice, if they have it,” she said.
He ran a hand over her hair and twined one curl around his index finger. The dead silence around the table became noticeably uncomfortable. Melanie’s face warmed when she realized everyone was watching them. Gabe’s brow furrowed as he turned his gaze to the other men in the group. They were staring at him as if he were a pod person.
“What are you all lookin’ at?” Gabe grumbled.
In unison, five pairs of eyes turned upward to gaze at the ceiling.
A waitress approached and set plates of food in front of those who’d arrived before Melanie and Gabe.
“Force!” The waitress whipped a black Sole Regret T-shirt from her apron pocket and handed him a silver paint pen. “Will you please sign this for me? All I need is Shade and my collection of signatures will be complete.”
“Sure,” Gabe said.
“The concert last night was awesome! I was stoked when I found out you all were staying here.”
“Glad you enjoyed the show.” Gabe signed the T-shirt, and the waitress took his order while the ink of his autograph dried.
He ordered for Melanie first—which made her feel special, cherished even—and then for himself.
“And can I get some fresh fruit as well?” Melanie asked. She didn’t usually eat such a heavy breakfast, but her stomach was up for it this morning.
“No problem,” the waitress said. “What I wouldn’t give to be in her shoes,” she muttered under her breath as she walked away with her autographed Sole Regret T-shirt draped over one shoulder.
Apparently, Melanie wasn’t the only one who was starving. Everyone with food fell silent as they devoured their meals. Gabe held her hand under the table, stroking the sensitive skin below her knuckles with his thumb.
“I wonder where Nikki and Shade are,” she said.
“Screwing in the sauna,” Adam said.
Melanie turned her head to look at him.
“He took two security guards with him to ensure their privacy.”
“Sounds hot,” Melanie said. “And I don’t mean sexy hot. Hyperthermia hot.”
“I’m sure it’s hella sexy hot,” Adam said. “And I’m sure Shade will tell us all about it later when we’re bored on the tour bus.”
“I’m sure Nikki would prefer he didn’t,” Melanie said, embarrassed for her friend. Yeah, Nikki could be slutty, but she made no excuses. If she wanted to f**k a guy in the sauna, she f**ked him in the sauna. Melanie sometimes envied Nikki’s lack of inhibition, but Melanie also pitied her, because she knew that what Nikki really wanted was for someone to love her. She was just going about it all wrong. Melanie recognized that she was going about it all wrong too, but then she’d never expected to feel anything for Gabe besides lust. She was feeling things for him that she had no business experiencing, much less expressing.
“I have some time after breakfast,” Gabe whispered in her ear. “Are you planning on sticking around until the bus leaves?”
“Do you want me to?” she asked.
“That’s a stupid question.”
Beside her, Adam inhaled sharply and then started choking. The guy who was sitting on his opposite side pounded him on the back. Adam’s chains rattled in time with the pounding.
“Are you okay?” Melanie asked.
He nodded, still coughing, and reached for a glass of water. He knocked it over when his attention diverted to Nikki, who danced into the room, positively glowing with happiness. Or maybe her face was rosy from all the time spent in the sauna. Everyone at the table stood in unison, piling fancy cloth napkins on the puddle of water spreading across the table. Nikki trotted across the room and wrapped her arms around Gabe’s neck.
“Did you have fun with Mel?” she asked, giving him an affectionate squeeze. She tilted her head to the side, grinned at Melanie, and offered her a little wink.
Shade stopped behind her and cleared his throat. Nikki untangled her arms from Gabe’s neck and hugged Shade around the waist, resting her head against his broad chest like a docile kitten. He cupped the back of her head in one large hand.
“I suppose you thoughtless ass**les didn’t bother ordering for the rest of us,” he said. Melanie couldn’t tell who he was looking at, because he was wearing his damned sunglasses again. She wondered if he wore them to bed. And while f**king in the sauna.
“You’re the only ass**le I see here,” Adam said and sat in the booth again. He tackled his omelet with vigor.
There was an uncomfortable moment where everyone stared at Shade, and then, when he didn’t engage further with Adam, they all sat down again to continue their breakfast. Shade sat next to Owen, who shifted closer to Kelly to make room. Nikki perched herself on Shade’s knee.