Crawling To You

Under The Table

Aiden's POV

Gabby looked f*****g edible. I could eat her all day and still not be satisfied. I forced myself to look away, jaw clenched tight.

‘Don't let it show,’ I told myself.

She ignored the chair next to me…the one she always took…and sat directly opposite from me instead.

Mrs Walter muttered tightly as though she was talking through clenched teeth, “What are you wearing to a family lunch, Gabriella? What happened to all your nice dresses?”

Gabby shrugged like she was ready to rebel. “I can leave if I’m not welcome. I’d rather go to sleep upstairs anyway. I had a long night.”

A long night? With Ethan? Did they sleep on the same bed? Did he touch her?

‘Argh! Stop it, Aiden!’ I screamed inside my head.

Mrs Walter’s brows knitted immediately. She set her fork down with a soft clink and fixed Gabby with that careful, mother-hen look she reserved for her only daughter. “A long night? What do you mean by that, Gabriella?”

Before Gabby could answer, Julian leaned back in his chair, that s**t-eating grin already spreading across his face. He waved his fork toward her like he was conducting an orchestra of pure chaos.

“Oh, Mother, she did have a long night.” His eyes sparkled with pure mischief. “Didn’t you see her rocking that pole as though she’s a goddamn Olympic gymnast who somehow got lost in a strip club? Full splits, hair whipping, the whole dramatic production. I half expected confetti and a gold medal to drop from the ceiling.”

The table erupted. Mr Walter’s deep laugh boomed first, then everyone else followed. Even Mrs Walter’s lips twitched before she pressed them into a thin line.

I didn’t laugh. Not even a little. My jaw was locked so tight I thought my teeth might crack. The image of Gabby on that pole…body rolling, hips rolling, that tiny short riding higher…replayed behind my eyes like a private, torturous film reel. And the fact that other guys had clearly watched every second of it only made the heat in my chest worse.

Gabby’s mouth curved into a slow, mischievous smile. She rested her elbows on the table, chin in her hands, and let her gaze drift lazily around the table before it landed…just for a heartbeat…on me.

“Ooooh,” she drawled, voice syrupy and deliberate, “you all will be speechless if I tell you how long my night actually was.”

The way she said it… the soft emphasis on long, the way her eyes flicked to mine like the rest of the room had suddenly ceased to exist… it hit me straight in the gut.

My insides burned hotter as heat crawled up the back of my neck and settled low in my stomach, heavy and unwanted.

What long night? Did anything happen?

Julian’s grin faded into something sharper. He squinted at her across the table. “What long night, Gabs? What did you do?”

Gabby only shrugged, the picture of innocent secrecy. “I don’t kiss and tell.”

Kiss.

The word slammed into me like a physical blow. Kiss?? So they kissed? Ethan’s mouth on hers. Ethan’s hands…

I shoved the thought away hard enough that my knuckles went white around my water glass.

‘It’s none of your business,’ I told myself savagely. ‘She’s not yours. She never was. Stop acting like a f*****g caveman. She’s nothing but your sister!’

But the more I repeated it, the louder the other voice grew. The one that wanted every single detail. The one that wanted to know exactly what had kept her up until morning, who had touched her, how far it had gone. The one that was currently carving a hole in my chest with pure, irrational jealousy.

Mrs Walter’s voice cut through the silence that had settled over the table, careful and low. “Gabriella… did you do something with a boy?”

The room went dead quiet. Forks stopped mid-air. Even Julian’s usual commentary dried up. Everyone was watching her now, but I was fairly certain no one else was hanging on her next breath the way I was.

My pulse hammered in my ears and I couldn’t bring myself to look away even if I tried.

Gabby’s giggle was soft, almost musical as it broke the silence. She leaned back in her chair, completely unbothered by the weight of every stare fixed on her.

“Not exactly,” she said, eyes sparkling with pure mischief, “but I guess none of you will ever find out.”

Everyone exhaled like we’ve all been holding our breath. Mrs Walter brushed it off and soon enough lunch was served.

The conversation flowed as everyone tried to know Valerie better. She was charming, talking about her work in finance.

But Gabby... Gabby was being dangerous.

Under the table, her bare foot slid up my calf slowly in a teasing manner. I pushed it away with my leg but it came right back, higher this time, brushing my inner thigh and my c**k stirred traitorously in response.

How could just a touch from her get me so hard? Meanwhile, making out with Val or other girls, I'll have to really concentrate to get the mood on?

Am I losing my mind?

While everyone was distracted, she picked up a banana from the fruit bowl, peeled it slowly, and licked it from base to tip with deliberate, long strokes of her tongue…all while her eyes locked on mine.

I imagined that tongue on my c**k instead…wet, swirling, sucking…inching me closer to ecstasy. A low groan almost escaped me at the thought and I closed my eyes tight, trying to banish the image.

‘She’s trying to ruin me for life. I can’t touch her. I won’t.’

The foot teasing got bolder with every passing second. Her toes suddenly pressed against the growing bulge in my pants, rubbing slowly with a smirk on her face.

I gripped the table edge suddenly, trying to stop myself from losing my mind.

Just then, Valerie asked me something about my day, but I barely answered coherently…stuttering like a fish that was thrown out of the ocean.

Mrs Walter noticed. “Son, are you okay? You look flushed.”

“Nothing,” I muttered. “Just tired…”

She offered me a soft smile as the conversation slowly returned around the table while Gabby’s foot pressed harder, circling. I was rock hard now, throbbing and leaking from the tip like a creep.

‘Damn it, how did she learn to do this? Has she done this to someone before? Who?’

Jealousy burned through me at the image of her doing this to someone else and just then, Mr. Walter clapped his hands together.

“Well, since this is a mini celebration, I have good news.”

My brain was still looping from Gabby’s teasing and how she got this good. How the hell was she doing this to me?

“We’ve received a proposal from the Hawthorne family,” Mr Walter announced.

Julian groaned. “Dad, I’ve said this a hundred times. I’m not marrying Ollie Hawthorne. I'll not marry for some damn family partnership. I’ll follow my heart until it leads me to the love of my life.”

Mr Walter laughed. “You’re not the only child I have, Julian. Did you forget that?”

Everyone froze and all eyes turned towards him in sync. He didn’t flinch. He smiled proudly, like he’s about to say something that will make everyone applaud him.

“Their son has shown interest in Gabby. And guess what? I already said yes! Gabby will be getting engaged to Alexander Hawthorne.”

The ground shifted under my feet instantly as shock hit me like a freight train.

Gabby? Getting engage? I looked at her immediately, but she wasn’t furious and she wasn’t rejecting it or throwing a fit.

Instead, her eyes were locked on mine…as though she was waiting. Waiting for me to say something.

What could I say? That she shouldn’t marry him? That would be suicidal!

I sat there, heart pounding, c**k still aching from her teasing, and said nothing.