The Matchmaker of Decaydance

I shut the door behind them and changed into my pajamas - a white beater and a pair of black skull boxers. I brushed my teeth, took off my eyeliner, and took my hair out of its ponytail. I was a little tired, but I had a bad feeling about getting into my bed and trying to sleep.

The feeling didn’t go away, and I lay in my bed tossing and turning for an hour before throwing the covers back and getting up. I heard Pete’s gentle snore and, like a little kid, figured it would be okay for me to go downstairs and steal a cookie or something. Or play some music.

I crept out of my room, passed the two guest rooms, and inched down the stairs. The speakers were calling my name. I grabbed my DP CD and slid it in the player. The first song that came on was ‘Morning Rage’ by Unkle. I skipped over to the kitchen, where the floor was perfect for dancing. When the lyrics started, I began to sing and dance around like I had when I was 15. Sort of a mix between Jazz and Lyrical was what I loved to do, lots of spinning and foot movement. I threw a couple moves from the movie in there, too.

I did 6 spins in a row before the song faded out. I landed on both feet and started back into the living room when ‘So What’ by P!nk started, singing along.

“You have a really pretty voice.”

I gasped in surprise and almost tripped on the coffee table. Gabe was leaning on the doorframe, that smirk on his face again.

“Jesus, Gabe, you scared me,” I said, turning the music off and going back into the kitchen. The fridge had my attention…well, part of it. The other attention-getter was a half-naked Gabe, looking incredibly attractive with no shirt and his hair all messy.

“Sorry.” He came and sat at the center island opposite me as I got various foods out for my sandwich. “What are you making?”

“A turkey and strawberry sandwich.”

“Huh?”

I looked up at him as I sliced the berries. “Turkey and strawberries, put in layers, in between two slices of bread. Cheese is optional. We call it a sandwich.”

He made a face. “Really?”

“Yeah, it’s so yummy.” I started putting the stuff away. “I’m guessing you couldn’t sleep.”

“Not at all. Different house and stuff, you know?”

“Yeah, same thing happened to me when I first moved here.” I sliced the sandwich diagonally in half. The first bite off the corner was fantastic. “Yum, dude.”

“As good as your salsa?”

“I don’t know if it’s that good, but it’s damn appetizing.”

“Can I have a bite?”

I smirked. “Change your mind?”

“Yeah, I want to try it.”

I handed him the other half of the sandwich. He chomped nearly half of the thing in one bite.

“It’s not bad,” he said after a second. I found myself trying not to laugh again.

“What? What are you laughing at?”

“I’m not laughing.”

“Pretty much.”

“You just looked really cute, is all.”

“Oh, that’s all, huh?”

“Yeah, that’s all,” I told him playfully.

He stood up from the barstool and I fully realized how tall he actually was, but then he leaned on the island. “Was that a new dancing dress that you were wearing earlier?”

“Yeah, that’s my next competition outfit.”

“Including the fishnets?”

I blushed and broke my eye contact with him. “They’re part of it.”

“I’m going to have to see you compete, then.” He stood up and made his way halfway around the island.

“Why, just for the fishnets?”

He chuckled. Now he was on the same side of the island as I was. “No. I want to see some good Latino dancing. The fishnets are just an added bonus.”

I rolled my eyes, leaning against the island. “And how so you know I’m so good?”

“Because,” he said quietly, stepping close enough to touch. “I can just see it.” He brought his hand up to my face and traced my jaw line with his fingers.

I kissed him then, softly at first. Then he came closer and buried one hand in my hair. I wrapped my arms around his neck and the kiss became deeper. Gabe’s hands roamed over my back, hips, and stomach. Then I felt his hands on my thighs, and before I knew it, he was lifting me up and I was sitting on the center island, my legs wrapped around his waist.

I felt the hem of my tank top move, then Gabe’s warm hand on my stomach. It slid around my side and his fingertips ran up my spine, barely keeping contact with my skin. Unable to help myself, I gasped, breaking the hungry kiss and arching my back and hips into him.

A sly smile crossed Gabe’s face. His other hand ran up and down my thigh. He started kissing softly down my jaw line, then moved on to my neck. I let out a small moan as his teeth came down on my throat.

Gabe’s hands left my body and returned to the backs of my legs. He hoisted me up onto his waist and started to walk off to the stairs. He climbed them effortlessly and went to the end of the hallway - my bedroom.

He set me on the bed, already tousled from my attempt at sleep. I worked his shirt off of his torso and let my hands explore him.

As soon as Gabe got the tank top over my head, he started kissing down my sternum.

“Mm, Gabe.”

He chuckled again, coming back to kiss my lips again, resting his full body weight on me. I don’t know about you, or anyone else, but I love that. And then I felt something else…yeah, I’ll let you guess that. We’ll just say it was a definite assurance that Gabe wanted me. Really bad.

Then it hit me: if I liked this guy so much (and yes, I’m admitting that), going as far as I knew both of us wanted was the worst possible plan. Plus, I really didn’t want Pete to know that someone had sex in his house without him knowing.

Oh boy. Here goes.

No…wait…I want Gabe so bad…

I gently pulled back from his kiss, as much as I could with my head on my pillow. He got the message and stopped, pulling his head back the slightest bit and staring me in the eyes. The mischievous look on his face was so damn sexy…

“Wait, Gabe. I don’t know if -”

“It’s okay,” he said.

“Huh?” For a second, I had a few trains of thought running through my mind: One of confusion, another being thankful that he didn’t take his body off of mine, a third wondering what happened to the sandwich that we had left.

“It’s okay,” he said again, smiling a little. “This is too fast, isn’t it?”

“I think so.”

Gabe sat back on my bed, taking away the comfort that was his body weight. I sat up, looking him in the eyes. Before I knew it, I was kissing him again, a little less intensely than before. I started moving closer to him, but he put his hand on my stomach, stopping me.

“You do that and I won’t be able to stop myself,” he groaned.

I giggled a little. “Okay.”

He kissed me once more, a simple peck on the lips. “I’ll see you in the morning.” And then he left, shutting my door behind him again.

I fell back on my bed, staring at the ceiling. What the hell had just happened? I just hooked up with Gabe Saporta, that’s what happened. And Ashlee wasn’t there to see it like she said she would. You know, maybe that’s a good thing.