‘No one let me go,’ she retorted, seeming annoyed. ‘I dumped him. Not all women are desperate for relationships you know,’ she snapped. I raised my eyebrows in surprise, I really hadn’t put her down for the one night stand type of girl, Lexi yes, not Mia. Damn it, that definitely wasn’t what I was after, for once in my life. The more we bantered the more I was falling for her, like I had any further left to fall.
‘What are you desperate for?’ I asked, puzzled.
‘Some fun, I don’t want all this serious commitment crap,’ she replied with a shrug.
‘I thought that’s what most women wanted, commitment from a guy.’ It was what most of the damn women I’d ever fucked had all wanted, expect for Chelsea, she was easy and uncomplicated. Yet here was the one woman I wanted to get serious with and she seemed to be implying she only wanted friends with benefits. What the hell was going on?
‘I’m not like most women.’
‘No, I’m getting that,’ I smiled, though inside I was completely thrown. I heard the church clock in the distance chime and cursed internally to realise it was nine already, I needed to get going and I didn’t feel like we’d gotten far. If she didn’t want to get serious I needed to re-strategise how I was going to handle this to change her mind. ‘Anyway, here are the English notes from yesterday.’
‘Thanks, that was really kind of you to do that for us.’ She reached for them and I heard her gasp as our fingers brushed and I felt that surge again, there was definitely no lack of sexual attraction on either of our parts, so why did she seem so resistant?
‘Gabe.’ I almost groaned to hear my name being called, it sounded like Julie. Shit, I didn’t want Mia to know I had a girlfriend, it would just complicate things even more. ‘Gaaaabe.’ I sighed and looked around at her, then back at Mia who looked puzzled. Damn it, this wasn’t ideal. ‘Gabe, come on, we have to get to practice,’ Julie added as she slipped her arm through mine and I tensed up immediately. She knew I didn’t like it, I hated women being all clingy. She must have recognised Mia from the bar the other week and was showing her that I was taken. ‘Hi, I’m Julie, Gabe’s girlfriend. Who are you?’
Damn it, I knew it, she was staking her claim on me. This meeting was rapidly going downhill. I looked at Mia’s face and saw it fall, for a brief second, but she recovered quickly. At least that was something, she was interested in me for sure. I was just going to have to work harder to win her over.
‘Hi, I’m Mia, nice to meet you.’
‘How do you and Gabe know each other?’ Julie asked. Great, now she was in defensive mode and was sussing Mia out, that was all I needed. I just hoped Mia wouldn’t tell her about my rescue yesterday, I didn’t want to hurt Julie unnecessarily, especially not when she already knew that I found Mia attractive. Mia looked at me, obviously aware that this was an awkward situation.
‘Julie sorry, Mia and I take English together and she passed out in our lecture yesterday.’
‘O dear, how awful. I hope you’re feeling better now?’
‘Yes, yes I am thank you. I was very well taken care of,’ Mia replied and gave me a grateful smile which warmed me right through. I could take care of you for the rest of your life, I thought as I smiled back. What was even weirder than that out of character thought, was the knowledge that I actually meant it, I really wanted to. If she was mine I’d protect her, cherish her, love her, spoil her ... I was distracted from my happy thoughts by Julie talking again.
‘I’m sorry Mia, but we really have to go. We’re both on the swim team and we agreed to get as much practice in as possible before our first competition this week. Come on Gabe,’ Julie demanded as she tugged annoyingly on my arm, catching me off guard and spinning me around as she started to walk.
‘She’s pretty’ she pouted. I rolled my eyes and pulled my arm out of hers and looked back at Mia who just stood watching us.
‘I’m sorry,’ I mouthed, meaning it most sincerely. That hadn’t gone as well as I’d hoped for. I needed to try and find her once practice was over and talk to her to straighten this out.
I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and my cock straining in my boxers, I was drawn to this girl on every level, which was unprecedented. My sexual attraction to her was off the charts, but it was more than that. I’d felt it the first time I’d laid eyes on her, she was the girl that was going to glue the fragments of my broken heart back together, even though I knew she had the capacity to shatter it into even smaller pieces, I was prepared to take that risk, for her. I’d even rung my dad and told him as much the day after I first saw her in that bar.
‘Dad, I’ve just seen the girl I’m going to marry,’ were my exact words. I’d expected him to laugh at me, he knew my history with women, I wasn’t the kind of guy to go steady or meet the parents, let alone talk about marriage with someone I hadn’t even met yet. His response had floored me.
‘Gabriel, that’s exactly the way I felt the very first time I spotted your mother. My instincts were spot on, it was love at first sight for both of us, she was the love of my life and out of that relationship we had you. I’ve never regretted acting on that gut feeling I had when I first saw her. If you really feel that strongly about this girl, from just a look, you need to pursue her.’
‘But I don’t know how to find her, Dad,’ I’d told him.
‘Sometimes things are just destined to be Gabriel, keep your fingers crossed and maybe one day fate will throw her back into your path.’
I hadn’t believed him at the time, I’d known that the chances of ever seeing her again were miniscule. Yet looking back over my shoulder at her now, I knew dad was right, it could only be down to one thing, we were destined.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you’ve enjoyed this novella, I’d be so grateful if you’d please take a moment to leave a review for me, they mean so much to us authors.
If you haven’t read any of The Austin Series, you can find out more on Amazon, Goodreads, or my website:
http://www.cjfallowfield.co.uk
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7807992.C_J_Fallowfield
The Austin Series is six books in total, all of which are written from Mia’s point of view. They are designed to be read in the following sequence.
New Leaves, No Strings
Baggage & Buttons
Forever & an Engine
The Honeymoon Period
Love & Loss
Infinite Love
Destined - The Austin Series Prequel Page 7