Wayward Son (Jensen Family #3)

by Michelle Day

  “Stick some toast on for us would you Dad, we’re a bit short on time,” He grabbed some apple juice from the fridge and poured them both a glass.

  “Have mine, I’ll make some more,” Paul offered.

  Gavin looked at the offered plate and the thickly spread Peanut Butter.

  “You know I can’t eat that, I’m watching my weight,” he answered Paul, Angel however, took the plate from the older man.

  “Thanks,” she murmured biting into the toast. “Since when do you need to watch your weight?” she asked Gavin.

  “Rugby season is nearly over and I’m a little too heavy for the swimming season, if I want to strip some seconds off my lap times I need to drop a few pounds to make the most of my speed,” he explained.

  “I didn’t think you were actually serious,” she answered.

  “He takes his sport very seriously,” Paul put in.

  “You’re not exactly fat,” Angel observed.

  “I know but I am too heavy, I need to tone up a bit more but in order to do that I have to drop some weight as muscle weighs more than fat.” Gavin grabbed the toast as it came out of the toaster and put low fat spread on it. “Novak and James will be here later Dad, is it still ok for them to stay?”

  “Yeah, I’ll have the housekeeper make up a couple of rooms.”

  “Great, we’d better make a move.” Gavin told Angel.

  Once in the car and on their way to college, Angel finally answered Quinn’s text, telling him that she was on her way to college and nothing else.

  “Who are Novak and James?” She asked, putting her phone in her bag.

  “Novak is my best bud, practically like my brother. He knows everything about me, I know everything about him, we’ve had some really good times together and really bad ones, he’s my rock, the guy I can turn to for anything, he’s one hell of a guitarist too. The girls at my last school used to call him The Blond God, you’ll see why when you meet him. We grew up together, I couldn’t be closer to him if he was actually my brother. James is the quiet one, he’s very discreet, very good at keeping secrets, an awesome drummer, which is how I met him, he joined the band Novak and I were in. He’s just a solid, stand up kind of guy and the keeper of my conscience. They are both great guys.”

  “They sound fun. So, if I want to know your deepest darkest secrets, I should ask Novak?” she asked.

  “Yeah, although he’ll probably just give you some bullshit version of the truth. If you want to know my deepest darkest secrets, you should just ask me.”

  “I’m building up to it,” she answered as they pulled into the college car park. “Crap, Quinn’s waiting.”

  “It’ll be ok, stick to the story.” Gavin assured.

  Exiting the car, they strolled towards Quinn. As they drew near Gavin murmured to Angel that he’d see her in History and moved to go up the stairs next to the wall where Quinn was sitting.

  Quinn rose as Angel stopped in front of him; he reached out and put a hand on Gavin’s chest, stopping him dead.

  “What are you doing with him?” Quinn demanded of his girlfriend.

  “He gave me a lift here, I actually stayed in his spare room last night, we’d had a bit to drink while we were studying, Gavin didn’t want to chance driving so I crashed there.”

  Quinn turned to Gavin. “If I find out you have touched her I’ll kill you,” he threatened.

  “Take your hands off me.” Gavin snarled.

  “Now guys, there’s no need for this, Quinn, Gavin had a girl with him all night, I was in the spare room.”

  “Yeah,” Gavin chimed in. “Sorry if we kept you awake Angel, I didn’t realise she was a screamer until it was too late.” He stepped back, away from Quinn’s hand. “Do not touch me again if you value your hands,” he warned him before making a hasty exit.

  “For God’s sake Quinn, do you have to be so bloody melodramatic?” Angel huffed as they made their way into the college.

  “Me? Melodramatic? I didn’t know where you were, you stormed off for no good reason yesterday, you could have been lying dead in a ditch somewhere, I was worried.” Quinn countered.

  “So worried that you came after me when I stormed off, so worried that it took you until this morning to call me?” she threw back at him.

  “That was wrong of me and I apologise,” he crawled. “Angel, babe, we used to be solid and happy before Gavin came here, we never argued and now, because of him, we argue all the time.”

  “I think you’re delusional,” she told him. “We argue all the time over you being too eager to get in my pants and me not being ready.” Quinn opened his mouth to object but she silenced him. “I’ve got news for you buster, after the way you’ve been acting these last few weeks, it’s going to be a hell of a long time before I let you touch me again,” she whirled away and stormed into the girls locker room before he could answer.

  Gavin spent his morning break with Kiera, explaining to her that while they were friends with benefits, he felt bad about pursuing Angel.

  Kiera smiled and hugged him. “It’s ok Gavin, seriously, I don’t mind. Anyway Angel is really into you too, you just need to prise her away from Quinn. Do you want me to drop out of coming to the beach tomorrow?”

  “No! Actually, it might be better if you stay at mine tonight that way we’re all in one place for an early start and it’ll give you a chance to get to know Novak and James a bit.”

  “Ok, I’m hoping these friends of yours are hot.”

  “I’m guessing girls thinks so,” he told her. “Is Angel really into me?”

  “Only totally, you stand a very good chance.”

  “Sweet. I think you may like Novak, he’s a good guy, he’d look after you, hmm I feel my matchmaking skills may come in handy,” he grinned, his phone rang, “I’ve got to take this” he told her and left the bench they had been sitting on to move to a quiet, secluded corner of the quad and answered the call. Unaware that Quinn was sitting by the open window if the nearby Portacabin that served as a temporary Graphics room.

  “I called you last night Bro, why didn’t you answer?” Novak asked.

  “Sorry dude, I was busy.” Gavin replied.

  “Busy huh? I’m guessing a girl?”

  “When hasn’t it been a girl?” Gavin shot back.

  “Any good?”

  “Amazing, this girl drives me crazy.” Gavin confirmed.

  “But?” Novak prodded.

  “But,” Gavin replied “She has a boyfriend, a real sleaze of a boyfriend.”

  “That never stopped you before.”

  “I know, but I have to be careful, he’s aware I like her.”

  “Fuck him, go for it man.” Luke encouraged.

  “I kinda already have,” Gavin paused “It’s complicated but oh my God it’s worth it.”

  “She’s hot I take it?”

  “She’s stunning, I’m not going into details, you’ll see for yourself, it helps that I’m well in with her parents, I work for her mum who adores me and her dad simply loves my car. I let them take it for a drive, it was hilarious dude, I handed over the keys and they were in raptures. I could have bent their daughter over and fucked her in front of them and they wouldn’t have cared.” Gavin finished, Novak was laughing. Quinn decided he’d heard more than enough of Gavin’s side of the conversation to know that Angel was lying to him and Gavin was covering for her.

  “I’m not working tonight so I’ll be home when you get here.” Gavin wound up the conversation and headed for his next lesson.

  Quinn couldn’t believe that Angel had betrayed him like this. While he knew he wasn’t in love with her, he did enjoy her company and she looked very good on his arm at Country and Golf Club functions. He had an overwhelming desire to pin Gavin to the floor and pound on his face until it was nothing but a bloody mess. This boy, had after all, taken what Angel had been denying him all these months.

  Unbelievable. Quinn thought. She’s only known him a matter of weeks and she’s let him have
her already. He frowned, he would have his turn, she was still his girlfriend after all. Arriving early at the changing rooms for rugby practice, Quinn stripped off his shirt and looked at himself in the mirror, he had to admit that Angel was right to point out he was developing a belly, he’d have to work on that.

  He moved away from the mirror as the rest of the rugby team arrived and began to get his kit out of his locker. He turned to greet his friends catching sight of Gavin as he did so, the scratches over Gavin’s left shoulder blade were un-missable as he rummaged in his bag. Quinn watched as Gavin straightened and pulled his hair back into a band. How he managed not to lunge at Gavin when he saw the love bite was a mystery even to him. He had already heard the proof of Angel’s deception, but the physical evidence of it standing in front of him on Gavin’s body was more than he could stomach.

  Quinn vowed to himself that they would both pay, one way or another he would have his revenge. It was rare for Quinn to feel any emotion for his team-mates but when he looked at Gavin he felt hate seething through his veins, a sentiment clearly reflected in Gavin’s eyes.

  Chapter 7

  His initial assessment of the new boy had been right but Quinn had underestimated just how much of a rival Gavin would become. He pulled rank on his team-mates as they began to jibe Gavin about his love bite, snapping at them to get out on the pitch and warm up.

  Joining his team and the coach, Quinn began his warm up, keeping a wary eye on his rival. God, how he hated this boy. Gavin turned heads wherever he went, he appeared to be multi-talented and exceptionally good at whatever he did. Rugby being his forte, the boy was strong, confident and amazingly fast, under normal circumstances Quinn would have been thrilled to have him on the team. However, Gavin’s presence now only served to rankle and fuel Quinn’s hatred even more. So when the coach commented on Quinn’s recent weight gain and subsequent poor performance during the last game, Quinn knew he’d have to push himself to getting back to match fitness, to hold on to his title of Captain. Which meant staying out of the bars and clubs and re-instating his personal trainer, perhaps if he was as toned as Gavin, Angel would readily hop into his bed and drop Gavin like a brick.

  Gavin and Kiera stopped at her house after college so that she could gather everything she would need for the following day. During the drive to Gavin’s house his phone began to ring, he wriggled in his seat and managed to pull the phone from his pocket, he gave it Kiera to answer.

  “Hello?”

  “Ah, I think I have the wrong number,” a deep male voice answered her. “But you sound lovely, do you mind if you and I chat for a while?”

  Kiera laughed. “If you are trying to reach Gavin, you have the right number, he’s driving right now. If however, you are just calling random numbers in the hope of finding someone to chat up then you’d better grab a pen and take down my number,” she flirted.

  “Awesome,” came the reply. “I’m Novak and you are?”

  “Kiera, I’ve heard a lot about you Mr Novak,” she told him.

  “My wing man has obviously told you of my many exploits then, excellent, do me a favour Kiera and tell the little runt we’ll be there around six.”

  “Will do, looking forward to meeting you.”

  “Of course you are, I’m amazing, see you soon Kiera.”

  Kiera ended the call. “He called you a runt,” she told Gavin who smiled.

  “I am compared to him, the man is built like a mountain,” Gavin confirmed. “Nice to know he’s on form.”

  Kiera helped Gavin stash his things for Saturday in the voluminous boot of the Supra, he dithered over taking his acoustic guitar, but Kiera persuaded him to include it as there was loads of room. Convinced Novak would probably have his guitar with him and James would no doubt have his Bongo’s, Gavin wasn’t difficult to persuade, he’d missed jamming with his friends and a day on the beach would afford them the opportunity.

  Gavin was able to answer his phone this time when it rang,

  “We can’t find you.” James said.

  “Do you see any road names or signs?” Gavin asked.

  “Er, Coombe Lane West.”

  “It’s a long road dude, you need to be more specific.”

  “Lord Chancellor Walk on our left.”

  “You’re nearly here, just keep going, the road curves to the right, with a left fork, take the fork, we’re the second driveway on the left, I’ll meet you out the front.” Gavin told him.

  Standing out on the road, Gavin heard Novak’s ageing Peugeot before he saw it, or rather saw the billows of black smoke that surrounded it. He stepped out of the way as the car pulled onto the large block paved driveway, shuddered to a stop then proceeded to belch oil onto the floor.

  James stumbled out of the passenger side mumbling. “Fucking French piece of shit,” as Novak unfolded his large frame from the driver’s seat.

  “Hey Gav,” James grasped Gavin’s hand and they did the whole manly shoulder touch thing. “Good to see you.”

  “Yeah, you too James,” Gavin patted James’ back.

  “Wing man!” Novak bellowed as he hopped over the ever increasing pool of oil and wrapped Gavin in a suffocating bear hug. “God damn it’s good to see you,” he let go.

  “Novak, you really need to get a new car,” Gavin grinned.

  “Sadly I have to agree, I think the old girl is dead.” He patted the bonnet.

  “It’s not like you can’t afford one.” James put in.

  “I know but I totally loved this car, we’ve been through a lot together.”

  They all turned at the growl of Paul’s vintage Porsche as he pulled into the drive. Sliding out of his car Paul greeted the three young men, “I see you’ve left your mark Novak,” he gestured to the oil covering his drive.

  “Yeah, sorry about that Mr. J, I’ll pay to have it cleaned,” Novak replied.

  “Suzanne hates this block paving, so I’m guessing now she’ll have the perfect excuse to replace it.” Paul told him. “Gavin, there’s some sand in the garage, chuck it over the oil to stop it spreading further,” he told his son before going into the house, passing Kiera on the way.

  “You must be the lovely lady I spoke to on the phone,” Novak turned to Kiera after handing James a bag of sand, he took her hand and bent to kiss it. “Luke Novak at your service.”

  “Hi. Gavin was right, you are huge,” she smiled.

  “Ah yes, my size is often commented on, it spreads the entire length of my body,” he winked, she blushed. “Aren’t you just a lovely little thing,” He smiled. “Compact… I could just throw you over my shoulder and carry you away.”

  “She’ll break you.” Gavin warned, straightening from shovelling sand.

  “Excellent, I like girls who talk dirty and ride hard,” Novak answered.

  “Seriously dude, your car has puked oil over the drive and you stand there flirting, while James and I do all the hard work,” Gavin moaned “Get your arse over here and give us a hand.”

  Novak smiled, rolled his eyes and grabbed a spade. “We’ll continue this later,” he told Kiera as he began to shovel. “I take it as you aren’t ripping my balls off and shoving them in my mouth that Kiera isn’t the girl who drives you crazy?” Novak asked.

  Before Gavin could draw a breath, Kiera answered. “No, I’m not, that would be my best friend Angel.” She flipped open her phone and held it out, “I have a picture.”

  “Not bad,” Novak commented “I prefer my ladies bigger in the breast department and smaller in the height department, oh look, you appear to be just about perfect!” He grinned.

  “Stop it Luke,” Gavin nudged his friend.

  “He’s getting annoyed,” Novak told Kiera, “he only calls me by my Christian name when I’m pissing him off.”

  “I find he usually does the fingers through the hair, brooding scowl thing when he’s getting annoyed.” Kiera answered.

  “I hate you both.” Gavin commented, grabbing the spades from his friends and returning the
m to the garage. “Come on guys, food and booze,” he finished stepping out of the garage.

  Gavin led Kiera and his friends into the house and through to the kitchen, where he introduced them to Suzanne making Novak turn up his charm meter and having them all curling up with laughter as he tried fruitlessly flirting with her.

  “Honestly Novak,” Suzanne laughed. “I’m married to the original Casanova, do you really think I’d fall for any of the cheesy lines you’re throwing at me? You have a lot to learn.”

  “How did Mr J hook you then?” Novak asked.

  “We’d known each other for years before we got together, I’m his sister’s friend you see, I watched him grow up and by the time he was fifteen he was absolutely stunning, he didn’t hook me, I hooked him. We had an on off relationship for quite some time. His marriage broke up shortly after mine did, he arrived on my doorstep one day with strawberries and champagne, we’d messed up three bedrooms and both living rooms before I agreed to date him, the rest is history.”

  Novak turned to Paul, “Smooth Mr J, very smooth.”

  As soon as dinner was over Gavin took James and Novak to their respective rooms, both boys dumped their bags and then joined Gavin and Kiera in the television room. Kiera selected a DVD and they settled down to watch the film on the large squashy sofas. Kiera comfortable sitting between Gavin and James, Novak spreading himself out on the smaller sofa opposite them.

  “Have you heard back from the audition yet?” Kiera asked.

  “No but some of the guys are coming tomorrow, so I’ll try and drag some information out of them then.”

  “You’re joining another band?” James asked.

  “Trying to.”

  “Traitor,” Novak sat up. “We’re your band,” he gestured to himself and James.

  “There’s just the small matter of geography preventing us from practising.” Gavin put in. “These guys are going into Battle of the Bands and really need a singer.”

  “They’d be mad to turn you down.” James said. “You have an incredible voice.”