by Michelle Day
“We understand,” Kiera said hugging her friend. “But you are safe with these three hooligans.”
“I know,” she smiled but she stayed close by Gavin’s side during the walk and pushed her hand into his when he settled into a brooding silence. He squeezed her hand and winked at her as they walked.
“You can’t let him ruin your day either,” she said, gently nudging him.
“He won’t. I was trying to keep a lid on my temper, it’s a struggle sometimes,” he shrugged.
“He’s not worth it, he’s my past, you are my future, we can forget about him.”
“That worked, he’s forgotten,” he laughed. “So, does this mean that my arms are wide open and you are jumping in to them?” He shot her a cheeky grin, filled with hope.
She couldn’t contain the laugh, she loved this side of him. “Well, for the sake of decorum, I might sidle into them.” She returned his cheekiness with some of her own. “You make me feel safe and, this is going to sound silly, but just the way you look at me makes me feel beautiful.”
“It’s my job to keep you safe now and you are beautiful.” He replied seriously. “And mine.” He whispered, moving closer. “Just mine. The way I feel right now, I’m never letting you go.”
“Aww, that’s so sweet.” James clasped his hands together and did his best impression of a swoon.
“I think both of you just burned your man cards.” Novak added.
“Idiots.” Angel laughed.
“Guys, personal space,” Gavin protested to a chorus of apologies.
“They know you well don’t they?” Angel observed.
“Yeah, I think perhaps they know me a little too well sometimes, it’s like we are one person when we’re in the same place for any amount of time.”
“I think they are great,” she smiled. “I feel very comfortable around them, they are both so easy going. Tonight is going to be fun.”
“It is,” Gavin agreed.
“I’m going to need to re-apply the pancake before we go out,” she gestured to her face.
“Ok, I’ll drop you home after this.”
“We’ll meet you at yours Angel,” Gabby piped up. “I’ll do your make up for you, you won’t even know you are wearing any.”
“I’ll do your hair,” Kiera offered.
“Looks like you boys will have to amuse yourselves for a few hours,” Angel said causing Novak to throw the back of his hand dramatically against his forehead.
“Oh no, how will we manage?” he intoned, stopped only by a well aimed Acorn to the head courtesy of James.
The three boys arrived in a people carrier taxi to collect the girls at eight that evening. Julian let them into the house and warmly welcomed Gavin and his friends.
“The girls are in the kitchen,” he told the three young men.
The girls, preened to perfection, on their second glass of wine, they were rosy cheeked and a little giggly, much to the amusement of the boys.
The evening was a great success with lots of laughter, the six of them becoming firm friends. The taxi unloaded its young passengers outside the Jensen house. Gavin, having decided not to drink, was able to drive Angel home in his car, Gabby and Kiera were staying the night at his house.
“Are you coming in?” she asked.
“Nah, I’m going to make a move.”
“Ok,” she put her key in the lock. “You know, I won’t break if you touch me,” she said. “And I could really use a hug,” she was rewarded by a lovely smile as he moved in closer and wrapped his arms around her.
“I’ve wanted to do this since Saturday night,” he told her.
“Then why didn’t you?” she asked, her eyes squeezing shut, her arms wrapped firmly around him, breathing in his scent.
“I didn’t want to freak you out,” he answered releasing his grip. “You had enough to deal with, you didn’t need me trying to get hold of you on top of everything.” Her arms were still around his waist as he moved and pressed his lips to hers briefly. “I’ll see you tomorrow?” he asked. Angel nodded, wishing he would kiss her properly. “Night,” he ushered her into the house before going back to his car.
The following morning at breakfast, Paul announced that his daughter, Marissa, from his first marriage would be arriving that afternoon to spend the rest of half term with him.
Marissa and Gavin shared an acrimonious relationship, with Marissa resenting Gavin’s presence along with the fact that he had had most of Paul’s attention for pretty much all of the past year. Gavin hated the fact that the girl was stupidly spoiled and attention seeking and had no concept of privacy, often barging into his room at inopportune moments and borrowing his things without asking permission.
“What time does the bad tempered Prima Donna arrive?” he asked.
Paul ignored the insult. “Around three,” he replied. “I was thinking it might be a good idea for you lot to spend the rest of your holiday down at the Sussex house.”
“That’s do-able.” Gavin answered.
“The house and pool are finished, there are landscapers working on the front garden, pretty much all the furniture has arrived, I’m just waiting for your bed to be made but there is one in your room. You can do what you want down there without me nagging you about the pool,” he smiled.
“I’ll run it past the others, see what they say.”
The general consensus, after persuading James to stay for the rest of the week, was a resounding yes and after a quick call to Angel, the group made arrangements to head off to Sussex later that day.
“Don’t go shooting off down the motorway,” Novak warned Gavin. “We won’t be able to keep up and you are the only one who knows the way.”
“I won’t. We can stop for lunch on the way there, it’ll save us having to cook until later.”
So that they weren’t tied to sticking together, they were taking three cars. Gabby and James in her Mitsubishi Pajero, Novak and Kiera in the borrowed BMW and of course Angel and Gavin would be taking the Supra.
“You drive, I’ll direct,” Gavin said to Angel when he picked her up. “We’re going to stop for lunch, I’ll take over the driving from there.”
“I could get used to this,” Angel purred, pulling out onto the road.
Gavin smiled “You should. I just figured you’d like to do the motorway driving and open her up a little.”
“You figured right,” she nodded. “I’ll try not to lose the others.”
They stopped for lunch at The Wiremill Inn at Newchapel and killed an hour sitting by the river before completing the journey.
“Bloody hell, its huge,” Angel gasped as they rounded the bend in the drive way.
“Yeah, it’s Dad’s plan to move us down here at some point,” Gavin pulled a face.
“Oh, that’ll be a shame,” she breathed.
“It won’t be for a while yet, he has far too much going on at the office and the club at the moment to seriously consider it and there’s no way he’ll sell the Kingston house, so I fully intend staying there, at least all the time I have a reason to.”
She smiled and stepped out of the car, regarding the huge white house in front of her, “You could have some serious parties here.”
“I expect there will be, it’s not like the noise will annoy anyone and we have more than enough room,” he pulled their bags from the boot. “I’ve put you in Dad’s room for now,” he told her leading the way to the double width front door, which opened to an expansive white marble lobby with a sweeping marble staircase.
“Needless to say, Suzanne was in charge of decorating,” Gavin said, his voice echoing. “If Dad had his way, the whole place would be filled with floor cushions and done out like an opium den.”
“I knew there was a reason I liked your old man so much,” Novak commented as he entered the lobby and looked around him. “Wow.”
Taking their bags in one hand and grasping Angel’s hand with the other, Gavin moved towards the stairs.
“Come on Gu
ys, I’ll show you where the guest rooms are then give you a tour.” Gavin made sure his friends found their rooms then took Angel to Paul’s room.
“It’s very white,” she said. “And big.”
“Yeah, Suzanne says waking up in a totally white room is very peaceful and puts you in the right frame of mind for the day. I personally think that’s bullshit,” he grinned.
“You like your dark, moody colours don’t you?” she laughed.
“I do. I’m just going to dump my stuff, you ok here?”
“Yeah. How come I’m not in your room?” she stopped him.
“Honestly? Because I don’t want to put any pressure on you and that’s easier to do from across the hall,” he said softly. “I want you Angel, but I’m not Quinn. I’m giving you the space you need. I’m only across the hall,” he pointed to his door.
“Listen to you,” she jested, trying to take the attention away from the flush she must have had on her face. “Just across the hall. You make it sound like I step out of this room, take a couple of steps and then I’m at your door. Your room is at least forty feet away.” She wanted to jump his bones, but she truly appreciated that he wasn’t pressuring her.
“I’ll leave the door open,” he promised, turning towards his room.
“Hang on, I’ll come with you,” she said following him. “This room’s even bigger than your one in Kingston,” she gasped as she entered.
“I have a balcony too,” he added. “Go and check out the bathroom,” Gavin dumped his bag on the bed as Angel wondered through his living room, bathroom and bedroom, stopping at the doors that lead to the balcony, she turned to face him.
“Your family are seriously wealthy aren’t they?” she asked.
Gavin nodded. “Dad hasn’t been off the rich list since his early twenties,” he moved closer to her. “Does it bother you?”
“No. Yeah, well, kinda,” she stammered, blushing. “People will think I’m with you for your money.”
“Are you? With me, I mean.” He looked into her eyes, waiting for her to finally say what he needed to hear.
Made breathless by the intense way he held her gaze, she could only nod.
“If you’re with me, I don’t care what people think,” he told her as he pulled her close to him, placing a chaste kiss on her cheek. “Besides, the only money I have is what I earn, Dad says it’s the only way I will learn the true value of it. Sure my family is wealthy and there isn’t a single material thing that I want but it doesn’t change who I am and I really don’t care if people think you are after me for my money, you and I know different and so will those who really matter.”
“You’ve been raised this way, you don’t know any different,” she protested.
“I was raised in an ordinary house by a proud single mother. Dad supported us, but I would have to do chores for my Mum in order to get the things I wanted and when I started getting into fights and getting arrested regularly, I had to keep out of trouble to get stuff, which was harder than it sounds. Things aren’t just handed to me on a silver platter, I have to work for them, that’s the way I was raised and how I believe it should be.”
“Ok, ok, I get it, you’re only a slightly spoiled brat,” she laughed.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “Come on, I’ll show you the rest of the house.”
The guided tour of the voluminous house took quite some time, not helped by the impromptu jam session when the boys laid eyes on the fully equipped music room complete with a gleaming black grand piano and full drum kit that led to all six of them doing a murderous rendition of Cold Play’s Clocks amidst much laughter. Gavin finally got to show his friends around the garden, the indoor and outdoor pools as well as the hot tub, sauna, gym, tennis courts and the private cinema that resided in the basement of the house.
Thoughts eventually turned to food making them pile into two cars, the Supra for once being left at home, they headed for the local supermarket to stock the house for the rest of the week, the poor checkout girl exhausted from the volume of alcohol she had to drag over the scanner and hugely embarrassed by the copious amounts of condoms going through her till.
Leaving James, Kiera and Gabby to put the shopping in the gaping empty cupboards, Gavin, Novak and Angel headed outside, the boys carefully removing the cover from the gigantic swimming pool while Angel supervised to make sure the cover was rolled back evenly. She helped Novak to secure the cover while Gavin went to the plant room to turn on the heaters.
“How’s things Angel?” Novak asked, moving closer so that he could talk quietly.
“Things are good,” she replied, slightly intimidated by the size of the man next to her.
“Don’t give anything away will you?” Novak frowned.
“What do you want to know?” she asked, hands on hips.
“You and Gavin, are you two ok? Things seem a little subdued.” Novak questioned.
“We’re fine, taking things slow I guess. I think he’s afraid to touch me,” she shrugged.
“He doesn’t want to rush you,” Novak countered.
“I know,” she paused. “I wish he’d get over it though, he wasn’t afraid to touch me before.” She looked at Novak trying to form his expression into one of surprise and smiled. “It’s ok, I know he told you about when he picked me up and I was drunk and the things we did.”
Novak grinned.
“I want him to go back to that, I just don’t know how to go about it without him saying I should take my time.”
“He’s trying to be a gentleman about this Angel. Trust me, he’s as frustrated as hell but doesn’t want to freak you out.”
“Will you talk to him?”
Novak nodded, “I’ll have a word with him. But be patient with him Angel, since his mum died, he’s very guarded with his feelings, it’ll be easy for you to hurt him.”
“I’m not going to hurt him, quite the opposite in fact.”
“You’re falling for him.” Novak observed.
Angel gave a slight nod, “I am and that’s scary when I have no idea if he feels the same.”
“I’m sure he does. Leave it with me Angel.” Novak grinned and briefly squeezed her hand. “Go inside, I’ll tackle him now.”
Gavin emerged from the plant room just moments after Angel had vanished into the house.
“Where’d Angel go?” he asked.
“She went to unpack,” Novak told him. “What’s next?”
“We need to uncover the gym equipment,” Gavin replied heading beneath the house.
“So,” Novak started, following him. “I talked to Angel.”
“Oh God, what did you say?”
“That I’d talk to you,” Novak looked Gavin in the eye. “She doesn’t understand why you’ve gone hands off all of a sudden.”
“I don’t want to pressure her,” he shrugged.
“I get it Gav, I really do, but she wants you, she’s not as fragile as you think she is. She’s sending you fuck me signals left, right and centre but you seem impervious and you’re going the right way about screwing this up totally.”
“I’m just trying to give her some space so that she can make sure it’s what she wants. If it was up to me, I’d slam her against the wall and probably put her off for life,” he smiled ruefully. “She has my head spinning like crazy.”
“She’s so up for it, it’s scary. If I can impart a little Novak wisdom to you mate, before you get busy with her, clean the pipes, it’ll save you popping like a choir boy at confession,” he reached out and ruffled Gavin’s hair.
“Arsehole,” Gavin laughed, dodging away from the large hands messing up his hair.
After their evening meal, James and Gabby headed down to the tennis courts while the remaining four selected one of the latest, newly released films and fired up the cinema.
Sitting three rows back from Novak and Kiera, Angel couldn’t help but be a little envious of the attention her friend received from the big blond male. She snuck a look at Gavin, hunched down in his
large leather seat, hands firmly in pockets, eyes glued to the screen. She sighed, shifted in her seat and slid her hand under his arm, forcing it into his pocket with his hand. Gavin looked at her, removed both their hands from his pocket and entwined his fingers in hers before lifting her hand to his lips. She shuffled closer and used her free hand to trace circles on the inside of his arm, her head resting on his shoulder.
As soon as her nails began their gentle circles on his arm, he felt his skin begin to tingle, goose bumps shot across his body in waves and the familiar heat of arousal ignited in his groin.
She lifted her face, tightening her grip on his shoulder as he tried to pull away, grazing her lips against his, her free hand stroking his jaw before sliding beneath the neck of his t-shirt to caress the soft skin over the firm muscles of his shoulder. Her heart beat faster as he increased the pressure of his lips on hers. She tightened her grip on his shoulder as he tried to pull away and parted her lips beneath his trying to deepen the kiss. When the tip of his tongue began to dance with hers, she pulled him closer, pleased he had responded, but wishing he would take his other hand from his pocket and pull her into him. What did she have to do to get this boy to make the first move? A soft groan escaped through her lips as he moved away. Digging her nails into his shoulder, she dragged him back into the kiss, thrilled when his free hand finally came up to cup her face, livid when he gently but firmly pushed her away. Throwing him a look that could kill at ten paces, Angel unfurled her legs, jumped to her feet and stormed out of the cinema.
“Bollocks,” Gavin muttered as he vaulted over the back of his chair and took off after her. Pausing in the hallway, he listened, trying to figure out which way she had gone, the sound of the kitchen door slamming gave him a direction as it echoed through the marble lined hall. He turned towards the sound and found her on the patio, taking deep pulls on a cigarette.
“Angel? What’s wrong?” he asked, standing just behind her, he took a step back when she rounded on him.
“Do I really need to spell it out to you?” she yelled. “For God’s sake Gavin, what is so wrong with me that makes you not want to be with me?”