Wayward Son (Jensen Family #3)

by Michelle Day

  “Yeah, I guess, I don’t like to get too big though, I’ve done it before and just end up looking way too butch.”

  Angel laughed. “I don’t think you could ever look like that. How much weight have you lost?”

  “Just over half a stone.”

  “That’s too much, I saw you before you lost it and I prefer you heavier,” she told him.

  “Huh, really? I don’t have a problem going back up to that weight but I don’t want to get much heavier than that.”

  “It’s not like you get fat is it? You just need to put on some muscle bulk, a little more won’t hurt, and I’d like it quite a bit.”

  “I’ll see how it goes. Coach wants me lifting 250 pounds by the end of the summer so I’m going to be putting in a lot of gym time.” he warned.

  “Are you trying to distance yourself from me already?” she asked.

  “No, just being away from you tonight is killing me,” he replied. “Tell me something, why do you like me?”

  “Isn’t that obvious?”

  “Er, no. Going on our initial meeting, I appear to be everything you despise. I’m scruffy, athletic, moody, outspoken and a bit of a ladies’ man so you can see why I don’t get it.”

  “You are opinionated, not outspoken, your buff not athletic and boy are you pretty.” She breathed. “You are intelligent and talented as well as kind and thoughtful, the fact that you have a temper and have been a bad boy in the past only adds to your appeal. I thought I would hate it if you were overprotective, which you are by the way, but I actually like it, all the time you are around, no-one will touch me, I feel safe and protected with you, I don’t have to pretend to be anything other than who I am. Of course, the killer smile and beautiful body are also quite attractive but I really only like you for your car,” she heard him laugh softly. “What’s wrong?” she asked, he was usually so confident and self-assured, but tonight he seemed a little less sure of himself.

  “I’m nervous about the game, if we lose, there goes my stint as Captain. A lot rides on this game, if we win this, we are county champions, if we mess up then the other team gets the title.”

  “You can only do your best,” she told him.

  “Yeah, I know,” he paused. “I wish you were here.”

  “That can be arranged,” she answered. “Dad and his disapproving looks are out, I’ll get Mum to drop me over.”

  “I’m supposed to be resting,” he said but he was smiling.

  “I’ll help you sleep,” she crooned and within ten minutes she was in his bedroom, slipping out of her clothes and under the covers.

  Coach ripped a few strips from him the following day when he arrived at college with Angel, a fresh bite mark on his neck and dark circles under his eyes, he stepped out of the office and straight into Quinn who smirked at him as he had just listened to each and every insult and threat the Coach had thrown Gavin’s way.

  “Watch where you’re going?” he snarled at Gavin.

  “If you had any sense, you’d steer well clear of me,” Gavin replied.

  “You can’t touch me without being arrested, you know it, I know it and by now most of the college will know it too,” Quinn spoke loudly, hoping everyone would hear. “I’m not scared of you.”

  “I don’t care if you are or not,” Gavin shot back. “Just stay out of my way and we won’t have a problem.”

  “Boys.” Coach warned. “Nice of you to show your face Quinn.”

  “Yeah, sorry Coach, family business kept me from attending practice.”

  “That’s not a good enough excuse, you will be spending today’s match on the bench, I seriously doubt you are match fit anyway. Gavin has taken over as Captain.”

  “You can’t do that.” Quinn shouted.

  “It’s done, live with it.” Coach returned to his office.

  Quinn turned and stormed over to his locker and began pulling his kit from it, throwing it on the floor. Gavin couldn’t help laughing as he stripped down to his shorts, although he was relishing the fact that Quinn had been put in his place, he wasn’t looking forward to the medical he and the rest of the team would be required to have which Quinn would be omitted from as he wasn’t playing.

  “Shut up,” Quinn snarled as Gavin sauntered by.

  “Make me,” he replied.

  “You won’t be laughing when you lose, just remember that it was me who guided the team into this position.”

  “Win or lose Quinn, I’ll still be happy,” Gavin smiled. “I have your place as Captain with the respect of the team, not only have you been relegated, you’ve been benched too. I’m already more popular than you throughout the entire college as I don’t have to bully my way into people’s affections, I have more natural talent in my little finger than you have in your entire body, oh, and I have your girl……. and she’s good,” he elongated the last the last word. “How does it feel to be a first class loser?” Gavin didn’t wait for an answer, he joined the rest of the team and spent the remainder of the day with them, preparing for the game.

  Quinn went from being mildly irritated at Gavin’s presence to absolutely fuming at his last words. He was angrier with Gavin than he was with Angel, as he now knew that Gavin would take every available opportunity to gloat at him and wind him up. He had to find some way of getting this boy out of the college, he had managed to spread the rumour about Gavin’s past criminal record in the hope that at least some of his popularity would wane but it seemed to have had the opposite effect, the rumour that it was Gavin who had beaten Angel also failed miserably and Quinn was at a loss at what to do next, at least he would be able to plot while he watched that afternoon’s game from the bench.

  As was the norm for the end of season game, the players’ families were invited to attend and Gavin stepped onto the field amidst loud cheers from Paul, Julian, Angel and Novak. Paul and Julian were sitting three rows back from the pitch with Angel and Novak in front of them. While the players’ were warming up, Coach Byrne took some time to introduce himself to Paul.

  “I’m very pleased with Gavin’s performance and commitment Mr. Jensen,” he said. “I’ve asked him to bulk up a bit and I’d appreciate it if you would encourage him likewise.”

  “I’ll see what I can do.” Paul replied.

  “Do you see those three gentlemen in suits over on the other teams stand?” Coach asked, Paul nodded. “They are here to see some of the Epsom players but they have expressed an interest in Gavin, this game could be his step into the big time.”

  “Who are they scouting for?” Paul asked.

  “Harlequins.” Coach replied and saw Paul smile.

  “Does Gavin know?”

  “No, I’ll tell him after the game, I don’t want it affecting his performance.”

  “Good idea.” Paul agreed. “He has my full support in whatever he decides to do,” he told the Coach.

  “Excellent.” Coach beamed. “Time to get the game started. It was very nice to meet you at last.”

  It proved to be a tough game. The Epsom team were huge, far outstripping the Kingston team in size alone, but what they lacked in size they more than made up for in speed and technique. Novak was screaming himself hoarse all through the first half of the game.

  During the second half, Gavin was on the receiving end of a particularly hard tackle which resulted in him ending up flat on his back.

  “Get up,” Novak whispered, his eyes not leaving the prone body of his friend.

  “He’s not moving,” Angel said getting to her feet, Paul was also standing and Novak followed suit. Gavin seemed to lie still for eternity.

  “Get up, get up, get up.” Novak was saying over and over.

  Slowly, Gavin moved his arms, then raised his legs, grinning at Coach Byrne looming over him.

  “Are you alright?” Coach asked.

  “Yeah, just winded.” Gavin gingerly sat up.

  “Can you continue?” Asked the ref.

  “Yep.” Gavin said grabbing the Coach’s hand and co
ming to his feet.

  “Give ‘em hell Gav.” Novak shouted.

  The game was a close run thing, with Kingston winning by the smallest of margins, the ecstatic players running around the field, congratulating each other, then soberly shaking the hands of the rival team. Gavin and the Epsom team captain swapped shirts just as he made his way over to the stands and almost getting flattened by Novak.

  “God, I wish I was out there with you.” the big man hugged him.

  “We certainly could have done with your size alone.” Gavin replied, prising himself out of Novak’s grasp and stepping into Angel’s arms.

  “You were fantastic,” she breathed, pressing her lips to his.

  “I hope you say that later,” he laughed then handed her the defeated captain’s shirt, also something expected of the winning Captain. “Dad,” he grasped his fathers’ hand and was pulled up into the stands and into a very rare hug from the older man.

  “Good game,” Paul smiled. “You played exceptionally well.”

  “Thanks.” Gavin replied.

  Coach Byrne approached the stands, “Gavin, get showered, we have the presentation to get through before you can really start celebrating.”

  Gavin rolled his eyes and jumped down out of the stands, he accompanied the coach through to the changing rooms amidst loud cheers from his team.

  Stepping out of the shower, Gavin noticed he was the last player in the changing room; he had the entire place to himself. He took his time dressing and had just buckled the belt on his jeans and reached for his t-shirt when Paul, Coach Byrne and three men in suits approached him. Paul noticed his son’s wary look at the new comers, he had always been wary of strangers as a child, something that remained with him to this day. Gavin stole a glance at his father, men in suits usually meant he was in some kind of trouble but Paul nodded encouragement at him so whatever this was, it wasn’t going to be unpleasant.

  “Gavin, these gentlemen would like a few words.” Coach Byrne stepped aside.

  “We were very impressed with the way you played today.” Suit number one told him.

  “Thanks.” Gavin replied.

  “We are scouting for Harlequins and think you may fit the bill once you have finished college,” Suit one continued.

  “We’ve studied your transcripts and your match results from your Gloucester county matches, we are most impressed.” Suit two spoke. “Coach Byrne was right when he said you need to be bigger though, get yourself into better shape throughout the summer and we’ll come and see you play again in the new season. Just so you know, I have heard on the grapevine that Surrey is going to ask you to play for them next season, they would have asked you this season but when you moved away from Gloucester you disappeared from the radar for a while, what happened?”

  “My Mum passed away, I moved down here to live with Dad and I missed a lot of school, I wasn’t in a fit mental state to make a clear decision let alone play a decent game of rugby,” Gavin answered.

  “I’m sorry to hear that. How are you now?” Suit three.

  “I’m getting there, functioning, there are good days and bad days, the good days are pretty consistent the bad ones few and far between.”

  “That’s good to know,” suit three said. “We’ll leave you to get dressed and see you at the presentation.”

  “Can I just say something?” Gavin asked, all three men turned to look at him. “This was my first time as Captain for this team, I didn’t really have anything to do with them being in the position they were in, that was all down to Coach Byrne and the previous Captain,” he finished, he saw Paul drop his head to hide a smile.

  “That’s very generous of you,” Suit one commented. “But your transcripts speak for themselves. Had you been Captain of this team sooner the likelihood would have been that they wouldn’t be in the position to have to defend their title. With you at the helm they would have had accumulated enough points that the County Championships would have been handed to you without question.”

  “I agree,” Coach Byrne was nodding vigorously as the suited men turned to leave.

  “You must be a very proud parent,” Suit one said as he passed Paul.

  “I am.” Paul replied but he was looking at his son. “Very proud,” he said to Gavin.

  Smiling as he pulled on his t-shirt and grabbed his bag, Gavin stepped closer to Paul. “We’re going to be ok Dad, you and I, we just both have to work at it.”

  “I sometimes think you are the adult and I’m the teenager.” Paul commented.

  During this time, Angel had exchanged a few cross words with Julian when he had protested at her insistence to stay with Gavin that night.

  “Paul’s going to get fed up with this arrangement pretty soon.” Julian told her.

  “Paul is fine with it as long as we stay in Gavin’s room,” she huffed. “I’m nearly twenty years old Dad, I can make up my own mind if I’m staying with my boyfriend or coming home.”

  “That’s another thing, Gavin is two years younger than you, he is going to outgrow you and while he may not intentionally hurt you, someone his own age is going to come along and catch his eye and he’ll leave you in the lurch.”

  “He isn’t like that, he’s far more sensitive than anyone gives him credit for.” Angel folded her arms across her chest. “You like him Dad, I don’t know why you are trying to split us up.”

  “I do like him,” Julian sighed. “But no matter how old you get, you will still be my baby girl, I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

  “I’m not going to get hurt, not anytime soon anyhow and if I do, then that’s my look out, not yours.”

  “I suppose you are right. I just don’t like to think that he’s mistreating you or disrespecting you in any way.”

  “He treats me like a queen Dad and it’s clear to anyone that he respects me, you are just being over protective. I’m going away to art school soon, he’s struggling with that and I want to spend as much time with him as I can before I go, can’t you understand that?”

  “Yes, I do understand,” Julian kissed his daughter. “Tell him he played well for me and I’ll see you after college tomorrow.”

  Chapter 18

  With the presentation behind them, the Jensen family and their guests headed for home having decided to forego the celebratory meal Paul had proposed, opting instead to get a take away delivered.

  Sitting on the living room floor, his back against the sofa, his legs underneath the coffee table that was positively groaning under the vast amounts of food and alcohol, Gavin picked up a pair of chopsticks and unsuccessfully tried to scoop up some noodles.

  “Oh look, something else I can’t do,” he said pointedly to Angel, she smiled and fed him the noodles already on her chopsticks.

  With the general high spirits of the family and large amounts of food and alcohol consumed, it was after midnight when they made their way upstairs to bed, Paul being the last one to mount the stairs and enter his room.

  Fuelled by the alcohol she had consumed, Angel reached for Gavin as soon as he closed his door. On his own high from his victory and slightly drunk, he grabbed her and pulled her into the bedroom.

  “Undress me,” he told her, half expecting her to hesitate but raising his arms as she pulled his t-shirt up over his chest and dropped it on the floor before starting on his jeans, her arms getting tangled with his as he tried to undress her at the same time. Within moments they were both naked, he pulled her to him, lifting her easily and laying her across the bed, standing at the side of the bed, he grasped her legs and hooked her ankles over his shoulders, his arms wrapping around her knees, holding her legs against his chest as he entered her.

  Angel grasped the edge of the bed in order to have some tiny amount of control of how deep he penetrated, with her thighs and knees held together he felt massive as he moved inside her. She gasped as his hands came around to grasp her knees, pulling her legs apart as he quickened his pace, she gasped again as he swiftly pulled out of her and drop
ped to his knees beside the bed and wasted no time in spreading her wider as his mouth began to work on her.

  Coming back to his feet and swiftly entering her again, he reached for her, “come here,” he whispered, holding her to him when she wrapped her arms around his neck, her legs around his waist. Sliding his hands beneath her thighs, he lifted her onto him and moved so that her back was against one of the bottom uprights of his four poster bed and they began to move in earnest. Angel stretched her arms above her head and grasped the ornately carved post causing her back to arch, altering her position on Gavin’s body and conveniently putting her breasts at the right level for his mouth and he wasted no time at all in latching onto her right breast.

  Her orgasm fast approaching, Angel placed one hand on his back, her nails digging into his shoulder blade as she pulled him closer, drawing blood as they raked his skin making him groan against her nipple and forcing his orgasm from him only moments before hers. Still buried deep inside her, he carried her to the bed and laid her back onto it, his body covering hers, alternately kissing her and grazing her breasts with his lips and teeth while he waited for his body to recover, he wasn’t finished yet.

  Angel felt his right knee come to rest under the left side of her bottom soon to be joined by his other knee; he once again wrapped her legs around him as he sat back on his haunches, pulling her with him. She placed one hand on the back of his neck, the other grasping his shoulder when his hands held firmly onto her hips and encouraged her to take up the rolling motion he was guiding her into while he thrust upwards into her. This time her orgasm was swift and powerful and she soaked him with her juices making it impossible for him to keep a grip on her. He let her slide off his lap and inclined his head to one side, silently asking her to turn over. She didn’t need asking twice and rolled over onto her stomach, coming up onto her knees and beckoning to him to enter her again.

  The combination of the rugby game, lots of food and drink and a rather satisfying session with Angel left Gavin exhausted, he collapsed onto the bed beside her, breathless and unbearably hot, rolling onto his back when she moved in to kiss him, her tongue languishing in his mouth.