by Anna Scott
His dark gaze was ominous as he took in the scene before him. Our laughter stopped immediately and the jovial mood that had settled in the room was gone. Zach seemed to suck all the fun and life right out of the room. Nicole squirmed in her chair, while both Peter and Gavin squared their shoulders and seemed to grow larger in their seats, Chelsea’s posture somehow became serious and formidable, as I felt like I could slide right under the table.
The empty place that had been set along with the others, now seemed to stick out, it was as if Nicole had hoped he’d show, which I’m sure she had. Instead of sitting down to join in his mother’s beautiful dinner, he loomed, with his back to the wall, and a sinister look on his face.
He stayed quiet for a time, taking us all in, but as he moved, I wondered if he was drunk. There wasn’t any obvious sign, but the way his body awkwardly shuffled, it seemed that there was something off in his motion.
“Zach, sweetheart, come sit down. I’ll get you something to eat.” Nicole said, obviously trying to dissuade him from causing trouble. There was no doubt in my mind, that seeing Gavin and me there together, happy, had set him off and he was going to get his drama one way or the other. Probably the fact that Chelsea and I had been laughing uncontrollably when he walked in, obviously beginning a great new friendship, regardless of his Machiavellian attempts, annoyed him, his plans at ruining everyone else’s good time had been foiled.
“Well, isn’t this sweet. Playing happy fucking family.” Zach slurred, glaring around the table.
“Zachary, that’s enough.” Nicole snapped, staring at him as if she’d never seen him before, or maybe as if she had, but he had been someone else. I knew enough about Gavin and Zach’s father to know, that his behavior had probably resembled this.
Zach’s angry glare zeroed in on me, and didn’t waver when he answered his mother. “Oh, Mom, what’s wrong? Am I upsetting your perfect son over there, and his little whore? He’s always been your favorite, hasn’t he? At least I had Dad.” Zach motioned toward Gavin with a limp finger, but stayed drunkenly focused on me.
I heard Gavin growl, low and furious as Peter stood, moving to the other side of Nicole’s chair. My respect for the older man grew even more in that moment, as I realized that he was blocking Zach’s path if he were to try to go for her. I’d never seen Peter like that, but it warmed my heart to see his obvious love for his wife. The fact that he’d protect her, even if it was from her own son, showed me all I needed to see.
“Really, Pete,” Zach said chidingly, “You’re coming between mommy dearest and me, what do you think is going to happen?”
Peter’s face hardened and his tone was different than anything I’d ever heard come from the normally passive man. “Nothing is going to happen, Zach. You’ve just walked into my house and you’re speaking aggressively toward my wife. No one speaks to my wife that way.” The way he stressed the word my, the way he looked at Zach with compassion, but absolute determination, I was absolutely amazed and thrilled for Nicole. I could see that Gavin was so much more like Peter, than he’d probably been like his own father.
Gavin’s hand squeezed my knee under the table, his body so rigid, I know he’s ready for whatever Zach has planned. Nodding toward the open archway that lead into the kitchen, away from Zach, Gavin whispered, “go, baby.”
Not wanting to leave him, or to abandon Nicole, I stayed put, until I noticed Peter, take Nicole’s hand, and motion for her to go that way as well. She stood up, on unsteady legs and began to move. She reached for my hand, to bring me along, when Zach’s words stopped us in our tracks.
“Don’t take her away mom, I want to get my chance at her too. That bitch has shot me down too many times. I was nice and asked her out when we lived across the street, but she was all moony eyed over perfect Gavin there.” As he growled and spit out his venomous words, I tried to remember back, to figure out how old I’d been that time.
“Then, I tried again right here on your deck, that bitch is so stuck up, she acted like I was the asshole. Fucking frigid bitch, I should have done it anyway, would have, if fucking Gavin, fucking perfect son, Gavin hadn’t interrupted.”
Only half of his drunken rant made any sense, until I remembered the time he’d asked me to go to the drive-in movies with him. Fury boiled when I realized, and I let it fly. “I was sixteen, you moron! What the hell were you thinking? I couldn’t go out with you.” I glared at him, meeting his stare head on, I didn’t flinch, didn’t back down, I found every ounce of bravado I’d ever had and held my ground.
Zach flinched first, and looked away, as he spit out; “shut up, bitch, you would have gone if it was Gavin, right?”
“He was deployed, he was on his first tour then; besides, he wouldn’t have said anything like that to me, not like you did, I was a minor and you were way too old for me. You cornered me in the kitchen, remember? You said some nasty stuff to me, things I was way too young to hear, and certainly way too young for you to want to do to me.” Gavin’s entire body was rock solid; I could feel the vibrating rage rolling off him from hearing what his brother had done.
“You what?” Nicole’s shriek of outrage rang around the otherwise silent room. It seemed like everyone else was trying to absorb what I’d just said, but she looked shocked and horrified. I knew that she hadn’t known what her son had done back then, I’d stupidly never told anyone. We were so close to their family; I guess I hadn’t wanted to disrupt the peace. Besides, Zach had been gone a lot, just like Gavin, he wasn’t home much. Thinking back on it though, I’d been lucky he hadn’t made another approach and really pushed things. He could have hurt me, or done any number of things I wouldn’t have easily forgotten.
“Oh come on, mom, if Gavin had fucked her when she was a minor you would have been just fine with that. I wanted her, but oh no, she couldn’t be bothered with me. All these fucking bitches in my life, I’m sick of this shit.” He shouted the last, throwing his hand into the air, flailing it about and catching the crystal water pitcher Nicole had placed on the sideboard. The beautiful piece of Waterford teetered and crashed to the marble tile below. Glass, water and ice sprayed, hitting the wall and covering the floor.
Zach jumped back, swearing with irritation and he looked down at the broken mess angrily, like the vase had been at fault. Of course, he didn’t rush to grab a towel or even try to clean it all up. Nicole tried to move toward it, but Peter grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into him.
“Shhh, baby, no. Water won’t hurt the floor, we can get it in a few minutes, okay?” He soothed, speaking gently into her hair. My heart melted and I fell in love with Peter Davies for the millionth time that day.
Gavin was standing now, stalking toward his brother. The murderous look on Gavin’s face would have me, or about any sane person, turning tail and running, but Zach apparently wasn’t sane. He snarled and adopted a belligerent look, preparing for his brother’s confrontation.
“What is your problem?” Gavin roared, fury barely contained, his muscles seemed to swell as he stood there,
“You, you’re my fucking problem. Everything you ever wanted, you got everything. You got mom, I got dad, he fucking left us. I wanted Dawn, you got her, the only thing you didn’t get was the military career, I thought at least I’d get that, but nope, I can’t have anything. Fucking female enlisted, they flounce around base, swinging their asses, then you tap that shit and they fucking report you. I can’t fucking win.” He took a few deep breaths, he’d worked himself up, moving jerkily with each absurd utterance.
“Fucking disciplinary leave, fucking court marshals, fucking bitches. It’s the fucking bitch's fault, not mine. It’s your fault, not fucking mine, if you hadn’t been so fucking perfect, Jesus, I just wanted this one thing for myself.” Zach began to scream, making no sense at all, but if I were to piece half that together, it sounded like he was in a world of shit, but he was wrong about one thing; it was all his own doing.
Peter’s body had gone completely still, Nicol
e stared at her oldest son in shock, Gavin stood, rage still clinging to him, but an expression of utter bafflement covered his face, Chelsea finally jolted from her unmoving state and stood from the table to join the group. Nicole began to speak, to say something, but before she had a chance, Gavin bit out; “Mom, Dawn, go into the kitchen.”
It was sweet that Gavin wanted to protect us, but a weak woman, Nicole was not, nor would I ever be. Sure, if he’d brandished a gun, I’d happily move out, but as far as I could see, the only weapon he had was his irate mouth.
Coming back to herself, Nicole straightened away from Peter and asked, “Zach, what have you done?”
That was it, we all saw it. Zach’s body jolted, his face turned an unpleasant shade of red and he began to spew his venom all over again.
“She wanted it, she fucking did, now she’s telling everyone, lying bitch, I didn’t force anyone. Fucking cunt is jealous, she’s trying to ruin me, she came on to me, she swayed that ass, now she’s blaming me. You’re coddling little Gavin over there, acting like he is the perfect fucking child, like he never did shit wrong. I’m sick of this shit, all of you fake assholes, acting perfect all the time, you can all go straight to hell!” Zach’s shouting had gotten louder, the longer he spoke it was apparent, Peter wasn’t about to listen to any more, nor allow his wife to be treated to that type of spectacle either.
“That’s quite enough. You don’t come into my house and speak to your mother that way. She is my wife and she will be treated with the utmost respect at all times. If you’ve done something wrong, then take responsibility for it. Whatever your issues, you do not come in here and behave this way.” He said, sternly. Nicole was crying by now, but when Peter finished speaking, he had moved to stand in front of Zach, and Gavin had stepped closer to him. The two behemoths were creating a wall between us and Zach.
I sidestepped to Nicole and pulled her into my arms, and I saw Chelsea walk into the kitchen out of the corner of my eye. She came back seconds later with a handful of rags, so we could get to work on the floor, just as soon as the men moved out.
I heard Gavin’s low rumbling voice, though he spoke quietly, in the silence of the room, we could all hear him. “Don’t act like this, Zach, you don’t want to be Dad. He was an asshole, and now you’re acting just like him. What you’ve done, what you did to Dawn, the lies you fed her, the ones you told me, you tried to sabotage the best thing in my life, for spite.” From my position, I couldn’t see Zach at all, but I saw Gavin’s arm move, as if he were putting his hand up, probably to stop his brother from going off again.
“That’s on you, but it didn’t work. I’m going to marry that girl and unless you wake the fuck up, you won’t be there. You won’t be near any of us again. Is that what you want?” Gavin paused, just long enough for his words to sink in, my body tensed, but Nicole’s arms wrapped tighter around me and gave me a squeeze. I’d been comforting her, but it appeared the tables had turned now.
“Is it? To be alone, alienated from your family? Dad was, remember, he wouldn’t speak to his parents, or his siblings, he told us it was them, but I bet it wasn’t. I bet it was all him. Now, it’s all you.”
As Gavin spoke, he took small, measured steps forward, Peter at his side and the two men moved Zach from the dining room and toward the front door. It was a few more minutes and more muffled words, before we heard the front door shut.
I expected Peter and Gavin to come back in, but only Peter returned. He explained that Zach was drunk, which we’d all witnessed, so Gavin was going to take him to a nearby motel. For a moment, I was worried that he’d left me at his mother’s house, but Peter’s soft smile directed at me, told me just why Nicole had fallen for him.
“He’ll be right back, he asked me to tell you to relax and finish your dinner.”
He took Nicole into his arms, pulling her gently from mine, and leaned in to kiss the top of my head, it was odd for me, a very fatherly thing to do, I thought, though I’d never experienced it. They walked out of the room together, her tears were slowing now, and I hoped that he’d be able to comfort her. I couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to see your own child behaving that way.
“That was intense.” Chelsea said with a smirk on her face. Understatement of the year I thought, as a laugh bubbled up. Grabbing up the rags, we worked silently to clean up Zach’s mess, though sadly for him, cleaning up this mess was easy, it sounded like the other messes he’d made would be a hell of a lot harder.
We polished off the bottle of wine, sitting in the room alone, we began to talk. She told me about her marriage, how she’d found out her husband was cheating on her with a dispatcher and how difficult it had been to stay at work afterward. The new couple had carried on, right there at parties and functions, like Chelsea hadn’t meant a thing.
I told her about my mom, how I’d grown up and the events of my eighteenth birthday. I shared more with her than I had anyone, aside from Tyler. Somehow, I felt comfortable with Chelsea, she had this quiet strength that made me feel safe, not only physically, but emotionally too. I knew, without a doubt, that she and I would become great friends.
At least forty-five minutes passed, before Gavin came back. He was visibly shaken, and I felt bad for him, having to deal with Zach in that way, but he was holding it together. He strode straight to me, inspected my face and right there, in front of his cousin, kissed me like we’d been apart for years.
Peter entered the dining room minutes later, explaining that Nicole would be out shortly, told us that she was doing better, then went to get the beautiful orange soufflé Nicole had made for our dessert. She came back into the room, refreshed and together again, just as Peter was serving us.
They shared a secret smile, it was simple but beautiful, when he set her plate down in front of her. It was good to see a happily married, healthy, stable older couple. I knew they’d only been married a few years, but the bond they shared was encouraging.
Gavin visibly relaxed, but I could tell that he was on edge, under the surface. I thought that he was putting on a calm façade for his mother’s sake, though it could be for me as well, I knew he felt like he needed to protect me. That was something we’d have to work on.
Enjoying our desserts, Chelsea regaled us with stories from her years at the police department in Houston. She was two years younger than Gavin, and had been there since she was twenty-two. Her experiences with naked drunks had us rolling in laughter, and a particularly colorful story about a fight at a male strip club was absolutely priceless.
I shared about my time in Los Angeles, and all the crazy things I’d seen there. Chelsea looked at me, smiled and gave me a sly wink, she knew I was trying to keep everyone laughing, just as she had been.
The rest of the evening passed uneventfully, thank God. We retired to the family room, it was casually decorated, but had a wonderful view of the now dark backyard, though small islands of light were strategically dispersed around the space. Nicole and Peter had placed beautiful solar lights around the flower beds, illuminating some amazing foliage.
It was late by the time Gavin made our excuses, and headed to my house. The ride was quiet for the first several minutes, but when he turned right instead of left, I asked where we were going.
“I need to grab some clothes for tomorrow.” He explained simply. That made my mind wander. How long would he be happy sleeping over at my place? We’d stopped at his house Friday night as well, so he could grab clothes. Maybe sometimes, I could stay at his place too, taking some of the burden off him.
I figured I could clean out a couple of drawers for him too, at least somewhere he could keep things at my place. He had a few days’ worth of dirty clothes already, I could just wash them and put them in the drawers. It wouldn’t need to be some big deal, but it would tell him that I thought it was okay if he kept them there. I was hesitant to say too much, too soon, not wanting to disrupt the good thing we were creating. If I pushed now, he might think I was pushing for more.
Thinking back to earlier in the evening, remembering when he’d told Zach that he was going to marry me, marry me, I wondered if he maybe wouldn’t think it was too soon. I allowed my mind to wander, to consider all that our lives had in store for us. Of course, I hoped that we’d be together, to experience all the wonderful things I’d been denied as a child, and so had he.
My own father was an enigma, his was a monster, my mother was a little selfish, but kind, his mother, sweet and strong. What kind of parents would we be, if we were ever fortunate enough to have children? Did he want children? I had no idea.
I was startled when Charlie Daniels Band was cranked up on the radio and my eyes moved to look at Gavin. He was relaxed, after the night at his mom’s. I hadn’t known if he could calm himself again so soon, but the laid back man I’d always loved was again, right here next to me. No, not loved, I mean, I loved him, as a friend not loved him, right?
A smile crossed his handsome lips just as we pulled up in front of his house. “You keep looking at me like that and we won’t just be picking up clothes.” His salacious look, his brows lifted, and that damn grin did strange things to me. It didn’t take much for Gavin McNeil to turn me on.
Needless to say, it took a long time - a really long time - to pick up the things Gavin needed to sleep at my house. Actually, after the fifth orgasm and at least as many newly christened locations I passed out cold in his bed.
Waking in the morning, strong arms holding me close, his rich masculine scent surrounding me, I was just where I’d always wanted to be. I pressed back, into his naked chest and felt the evidence that he was already awake. He woke me fully, in the best way possible.