Determined to put an end to self-pity, she stood up and changed her clothes. Wearing what made her comfortable on the bikini. Increased the temperature of the air conditioning and in minutes the room was cold enough that it does not to sweat until melted.
She threw herself on the bed and picked up the phone when the message alert rang. It was Angela.
"If I were you, I’d come down here now.
I can’t stop drooling on your boyfriend's swimming trunks.
Wow.”
Attached to the message, it had a picture of Gabriel in the pool, smiling at the camera.
Rolling her eyes, Melissa sent a grumpy response.
"He is not my boyfriend.
You can drool over, all you want"
Dropping the next set, the girl sighed and closed her eyes. It was impossible to avoid Gabriel image using only swimming trunks.
“Guess why?” She told herself by jumping out of bed “I can go look how much I want.”
♫
As expected, the pool area was hot as hell and Melissa cursed the damn curiosity that led her away of her room. Mal had gone and already felt sweat trickle beneath a black long-sleeved dress she wore.
“Hey” Angela shouted as soon as she saw her best friend. She was very comfortable under sunshade, drinking orange juice. “I’m glad you came out of the woodwork!”
Too late to turn back, Melissa snorted and went to meet her friend.
“You didn’t resist, right?” Angela said with a mischievous smile. “I knew!”
“Great” Melissa shrugged “I just came to get some air. It has nothing to do with Gabriel.”
“Okay…” Angela sipped her juice. “Let's pretend to believe.”
“Melissa?!” Gabriel called her into the pool when he emerged.
With her heart pounding, the girl nodded shyly. She was pathetic in that unbearable sun, dressed totally adverse environmental clothing, sweating like she was melting, but even then, Gabriel looked at her like she was the most fantastic thing in the universe. The admiration she found in the eyes of absurdly handsome man filled her with emotion. She was in love a little more for him, although this seemed impossible.
“I think who’ll need a bib now is you”. Angela took her reverie with the comment.
“Ah! Shut up!” Melissa smiled and sat beside her friend as she watched Gabriel out of the pool.
Surprise, she kept her eyes on the bare back of the singer, where a large and detailed Maori tattoo stood out in white skin.
“Fuck you!” She cursed softly, making Angela laughing when he dropped the towel used to mop up and walked over to where she was. “He’s hot!”
“Ladies...” Gabriel greeted them “Are you comfortable?”
“I'm in heaven, that's what!” Angela replied still trying to stifle laughter by her friend's reaction.
“It's hot as hell here.” Melissa said, averting her eyes to anything other than the bare chest of the singer. In response, Gabriel laughed heartily, as if he expected for that.
“Oh, you're here.” The nagging voice of Karen slashed. The girl appeared smiling, wearing a bikini indecent, even to use at home.
“I thought you weren’t coming. You hate the Sarasota’s sun.” Gabriel said.
“I'm trying to get used to. And it's a beautiful day. Can you pass the sun blocker on my back?” She asked with a forced pout. Melissa couldn’t help but roll her eyes.
“Of course!” Before Gabriel could get up from the lounge chair that was sitting, Karen jumped on the singer's lap, pulling her hair back and handing sunscreen.
Lissa didn’t quite understand her reaction, but hated to see the blonde accommodated on Gabriel's lap, especially when she closed her eyes and sighed as she felt the male hand slide down her back, spreading the sunscreen.
“You should also spend a little...” The rocker said, oblivious to the fact that Melissa was needing of a lot of effort not to choke Karen at that time. “The sun is strong and you are not used to.”
Instead of answering, the artist snorted to see the blonde fix on Gabriel's thighs to look at him after he had put the sunscreen aside.
“Thank you, Gabe!” The girl hugged her brother, sliding her nails down his back and without embarrassment, placed a lingering kiss on the male neck.
“No problem, little sister.” He hugged her, before taking her off his lap. “Now, you...” The rocker winked at Melissa who was watching the exchange of two brothers with a good deal of disbelief.
“I can do it alone...” Lissa picked up the bottle of sunscreen that he offered her. “You better go back to the pool.”
“Great idea!” Karen brightened. “Come with me...” Pulling her brother by the hand, she led them to the edge of the pool and, as if testing the patience of Melissa, held him to jump in the pool together.
“Bitch!” Melissa let out squeezing the bottle in her hand.
“OK ...” Angela used her hand to make the best friend look at her when Karen turned to cling on Gabriel, inside the pool, locking her legs around his waist and holding up his neck. “Breathe or will have a heart attack.”
“She's flirting with him...” Melissa closed her eyes to not see the games in the pool. “Fuck you! Why I did not realize this before?”
“They are brothers, Lissa.” The friend replied, but glanced at Karen at the very moment that the girl returned to slide his hand in the back of his brother and deposited a kiss on his tattoo. “Fuck! This can only be something of our minds”
With shaking hands, Melissa dropped the sunscreen on the floor and stared at her friend.
“You will tell me that is impossible for some kin to be interested in others?”
“It's different, Lissa.” Angela tried to find a logical explanation. “What happened to you was abuse. And you weren’t really had a kinship with him. What happens between them, it's just...”
“A girl blatantly insinuating for her foster brother.”
Turning to look at people in the water, Angela understood what Melissa wanted to say, but she was still unable to believe that the conclusion of Mel was correct.
“No... it's just two brothers who get along well, which are very close to each other.” When she heard the brothers leave the pool, Angela shook Lissa’s hand, still trembling. “Let's not take any conclusion”
“Water is incredible...” Karen came first, twisting her long hair, causing the water droplets to reach the Melissa's face. “You will not try, goth girl?”
“I'll drown her.” Lissa whispered to her friend.
“No, you will not.” Angela kept Melissa in the same place.
“Gabe?” Karen stepped in front of the rockstar before he could get closer to Mel. “Can you straight my bikini? I do not want to stay with two brands.”
He reached out to fix the straps, but before touching them, he felt Melissa pulling him closer.
“Sit here with me.” Trying to control her strong-willed, she gave way to accommodate the singer in the same lounge chair that she was.
“You know… it’s better...” Karen launched a fun look at the three friends who were her company, and with a fluid and casual movement, undid the tie that held the top of the bikini. “Better not keep any marks.”
Angela gasped and immediately looked at her best friend, when the blonde played the top before used on the table where a juice jug was and lay face down on a vacant chair.
Gabriel gave no attention to the fact that his younger sister being topless in front of him, preferring to pull Melissa to lie as close to him as possible.
“Come to the pool with me...” The singer asked softly, speaking near Lissa's ear. “I want to kiss you there.”
With arms crossed and angry expression, she responded with the same low voice.
“Call Karen... You seemed to be having a great time just now.”
“It was really fun...” He said, wondering hardness female voice. “But not as much as it would be with you.” He smiled and slid his fingertips covered by an a
rm, wishing she was wearing only a bikini so he could feel her skin shivering at his touch. “I have a lot of things I want to do with you there.”
“You can make all of them with the blonde in topless...”
Gabriel laughed by the jealous tone.
“Oh babe...” He pulled her close and distributed kisses in the female face. “The things I have in mind right now, I can only do with you. No with Karen.”
“Why not?” Melissa countered, earning a warning glance her best friend from a negative nod.
Gabriel stopped kisses to look in her eyes that stared angry.
“Because she's my sister.” he said seriously. “And you're my girl.”
“It looks like she no cares about it.”
Snorting, Gabriel ran a hand through wet hair, glancing at his sister who was still lying close to them.
“Karen...” He called her, intending to pull her away. He did not want a new argument between his sister and Melissa. “You can get a drink for us?”
The blonde nodded and, without haste, left her position, sitting back and calmly put the bikini top, no little uncomfortable about being half naked in front of her brother.
Gabriel on the other hand, looked away when her breasts were the show and threw a towel toward her.
“Put some clothes”.
“I forgot how much you can be uncool...” With a smile, the youngest got up after being dressed. “I'll get that drink you like ... For everybody.”
“Really?” Melissa turned away from the singer when he tried to return to hug her. “Do you find it normal?”
“You're very sexy with jealous, but jealous of Karen's ridiculous. She's my sister.”
“I am not jealous. And be your sister does not change anything… she is obviously flirting with you.”
“Where did you get that from?” Gabriel sat, angry and annoyed at the implication.
“I don’t know...” Lissa said in mocking tone. “Perhaps the fact that she was now, half naked, in front of you.”
“It was a topless, Mel” He tried to not get angry.” Many women do it. And it's like she always preferred sunbathing. It makes no difference to me.”
“I don’t believe I'm hearing this...” Lissa stood up, too boring to continue sitting. “It makes no difference? Ang then make will also not make a difference...”
“Let me out of this...” Angela manifested, earning a thunderous look friend.
“... If I will also not make any difference.”
“Of course, it will...” Gabriel increased his voice to accompany her. “Not for Angela, of course. It would be like the Karen and all the other women I have ever seen topless on some beach. But you... Damn it, let me excited.”
Angela blushed and watched the reaction of Lissa, seeing her face acquiring a shade of pink. Melissa continued.
“And you didn’t get excited with her rubbing against you in the pool?”
“Of course not. She's my sister!”
“That's what makes no difference. Being your sister or not, she'd love if you fuck her.”
“Fuck! You are out of line.” The singer took a few steps away from the two young women who’s faced him. “It may not make a difference in your dysfunctional family. In my family, something like that never going to happen.”
Melissa stared at him in shock, hurt.
“I never should have told you...” She whispered, feeling Angela push her back to the lounge chair to prevent her friend to move forward on the performer. “Since you will throw it in my face every time you decide to defend your bitch sister.”
The singer put a hand to his face. Sometimes he forgot that some things hurt more than he could imagine. It was a low blow was to use what had happened to her in a discussion, he knew, and he hated himself for not having a quiet time, but when he realized had spoken what shouldn’t think. And the fact of Mel's family be so fucking dysfunctional was the only explanation for what she was really can imagine that he would be able to relate sexually with own little sister.
He could have apologized, maybe even should, but now, he felt he was the one who deserved an apology. She may not know, or perhaps didn’t care, but what she had hinted had hurt. Much as he had hurt her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT - LOVE ME LIKE YOU DO
“Follow me to the dark
Let me take you past our satellites
You can see the world you brought to life
So love me like you do”[41]
I nsomnia led Melissa to walk through the house, and she invaded the room next to her only to find that Gabriel wasn’t sleeping in his bed.
After talking for hours with Angela, she felt horrible about the afternoon pool discussion. She still believed that Karen was interested in her brother, in a non-brotherly way, but she didn’t think it was Gabriel's fault. Hadn’t she, years before, fed a totally improper feeling, without even realizing it? And it had been terrible to see other people blaming her for it. He had done the same with Gabriel.
She had to apologize to him, and when the night came and he didn’t appear, her heart clenched. She missed to have him lying next to her, and his strong arms pulling her close.
Not wanting to go back to her own room where she wouldn’t be able to sleep and end up disturbing Angela’s sleep, she decided to explore Voss's mansion in the hope of finding him.
She ended up going to the little studio that the singer kept where the basement was before. She found the singer there, playing Love me like you do, on the piano. The singer's powerful voice shivered at her. The emotion with which the song flowed made her choked.
As Gabriel finished the last chords, the girl approached him and looped him around the neck.
“Is it for me?” She whispered the question, afraid he would send her away.
Gabriel sighed and nodded.
"It's always for you. All my songs, all my thoughts... Every beat of my heart.”
“Sorry about what I said.” It was very difficult for Melissa to apologize, but she couldn’t hold back the words. "I didn’t mean to upset you... The fact that I'm angry at your sister doesn’t give me the right to accuse you of something so serious. I'm sorry for hurting you.”
"I owe you an apology too..." He let out what had bothered him during the late afternoon and all night. "I was a jerk talking about your family”.
“You really were.” Lissa forced herself to laugh to ease the tension between them. "I swear if you use this subject again..."
"Unnecessary threat... I'm not going to touch the subject anymore. It's a promise.”
With a nod that the singer couldn’t see, Melissa allowed herself to believe his promise. The two of them had crossed the line that afternoon. She didn’t want to continue thinking about the things that were said.
“I love you!”
The unexpected statement of the rockstar made Melissa put it down and walk away a step.
Gabriel didn’t turn to face her. He just let his shoulders drop and lowered his head before repeating again.
"I love you, Melissa. I don’t know how you will react, whether you will flee or close even more, but I can’t bear to keep this inside myself. I'm not just in love, I'm not spending time or looking for fun... I love you!”
"No..." She denied. “You don’t love me.”
Taking a deep breath, he turned to look at her. He was quite inclined to shout at her again, but his eyes found her hugging herself, her face already filled with tears.
"You have this annoying craze to think you know what everyone thinks and feels," He replied, speaking quietly and slowly. "But you don’t know. Most of the time you are wrong. Like now.”
"This thing between us..." Lissa cleared her throat, trying to stop her voice from failing. “It's great, wonderful... It's something new... Okay, you like what we have, but it's not love. You're confusing everything.”
"Just because you want to believe in what you're saying doesn’t mean it's true. Just because you're scared doesn’t mean that I'm confused.” He stood up
to approach her. "I know how I feel about you. And even it's a bit scary, I love you.”
“Why?” Lissa let herself be hugged as he tightened his grip on her. "With so many beautiful girls out there, why would you love me?"
“Why not you?” He returned the question. "You're as beautiful as these other girls you're referring to..."
"Look at me, Gabriel. And then, look at yourself.” She drew back, pointing angrily to herself, and then raising the sleeves of the dress she had set in the afternoon, leaving the scars on her wrists. "You're amazing and I'm a fucking freak. It's already unbelievable that you can feel a little attraction for me... But, love... Nobody loves a freak.”
Holding the feminine face with both hands, Gabriel tried not to let himself be shaken. He hated hearing her speak of herself with such contempt, and he hated even more to realize that it was as she really saw herself.
"You're not a freak." He corrected her, speaking quietly, as if his heart wasn’t beating fast. "And even if you were, I'd still love you. Fuck the scars, fuck your nightmares, fuck it if it's hard to be more intimate, fuck you if you don’t feel the same for me. None of that matters, none of that diminished what I feel. I love you, Melissa. Independent of anything.”
"But you shouldn’t..." She hugged him tightly, crying on his shoulder. "I'm going to hurt you and I'll hate do it."
He laughed lightly. In that point, she was probably right. But he was willing to pay whatever it cost to be with her.
♫
They should probably already be in bed, sleeping, though each in a room, but Melissa didn’t want to sleep, even more, she doesn’t want to move away from Gabriel, who seemed quite inspired after finally declaring himself.
So, they continued in the studio, with Gabriel sitting in front of the piano, ripping one or another note out of the instrument, or sketching a new song on a blank sheet of paper that Lissa had, very reluctantly, given up to him.
The girl even tried to draw something new, but she couldn’t focus on anything more than the singer in front of her.
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