Wayward Son (Jensen Family #3) (30 page)

“Did I ruin your seat with my wet clothes?” she asked.

“Not at all
,
” he opened the
passenger door
.
“See, its
fine.”

“Thank God. When I realised yesterday that I was wet and muddy when I got
in your car I was mortified.” She heaved a sigh of relief
.
“You didn’t whine once.”

“My priority was to get you home,
I didn’t even
consider the seat,
” he shrugged
.
“I have somethin
g for you, come with me,” after locking the car, he led her to his room,
opened his desk drawer and pulled out a box. “If you don’t like it we can go
and change it
,
” he said as he
handed it to her.

“A new phone? I can’t accept this, you’ve already done eno
ugh Gavin, and this is too much
,
” she protested.

“Do you have a phone already?” he asked.

“No
,
” came the
reply.

“Then don’t be daft. It’s a gift
,
I’ll be offended if you don’t accept it.” he answered
.
“You have a play with that
.
I’m going to have a shower.
”

Dropping her baseball cap onto the coffee table, she made herself
comfortable on Gavin’s over stuffed sofa and delved into her bag for her SIM
card, slotting it into the phone
,
she smiled when
it came to life. A different colour and an upgraded version o
f her wrecked phone, she loved it immediately and was
happily setting it up to her preference when Gavin came out of the bathroom, a
dark red towel wrapped around his hips.

“Do you like it?” he asked.

“I love it
,
” she turned in
her seat and wondered if she
would ever get enough of
looking at him
.
“I’d love to
draw you
,
” she said
watching him as he moved about the room.

“Draw me?” he questioned, not at first understanding, then
,
“Oh
,
”
he said
as the realisation dawned
.
“I’ve told you about that before. I don
’t look this way to pull girls you know. Being fit is
advantageous to the sport I play, that’s the only reason I work out
,
” he protested.

“I, on the other hand, d
id
it purely to
pull girls
,
” Paul’s voice
joined in
as he entered the room.

“That’s because yo
u’re a whore
,
” Suzanne told him as she handed Gavin
some clean towels.

Paul crossed the room to where Angel sat, reached for her hand and pulled
her to her feet cupping her face with his hands, his eyes scrutinizing her.

“You don’t look as bad as I’d
imagined you
would
,
” he told her.

Angel felt her heart skip a beat on recognising that Paul possessed the
exact same features she found so attractive in Gavin. Paul’s skin had more of
an olive tint to it and his eyes a darker shade of brown but, like Gavin
’s, they were almond shaped and edged with long, thick
black lashes, the straight nose and full lips were identical.

“The wonders of makeup
,
” she said,
eventually finding her voice.

Suzanne softly tapped her husband’s side
, “p
ut her down, you’re embarrassi
ng her
,
” she told him
off then turned to Angel
.
“You’ll have to
excuse Paul, he likes to touch
.
”
S
he linked her arm through his
,
“
w
e’ll see you two later. Do you want anything from the supermarket Gavin?”

“No thanks
,
” Gavin, now
fully dressed, had seen the
whole charade, he
chuckled as he heard Paul protesting at having to go shopping as Suzanne guided
him from the room.

“Sorry about that
,
” Gavin
commented.

“That’s ok, they have a unique relationship don’t they?”

“I guess that’s one word for it, I keep tell
ing
Dad that I think he’s battery powered, the guy never seems to stop
.
”

“He’s a very attractive man
,
” Angel voiced
her observations and noticed Gavin’s frown as he sat next to her.

“Can’t say I’ve noticed
.
”

“You look very much like him
.
” she finished.

“Th
anks, I think
.
”

“It’s a good thing Gavin
,
it means that
you are also a very attractive man
.
”

He smiled then, a little embarrassed and changed the subject
,
“I got my carpet back
.
”

“Yeah, I noticed
,
” she had moved
along the sofa to the next seat.

“Angel? Are
you ok? You seem a
little....tense?”

“I was just remembering the last time I was in this room
,
” she answered, dropping her head so
that her hair covered her blushes.

He smiled
.
“Don’t be
embarrassed, we didn’t go too far, besides, it’s a perfectly natural
thing
.
”

“You are so sweet
,
” she smiled and
sank back into the sofa
.
“What do you
fancy doing?”

“That’s a loaded question
,
” he replied,
laughing when she threw a pillow at him
.
“The others have gone into town, we could catch up with them
,
” he suggested,
Angel pulled a face
.
“Or not
,
” he continued.

“You could show me just how bad you are at video games
,
” she said holding up the case for
‘
Need for Speed
.
’
“You know I
don’t believe a word of it don’t you?”

“I’ll only play if you give me a head start
,
” he con
ceded.

Chapter
11

Two and a half hours later, after lots of shouted protests, Gavin finally
gave up and dropped his controller onto the floor.

“Wow. You really do suck at that
,
” Angel laughed, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes
,
“I whooped your arse
.
”

“
Thanks for pointing that out” he replied but
he was laughing too.

“Next time you tell me you can’t do something, I’ll believe you
,
” she said
.
“What’s that noise?”

“My phone
,
” Gavin bolted
into his bedroom to answer his phone and was still talking when he
came back to the sofa
.
“Novak wants to know if we feel like
meeting up with the rest of them in the park?” he asked Angel, she nodded
.
“Yeah, we’re up for it
,
” he spoke to Novak.

“Bring a ball
,
” Novak answered
before hanging up.

Gavin left a note for Paul
before locking the
house, picking up his rugby ball on the way through the garage and going out to
the car.

“Do you want to drive?” he asked Angel.

“You’re actually going to let me drive your car?”

“Trust is a two way thing
,
” he told her
.
“You keep tellin
g me you trust me, it’s time I showed you some
.
”

“I’d love to drive
,
” she answered,
taking the keys from him.

Once in the car, Gavin tense in the passenger seat, Angel did herself
proud with her driving skills and found she couldn’t wipe the smile off her
face as the car responded to every slight touch.

“I think I’m in love with your car
,
” she grinned as they pulled through the gates of Richmond Park.

“I know I am
,
” he replied, he
pointed out Paul’s BMW that Novak was currently using and Angel guided the Su
pra into the adjoining space. After parking the car they
crossed the road to join the other four youngsters and Kiera’s three dogs.

“Bloody charming, you won’t let me drive your car
,
” Novak protested.

“That’s because you are in insane driver
,
” Gavin pointe
d
out.

“He must think you are something quite exceptional
,
” Novak smiled as he addressed Angel
“How are you?”

“I’m good thanks Novak
.
”

“Dad will go nuts if you’ve had dogs in his car
,
” Gavin told his friend.

“Gabby, Kiera and the dogs came in her car, Jame
s
and I followed in the beamer
.
” Novak replied
“I may be stupid at
times but I don’t have a death wish.
”

“That’s a matter of opinion
,
” Gavin muttered
as he threw the ball to a waiting James
.
“Hello Ladies
,
” he smiled as
Gabby and Kiera joined them.

“Hi Gav
in
,
” both girls chimed then promptly turned
their attention to Angel.

“What’s the plan?” James asked.

“Kiera suggested walking up to the lodge for a cuppa then coming back to
the cars via the lower route
,
” Novak said
.
“Sounds like I know what I’m talking a
bout doesn’t it?” he grinned.

“Heads up
!
” James called
as they began to walk, throwing the ball straight up into the air causing Novak
and Gavin to look up, following the progress of the ball all three dogs also
paused to watch.

With both boys being star r
ugby players at
their former school, the air of competition between them was immediately
obvious as the ball began its decent, there was a fair amount of shoving going
on as they each vied for the best position under the ball.

Being the taller of the two,
Novak reached up
with his left hand and plucked the ball from the air while shoving Gavin firmly
away from him
,
causing him to
stumble over one of the dogs
,
while Novak
took off like a bat out of hell with the rugby ball tucked securely under one
arm.

Righ
ting himself from almost flattening Monty,
Gavin turned in pursuit of his friend. Had Novak not paused to hurdle an errant
Labrador, Gavin would never have caught up with him, as it was, leaping over
the dog disturbed Novak’s momentum enough for Gavin to b
e upon him swiftly, throwing himself through the air at full pelt, his
arms wrapping around Novak’s torso, his forward motion toppling Novak, slamming
him into the ground with Gavin having the softer landing across Novak’s back,
both boys were breathless a
nd laughing.

“That’s what you get
,
” Gavin laughed.

“Fuck
,
” Novak breathed
,
“I forgot how hard you tackle
.
”
H
e struggled under Gavin’s weight
.
“Get off me
.
”

Scrambling to his feet, Gavin pulled Novak up and tossed the ball to
James
,
who promptly threw it ba
ck causing Novak to lunge for the ball. Gavin dodged every
move Novak made before once again passing the ball to James.

“And that’s why I was Captain
,
” Gavin gloated
.
“You may have the speed but you lack
manoeuvrability
.
”

“Oh I do, do I?” Novak grinned
sticking out his
foot and tripping Gavin
.
“Say that again,” he said,
looking down as Gavin lay flat on his
back
.

“Bastard” Gavin laughed.

“Boys
,
” Angel mused
as the three girls
approached
.
“Never get any older than age fifteen
.
”
S
he swung her hair over
her shoulder and cast a
pitying look at all three of them as she strolled by.

After rounding up the dogs and having a brief respite in the gardens of
Pembroke Lodge, they set off on the long route back to the car park having all
agreed to spend the evening
together at one of the
local Chinese restaurants. Not wanting to overstep that mark, Gavin walked by
Angel’s side, his hands in his pockets.

“Shit
,
” she whispered
stepping behind a tree. Gavin looked at her questioningly before following the
direction of
her gaze.

“Is that Quinn?” he asked on catching site of the rear end of a white
Range Rover. Angel nodded. The others had stopped and followed suit, instantly
recognising Quinn’s car.

“Come on Angel
,
” Gavin cajoled
.
“He didn’t see you, don’t let it spoil
y
our day
.
”

“Yeah, we’re all here, even if he did happen to walk past us, there’s no
way he’ll try anything
,
” Novak
re-assured.

“Even I could take him
,
” James put in,
making Angel smile.

“And he’s a lover not a fighter
,
” Novak grabbed James in a head lock an
d
proceeded to noogie him. Angel laughed and stepped out from behind the tree.

“Sorry, I guess I’m a bit paranoid
,
” she said.

“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 try
ing 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 la
ughed
.
“So, does this
mean that my arms are wide open and you are ju
mping
in to them?
”
He shot her a
cheeky grin, filled with hope.

She couldn’t contain the laugh, she loved this side of him
.
“W
ell, for the sake of decorum, I might sidle into them
.
” She returned his cheekiness with some
of her own.
“
You make me feel safe a
nd, 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
.” H
e replied seriously.
“And mine.” He whispered, moving closer. “Just mine. The way I feel
right now, I’m n
ever 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
.
”