Resolution (Saviour #2)(27)
He looks a little hurt at my words but I feel irrationally angry at the fact he can find it a laughing matter so soon. Before either of us has a chance to say anymore my phone rings so I stand up from the family room floor. We have slept lying on one furry throw, with another over the top of us. My head spins as I take in the scene and I suddenly feel nauseous. I close my eyes and put my hand out to try and steady myself.
“Shit... You okay? Did that f*cker hit your head last night?”
Gabe jumps up and steadies me.
“No, I'm fine; it's just a head rush. Go and make some coffee. I'll get the phones, they've both been going off all morning.”
I stand on tip toes and kiss him on the cheek and turn and walk off toward the bedroom to retrieve our phones.
“You need to eat. Your arse looks too skinny Lauren,” He shouts as I leave the room.
My arse isn’t skinny, I’m a size twelve, that’s average, bloody cheek.
“Well cook me something and I will eat it,” I shout back.
“Oh I’m good enough to cook for you but I’m not good enough to marry. Fuckin cheek ‘Marriage proposal bullshit’ that wasn’t a bullshit proposal, that was a fair dinkum proposal, I don’t know what her problem is, I thought all women wanted to be proposed to and get married.”
I stand in the doorway and smile as I listen to his mumblings, he still doesn’t get it, he still thinks this is me rejecting him and not about me not believing in the concept of marriage, I can see this being a sticking point for us; oh well, I won’t be swayed, not for the time being at least.
I grab our phones, pull Gabe’s T shirt over my head and head back to where he's making us coffee. He's leaning on the bench top waiting for the hot water to pump through the capsule in the coffee machine. He is totally stark bollock naked and looks like a god. A coffee making God – Nespressios. Ha! Imagine him bringing you coffee every morning, women across the world laying in their beds in anticipation, men too probably. Naaa, you know what? Scrap that thought, I’m not sharing him with anyone, call it selfish but this one’s all mine. I actually stop dead in my tracks and swallow. Hard as I take him all in. I look over his tattoo; he has a tattoo, of me and of him, on his back. He had it done to show me his feelings, for me. Tears well in my eyes for some reason and a wave of guilt washes over me for the hurt I’ve caused him by refusing to marry him but I smile at the same time, my resolve is weakening already. I am such a sap where this man is concerned.
He senses me standing there and turns around with a grin on his face, “See something you like?” He wiggles his eyebrows up and down as he asks.
“Yep....the coffee, shove a sugar in mine. I need a fix.”
I pass him his phone as he passes me a coffee and I go and sit on the sofa. I have several missed calls, voice mails and texts from Jo, Jemma, Sam and both of my sons. I send a text to the girls letting them know I'm fine and safe in the arms of Gabe. I figure I better ring the boys, I try Ryder first but it goes to message bank.
So I call Sonny, “Mum, what the f*ck is going on are you alright?”
“I'm fine bubby. Why?”
“Because I'm getting all sorts of texts and Facebook messages about Jarrod White giving you shit in the pub last night. What's going on – what happened?”
I fill him in on all the details and listen to my son scream blue murder about what he's going to arrange to have done to Jarrod. He's over the moon that Gabe gave him such a battering.
We say our goodbyes and I attempt to call Ryder again when I hear Gabe on the phone. “No, no she's fine; she's just talking to your brother.”
Gabe’s on the phone to Ryder? When did this bromance start? I look up at him from the sofa. “Yeah, he's a prick, grabbed her by the throat and pushed her backwards, I don't actually know. I don't really remember. I lost it mate, completely lost it. Not a problem, shoulda killed the f*cker. Yeah man you know. Yeah, I'll put her on. See ya after.”
He passes me the phone.
“Ryder,” is all that he says.
He's still naked and for some reason I feel embarrassed, awkward even, I'm not sure what, but it doesn't feel right having a conversation with my son with Gabe standing bare arsed in front of me.
“Hey bubby.”
“What the f*ck Mum, what has gone on, I swear, I’m gonna kill that f*cker.”
“Ryder, don’t swear like that, I'm fine, I'm fine, really I'm fine.”
Again, this child of mine is also happy that Jarrod copped a beating and actually sounds proud of Gabe as he tells me what every one is saying about the event. Gabe disappears while I'm talking and as I finish my call I go to look for him.
The bath is running and full of bubbles.
“Mind it's not too hot before you get in” I jump as I hear his voice.
He's on the toilet. Of course he is, “Gabe, really?”
“I've shut the door and put the extractor on. Fucking hell Lauren a man has to crap somewhere”
“There's another bathroom next door, why can't you use that? Or better still, the one out by the pool.”
“Yeah you’re funny Lauren,” he shouts.
Am I? I wasn't trying to be funny, I was being serious but I stay quiet as I ease myself into the bath, owies, it stings a bit, but then I’m hardly surprised. I can’t help smiling to myself at the normality of the conversation we just had, me, moaning at him, for stinking the bathroom out, a conversation that goes on around the world every day between millions of couples, normal, boring, mundane and I love it. I wince as I lower myself further down slowly. I Lay back, shut my eyes and relax. I have no idea what the time is and despite the fact that I’ve just woken up, I feel so tired.