Wayward Son (Jensen Family #3) (21 page)

“I’m fine
,
” Gavin replied.

“Come on dude, this is me, not one of your college friends, you know you
can tell me anything
.
”

Gavin opened his eyes and loo
ked at his friend
.
“I’m doing ok honestly, I have my
temper in check most of the time, college is good, home life is good. I’m
fine,” he paused
.
“But I still
miss her
.
”

“You always will
.
”

“I guess. I have this huge empty space inside of me that won’t go aw
ay. It’s her birthday today
.
”

“I know, why do you think I picked this weekend to come and visit?” Novak
asked
.
“How are things with your Dad?”

“Actually, Dad’s pretty cool, we had one hell of a row a few months back
but since then everything has been fine.
I think we
cleared the air. I said some horrible things told him a few home truths and
said some things I shouldn’t have said but hey, it’s all out in the open now,
there are still things we need to talk about but they can wait for a bit.  He
went nuts, I
actually thought he was going to hit me
,
he was that angry. We still argue but
it’s different now, he’s begun to treat me like an adult and we are learning to
trust each other so long term, I think we’ll be fine
.
” Gavin told his friend.

“That’s cool, I
er, put some flowers on your
Mum’s grave
, I figured I should do it as you can’t
come home
.
”

“T
hanks Novak
.
”

“No problem.” He turned onto his back
.
“You were right by the way, Angel is
stunning and her boyfriend is a douche, I fully intend showing him up la
ter if I can persuade someone to lend me a
jet ski
.
” Novak told him
.
“Fucking fair weather skiers, I hate
them all
.
”

Gavin chuckled at his friend’s rant
,
“Kiera’s into you bud
,
” he murmured.

“I’d very much like to be in her
,
” Novak replied.

“I can tell you
it feels good, very good
.
” Gavin gloated.

“I hate that you’ve fucked her
,
” Novak griped.

“Right place, right time my friend, hasn’t put you off before
.
”

“Not going to put me off now, she looks good enough to eat in that bikini
.
”

“Doesn’t leave much to the
imagination does
it?” Gavin propped himself up on his elbows
.
“Snap her up before someone else does,
these guys will be falling over themselves to get at her now they’ve seen her
in two tiny bits of material
.
”

“I’m sure the old Novak charm will win her ov
er
,
” he grinned
.
“So what’s the deal with you and
Angel?”

Gavin sat up
.
“She drives me
crazy, she’s under my skin, I cannot tell you how bad I want her
.
”

“What are you going to do about it?”

“Don’t know
,
” Gavin shrugged
,
“she threw herself at me the other
night. She had fallen out with Quinn and was hammered by
the time I got to her
.
”

“And you didn’t take advantage because?”

“I very nearly did, I had her jeans off, her bra undone, hands and mouth
everywhere, I could easily have gone the whole way with her b
ut Dad called me downstairs to have a go about me not
cleaning the pool and by the time I got back she was asleep, I just tucked her
up in bed and slept next to her
.
”

“
You could have had some dream time fun
,
” Novak nudged him
but not meaning the words.

“Pe
rvert
,
” Gavin laughed, “
I’m not going there until she’s free from Quinn
.
Besides, she trusts me, I’m not going
to spoil that.
”

“Stupid girl
.
”

“Hey, you’re supposed to be on my side
,
” Gavin punched Novak on the arm.

“I am. You do know she hasn’t stopped
looking
at you since she sat down? Those dark Ray Bans aren’t fooling anyone
,
” Novak gestured in her direction
.
“Don’t get why she’s covered up though,
looks like she’s hiding a smoking body
.
”

Gavin turned to look at Angel, her bikini top was modest to say
the least coupled with a matching sarong high on her
waist. He smiled, “She has a tattoo that circles her hips and doesn’t want
anyone to know.”

“Surely Quinn knows?”

“I don’t know about that, he probably only has a fumble with the lights
off and she’s st
ill a virgin
.
”

Novak spat out the water he had just t
aken into his mouth
.
“NO!
?”

“Yes and she
said she
doesn’t want Quinn to be her first
.
”

“Well there’s an invite if ever I heard one
.
”

“Yeah
,
” Gavin agreed
.
“But it shouldn’t be me either
.
”

“Why the hell n
ot?”

“Look at the things we’ve done dude, she should find herself a nice guy
who’s going to treat her right.”

“From the way she can’t take her eyes off you, I’d say she thinks she’s
found him
,
” Novak advised
.
“You’ll treat her right Gav if you
really want
to
.
”

“I really want to
.
” Gavin
confirmed.

Chapter 8

Kiera meanwhile, was having fun escorting James around her wide and
varied group of friends. Compared to Novak and Gavin, James was shy
,
but away from the over confident pair
he came into his own, he wa
s charming and witty and
generally very pleasant to be with. They stopped beside two of the guys who
were Gavin’s potential new band mates and their hangers on. After the usual
pleasantries, Kiera steered James away and began
to
head in Angel’s direction w
hen she spotted two latte coloured beauties beckoning them
over, she made the introduction
.

“James this is Dominique and Gabrielle, they are our star gymnasts
,
” Kiera said
.
“Girls, this is James, he’s Gavin’s
friend, oh, Quinn’s gone, James, I just have to
have
a quick chat with Angel, look after him ladies
.” S
he took off before James could protest.

“Hi James
,
” Dominique
stepped forward and slipped her arm through his
,
“come and sit with us and tell us all
about yourself
.
”

Kiera joined Angel, keeping an eye
on Novak’s
movements while she told her best friend all the gossip about the new arrivals
.
“Isn’t Novak gorgeous?” she sighed as
Novak came to his feet and began to saunter in their direction.

He turned on his dazzling smile as he approached
.
“The delectable Kiera, do you fancy
coming for a wander?” he reached his hand out and pulled her to her feet.

“Ok
.
” Kiera
breathed.

“You must be Angel, I’m Luke N
ovak, Gavin’s
friend and confida
nt
.
”

Angel scrambled out of the awkward beach chair
.
“Wondere
d
when you would introduce yourself
,
” she smiled realising that her face was level with his well muscled
chest whereas she came to Gavin’s chin
.
“Nice to meet you Luke
.
”

“Novak,” he corrected
.
“You, young
lady, have my friend in turmoil; he doesn’t know wh
at
to do for the best so can I give you a gentle nudge in his direction while your
delightful boyfriend is busy with his toy
,
so that you two can at least try to
sort something out?”

“We do need to talk
,
” she agreed but
Novak caught her wary look out to se
a.

“I’ll keep an eye on Quinn and let Gavin know if he looks like he’s
returning to shore. Be gentle with him Angel, he’s having a rough time today
.
” Novak put his arm around Kiera’s
shoulder and led her away saying
,
“I’d like to
lay you on the white sands
of a desert island and
drink Champagne out of your navel
.
”

Gavin was laying on his back, eyes closed and headphones in when Angel
sat beside him and placed her hand on his washboard stomach
,
making him open his eyes.

He sat up and removed his headphones
.
“Touching
,
” he grinned
reaching for his shades.

“I don’t have the willpower not to
,
” she grinned, using his line from earlier.

Gavin chuckled. “T
aking a risk talking to me though aren’t
you?”

“Quinn’s busy with his
jet ski
,
he’ll be gone for ages.” She pa
used, taking a deep breath
.
“I’ve decided to tell him we’re done on
the way home
.
”

“You’re dumping him?”

“Yep, I’ve had enough of his attitude and constant pestering
,
so as far as I’m concerned we’re
finished
.
”

“Huh, I can’t deny that I’m pleased
.
”

“Doesn’
t mean I’m going to jump into your arms
,
” she warned.

“I know
,
but at least
we’ll be able to talk without recriminations
.
”

“Knowing Quinn, there will be plenty of recriminations
,
” she replied ruefully
.
“I’m going to get an ice cream, you
coming?” she asked
hopefully, in response to her
question Gavin came to his feet in one easy movement, “Novak is like a
protective mother hen, he told me to be gentle with you
,
” she told him as they walked up the
beach.

“He’s just looking out for me
.
”

“He also said you were
having a rough time, is
it because of me?”

“Not totally because of you but that is part of it
,
” he admitted.

“When are you going to open up Gavin?”

“What do you want to know?”

“Everything, starting
with the other reasons why you’
re having a rough time
.
”

“
Ah, that’s mainly because it’s my Mum’s
birthday today
.
”

“Shouldn’t you be spending the day with her?” Angel asked.

“I wish I could, she passed away
.
”

“Oh Gavin
,
” she gasped
.
“I’m so sorry
.
”
N
ow she felt horrible for asking.

“It’s ok, you didn’t know, I’m
trying to get
through it
,
” he felt her
hand on his back, a gesture of comfort but he couldn’t stop the tremor that
passed through him at her touch.

“That’s why you live with your Dad?”

“Yeah
,
” they had
reached the ice cream parlour
.
“Let’s sit here
for a b
it, talk some more.” He held out a chair for
her.

“Do you mind me asking what happened to your Mum, was she ill?” Angel
asked as she glanced at the menu, the pain in his eyes making it difficult for
her to look at him.

“No, it was a car accident. She’d tak
en our dog
to the vets
.
”
H
e smiled then
.
“Poor bloody dog was traumatised by the
amount of visits he paid to the vet. Mum had the hots for the guy,” he
explained
.
“He was a nice
guy, actually asked me if I minded him dating my Mum, everyone was happy with
it except the dog. Anyway, as she was pulling out of the
vet’s, the place is on a massive hill, an arctic lost its breaks and ploughed
into her car. She survived the crash but died three days later in hospital, the
dog was in a bad way so he had to be put
down
.
”

“That’s awful
.
D
id they arrest the lorry driver?”

“They did but it wasn’t his fault his brakes failed, he did all he could
to stop the lorry, he hasn’t driven since
.
”

“Were you with her?”

“I was
surfing with Novak when the accident
happened. Dad called me and sent a helicopter to pick me up; I was with her
when she died. It’s been ten months and I’m still trying to deal with it
.
”

“How’s your Dad coping with it?”

“He’s fine, they weren’t married a
nd hadn’t
been together for years, he was called about the accident because Mum had him
down as her next of kin, he drove up to Gloucester to be with her and once she
was gone, he sold the house, packed me up and moved me to Kingston.”

“Oh
.
”

“He only reall
y used to visit when I got into
trouble, something I’m very good at doing by the way
,
so he and I just used to argue all the
time, we didn’t get along well at all when I moved in but things seem to be
going well at the moment
.
”

“You poor thing
.
”

“I’ve told
you before, I don’t need sympathy
Angel, I sometimes need a little space to deal with things my own way
.
”

“That’s understandable. While you seem to be in a chatting mood, can I
ask again about your criminal record?”

“I’m very good with my fists
,
” he answe
red holding out his hands, she noticed the scars on his
knuckles
.
“I had an
explosive temper and it got me into a lot of fights, I put a few people in
hospital with fairly serious injuries and have spent quite a few nights in
Police cells. The last time wa
s just after Mum died,
I nearly killed a guy
.
Novak pulled me
off and I turned on him, he managed to subdue me, I still don’t remember how,
he made me hand myself in. I got away with it because of extenuating
circumstances and because Dad has a very good l
awyer
but I’m on my last strike. If I get caught fighting again I’ll go to prison and
even Dad’s money and influence won’t be able to help me.”

“Quinn was lucky you didn’t deck him then?”

“Very lucky. Are you afraid Angel?” he reached out and stroked her f
ace.

“No. I trust you
,
” she answered.

“I drove my Dad mad with my moods and violent outbursts. I trashed my
room four times before he finally put his foot down and put me in anger
management. When he worked out that I was telling the councillor everything
they wanted to hear and not dealing with my anger issues he
changed tact and sent me to a group house at weekends where I had to stay and
identify the flash points of my anger
.
” He said the last bit complete with two
fingers of each hand held up, denoting
quotes.

“I thought those places were court ordered. Sort of for the criminally
insane?” She laughed.