“You sure your father isn’t going to skin me alive,” Gabe whispers against the back of my neck as I strain the pasta into the sink.
I smile, leaning into his touch.
“He took it pretty well.” I turn my face upward to lay a light kiss to his jaw before turning around. “I don’t see any skinning in your future,” I tease.
“Thank fuck.” He chuckles, dropping his chin to my shoulder as his arm wraps around my waist, pulling my backside flush with his front.
Truth be told, I’m pretty freaked out by how well my father is taking all of this. First Gabe’s return, then us reconnecting, now finding out that I plan to take his only grandchild with me to L.A. so that we can be with Gabe; hell, I’m surprised he’s still speaking to me at this point.
He didn’t react the way I thought he would to the news. I expected him to be angry, to tell me what a huge mistake I’m making. Instead, he sat me down and told me a story, one I hadn’t heard before.
It was about a woman he had known before he met my mom. He told me how he loved her and how he lost her. How he ruined what they had because he was too young and stupid to really know any better. He said he tried to win her back, though he never told me specifically what he did, only that she never forgave him.
He told me that in a lot of ways, Gabe reminded him of himself when he was younger. He said that he knows what it’s like to make mistakes and to never get the chance to prove you’ll never make them again. It’s why he hasn’t discouraged me from giving Gabe a chance to know me again, a chance to know our son.
He opened himself up to me in a way I don’t think he ever has before, and for the first time in my life I wasn’t seeing my father, I was seeing a man. One who has loved and lost and somehow overcame it all.
Gabe trails feather-light kisses along the side of my neck, pulling me back to the present.
“Of course, if he walks in here and sees you touching his daughter like this then all bets are off.” I let out a slow breath as his hand travels past my stomach, teasing me.
“This might be worth it.” He nibbles on my earlobe causing goose bumps to spread all the way down my back.
“Not happening.” I laugh, stopping his hand before it can reach its destination. “I happen to like your skin.” I turn my face inward once more to see he’s wearing a playful grin.
“Yeah, you do.” He chuckles.
“Are you always this dirty?” I tease, turning in his arms to face him before wrapping my hands around the back of his neck.
“Only when I’m around you.” He leans in for a brief kiss. “I just can’t help myself, you drive me crazy.” He speaks against my lips before pulling back just enough to meet my gaze.
“In the best possible way, though?” I question playfully.
“In the best possible way,” he confirms, taking my mouth more passionately this time, his tongue sweeping past my lips.
I moan into his mouth, forgetting for a moment that we are standing in the middle of my father’s kitchen until I hear a throat clear from somewhere inside the room and instantly snap back to reality.
Pulling away from Gabe, I look to the right to see Rylee standing in the doorway, her eyes cast downward until she realizes the kiss has ended. She curls her lip and shakes her head the moment she meets my gaze.
“Um—get a room.” Her words are clipped but the smile on her face shows she’s only joking.
“Last time I checked, this is a room,” Gabe teases, pulling my sister’s attention in his direction.
Okay—so not exactly how I saw their first meeting going.
“So, this is the man who knocked my sister up and then disappeared.” She narrows her gaze at him, her words teasing but laced with hints of truth. “You really do have a death wish, don’t you?” She cocks a brow at him. “You’re lucky my dad hasn’t killed you yet, you might not want to push your luck.” She shakes her head with a smile, crossing the room toward us. “I’m Rylee.” She stops directly in front of Gabe, her hand extended.
“It’s nice to finally meet you, Rylee.” He gives her his best smile, the melt your panties one, and I can tell that even she’s not immune to his charm.
For a brief moment, I wonder if she’s still dating that professor. Considering I haven’t really spoken to her since the day she practically stormed out of my house, I have no idea what’s currently going on with her. Not that that’s anything new.
Regardless, she seems back to her normal self. I could sense that the moment she fired at Gabe in a way that only my sister can.
“You’re right.” She turns to me, hand still in Gabe’s. “He’s good,” she says, causing laughter to erupt from my throat.
Flipping her eyes back to Gabe, she gives him a knowing look and then steps in closer.
“In your world, you’re a hot rock star who is used to women falling at your feet. In my world, you’re the man who gets his balls removed if he hurts my sister again. We clear?” She tightens her grip before finally releasing his hand.
“And I thought your dad was scary,” Gabe jokes, his arm tucking me into his side. “You have my word, Rylee.” His gaze doesn’t leave my sister’s. “I won’t hurt her or my son.” His tone is light, but he speaks the words with an intensity that satisfies whatever it is that my sister is looking for.
“Then you’re good with me.” Her normal flirty demeanor falls back into place, and she winks before practically skipping out of the kitchen.
“What the hell was that?” Gabe lets out a slow breath, hitting me with a questioning look.
“She’s a handful, that one.” I laugh, gesturing toward the door.
“That’s one way to put it.” He laughs. “Seriously, though, I think it’s sweet.”
“What is?” I cock my brow at him.
“That she has your back like that.” He reaches out and tucks a hair that’s fallen loose from my ponytail behind my ear, his hand lingering just long enough that the energy zings between us.
I’m suddenly wishing I had not planned this little going away dinner so that I could spend the evening doing other things. Gabe chuckles, clearly sensing where my mind has gone.
“Later.” He winks, dropping a kiss to my forehead before pulling away and turning back toward the food that I’ve left neglected for the last few minutes. “First, you might want to get that sauce off the burner.”
I follow his gaze, cursing when I realize my homemade tomato sauce is boiling and popping all over, making one hell of a mess on my father’s very expensive gas stove.
****
“Well, that was interesting.” Gabe flops down on my bed, pulling me down on top of him.
“You can say that again.” I let out a small giggle, resting my head against his chest. His fingers find the end of my ponytail and he gently plays with my hair, falling silent for a long moment beneath me.
He’s right, this evening has been more than a little interesting. It all started with Rylee threatening to remove his balls in the kitchen and things just kept going from there.
Amber joined us for dinner, surprising us all when she showed up with Aiden. And of course, that didn’t deter her from giving Gabe a similar warning as Rylee did. By the end of dinner, I think Gabe’s balls were probably a bit scared for their well-being.
“So…” I let the word hang, propping my chin on Gabe’s chest so I can see his face.
“So, what?” he questions, tucking his hands behind his head so he’s able to meet my gaze.
“You’re really not going to tell me what my father said to you?” I question.
It’s bad enough that before Gabe and I could escape my father’s house with Landen, my dad had asked to speak to him. It’s even worse that neither of them will tell me what was discussed.
“Nope.” He gives me a cocky smirk. “It’s between the men, baby.” He winks, pulling an exhausted sigh and eye roll from me.
“Seriously?” I huff, pushing up until I’m sitting in his lap, straddling his waist. Crossing my arms in front of my chest, I glare down at him. “Just tell me.”
“No,” He states without hesitation.
“I don’t understand why you won’t tell me what you talked about,” I whine, realizing I sound an awful lot like Rylee right now.
Gabe laughs at my behavior, lifting his hips and twisting so that I have no choice but to fall to the side. His body closes over mine within seconds of my back hitting the mattress.
“Your dad wanted to speak to me, man to man.” His face hovers just inches above mine. “He needed some reassurances, and I gave them to him. That’s all you need to know.” He drops a sweet kiss to the tip of my nose.
“What kind of reassurances?”
“Nope.” He shakes his head with a smile. “I gave you all you’re getting.”
“I don’t think I like your answer,” I tease, clearly seeing I’m not going to get anything else out of him and honestly, I’m okay with that.
As curious as I am to know what he and my father discussed when they disappeared inside the study for a good twenty minutes, I also respect the hell out of him for respecting my father enough to keep it between them. I’m sure my father asked him to, and it means a lot that he’s showing he can be trusted.
“Well, how about I make it up to you then?” He leans forward, trailing kisses across my jaw before finally finding my lips.
“What do you have in mind?” I playfully question.
“I can think of a few things.” He smiles against my mouth before deepening the kiss.
****
“Tell me about L.A.”
I’m lying in Gabe’s arms, where I’ve happily been all night, and even though I know Landen will be up in roughly three hours, the last thing I want to do right now is sleep.
“What do you want to know?” Gabe’s chest vibrates against my ear as he speaks.
“What’s it like? What are the people like? What is there to do? Do you like living there?” I ramble off a few things.
“Honestly, I don’t know if I like living there,” he answers my last question first. “I don’t know that I’ve spent enough time there to form any real conclusion on the matter.
“What do you mean?”
“We all relocated there in the middle of our tour. We had a few weeks off before the second leg of the tour kicked off, and it just seemed like the right time to do it. The label didn’t force it, but they strongly recommended it. My mom had moved to be closer to my sister, and all the guys were planning to move to L.A. so I just went with it. I didn’t see anything holding me here.” He looks down at me and even though I don’t look up to meet his gaze, I can feel the apology behind it.
“I decided to lease, not really knowing how much I would like L.A. and not wanting to be trapped there for any length of time,” he continues. “I don’t think I’ve stayed there more than a week straight.”
“Kind of seems like a waste of money,” I observe.
“Yeah.” He chuckles lightly. “I guess.”
“Can I ask you something?” I prop up on my elbow to look at him, my eyes scanning his muscular stomach and chest before finally finding his face.
“Anything.” He tilts his head downward to meet my gaze.
“Have you ever lived with anyone before? Besides your family and the band, I mean,” I quickly add.
“Are you asking me if I’ve ever lived with a woman before?” His mouth pulls up in a half smile.
“Don’t look at me like that.” I roll, collapsing onto my back next to him, suddenly feeling stupid for even asking.
“You’re so cute.” I can’t see his face, but I can hear the smile in his words as he rolls toward me.
Seconds later I feel his hand on the side of my face, gently guiding my gaze back to his. I try to speak but the moment our eyes meet, I lose my words. He looks at me so adoringly that it takes everything in me not to pronounce my love for him right here on the spot.
Do I love him? Has he finally broken down the last of my walls? Or am I simply losing myself in the intensity of his stare, my brain clouded by lack of sleep?
Something passes between us, something unspoken that I can’t quite pinpoint. He blinks. I blink. And just like that, the moment’s gone.
Rolling to my side, I mirror his position, my eyes not leaving his as I do. The second I’m settled, his arm snakes around my back and pulls me closer. Pushing my hair over my shoulder and away from my neck, he gently cups my face.
“I can’t give you many firsts, and I’m sorry for that.” His words are low as his arm tightens around me. “But this is one I can.” He grins, causing my heart to nearly double in speed.
My god, this man can send me spiraling out of control with just one look. I still haven’t figured out how to get a handle on myself while in his presence. He has me splitting in so many different directions all at once.
“So that’s a no?” I finally manage to speak past the knot that has formed in my throat.
“That’s a no.” He grins wider. “I’ve never lived with a woman before. I’ve never wanted to either.”
“What if you hate living with me?” I voice a very real concern of mine. “What if we get there and you realize it’s not what you expected, and you regret your decision?”
While I’m clear on how I feel for Gabe and what I want from all of this, I’m still not a hundred percent on where he really stands. A part of me still fears that he’s only in this for Landen. And while the thought makes my heart swell for my son, I can’t ignore the dull ache it leaves behind for me.
“I think you underestimate my feelings for you, Raelyn Abbott.” His smile doesn’t fade as the pad of his thumb slides slowly across my lower lip. “I’m not sure I can make this any clearer than I already have. I want to be with you. I want this. A thousand times over. You’re it for me. I think it’s about time you stop trying to convince yourself otherwise.”
Several beats of silence pass between us as his words wash over me, drowning my heart in their heaviness. Him saying what I’ve waited, what feels like a lifetime, to hear.
Maybe he’s right…
“Well, when you say it like that.” I finally offer him a smile which he returns with one of his own.
“Come here.” He pulls me closer, his lips closing on mine on in a kiss that silences the doubt that somehow keeps finding its way in.
I need to stop believing there’s no way this can be true and start embracing that it is. If I let fear control me and I never take this chance, I’ll never forgive myself. Sometimes I feel like I need to pinch my arm in order to convince myself this is real.
This really is happening.
After all this time we’re finally going to be a family.