Page 25 of Loving Wild

“Pull my hair like that and I might have to fuck you again,” he says with a cocky smirk and a quick raise of his brows.

“Fine, let’s go shower.”

“What?”

“Let’s go shower,” I repeat as I shuffle off the table and slide to the floor.

“That’s it? You’re just gonna leave me hanging?” he asks as I walk towards the bedroom.

“That’s it. You gave me the option of getting to the point or showering, I’m choosing to shower.” I continue to walk as I talk, not bothering to look back.

We shower in contemplative silence. Me, considering when I might tell Gabe how I feel about him, Gabe, probably plotting his revenge and sulking because I left him hanging.

After our very quick shower, we dress, eat a sandwich, and then finish off Ava’s room.

* * *

Gabe has barely saida word to me all afternoon, and I’m standing at the cooktop frying bacon to go on top of our loaded jacket potatoes internally debating how I approach this.

I don’t want to be forced into admitting my feelings for him just because he’s throwing a tantrum. Gabe’s an uncomplicated bloke most of the time, but one thing I’ve noticed about him is that he doesn’t take rejection well. Not that I’ve rejected him, I just haven’t said out loud the words he’s waiting to hear.

“You want wine?” he asks without looking at me.

I pause moving the bacon around the pan and look towards where he has his head in the fridge. Eventually, he straightens and turns towards me.

“Wine?” he partly repeats his question.

I shake my head. I still have the dull ache in my lower belly, and when I went to the bathroom earlier, I noticed a few spots of blood when I wiped.

I don’t want to give Gabe anything else to worry about, so don’t mention the painkillers I’ve taken.

“Just water please,” I tell him.

Holding onto the open fridge door, his eyes do their usual dance up my body and over my face.

“You okay?”

“Because I want water?”

“No, you look a bit pale.”

Guilt stabs its pointy little pitchfork at my conscience, and I feel bad for makinghimfeel bad. Turning off the heat, I wipe my hands on a tea towel and move towards him. Gabe closes the fridge and stands in front of it watching me. I don’t hold back or hesitate when I reach him, wrapping my arms up and around his neck, I take a handful of his hair and tilt his face down towards mine.

“I’m just tired,” I tell him. “Neither of us has been sleeping great, and we’ve both had a busy day. I’m gonna eat this and then go to bed, but thank you for noticing, thank you for caring, thank you for asking.”

I get a slow blink and a small sigh – I’m unsure if it’s of resignation or indignation – in response, he follows it up with kisses to each of my cheeks and my nose. Wrapping his arms across my back, he pulls me in and rests his chin on top of my head.

“It’s what you do. When you love someone, you notice, you care, you ask.”

Pushing away, I take a step back and he catches my eye roll. “Really?” I question. “We’re going back to this? Are you saying if I don’t . . .?”

“I’m joking. It was a joke,” he interrupts, pulling me back into him. “Webothknow you love me, you’re just being stubborn, Little Bird, but we both know you’ll slip up and say it soon. I can wait.”

“Jesus, you really are something else, you know that?”

“I’ve previously been told I’m pretty special, so yeah, I am aware.”

His arms are banded tightly across my back, not allowing me to step back and show him another eye roll.