Page 57 of Loving Wild

Sam grabs Zac by the hair and pulls him up to stand while I turn Lauren around in my arms to face me.

“Too much?” she screws up her nose, tilts her head to the side and asks.

“Absolutely fucking not. That just gave me the biggest hard-on, and I really want to fuck you right now.”

She smiles up at me and gives a quick raise of her brows. “It did?” she asks. “I wasn’t planning on saying any of that, it just sort of jumped out.”

“I could tell,” I nod as I speak.

“So,” she says with a shrug. “Perhaps you could show me where it is we’ll be sleeping tonight, and I can do something about that boner that’s sticking into my belly?”

Without a word, I grab her hand and pull us towards the bedroom Jess had told me earlier we’d been allocated.

Chapter 15

Lauren.

My first reactionto laying eyes on Jackie was anger. Not anger towards her, but anger towards Gabe. She’s beautiful. Stunning. Jet black hair, porcelain skin, and piercing green eyes. She’s obviously had a little work done, but still, she looks amazing. I just wish I’d been warned because I wasn’t prepared for that. I wanted her to be ugly, but she’s not, not on the outside at least, and it made me angry.

I think all that anger triggered my brain into lashing out at her the way I did. Not that I regret it. I said what I said, and I stand by it all, and right now, I’m too many drinks in to give a single fuck.

After taking our bag to the bedroom we’ll be sleeping in, using my mouth, then my hand, I helped Gabe cure his hard-on. We then made our way back to the party and mingled with the other guests and his family.

I’d spent most of the afternoon studying Gabe’s dad. Joe Wild was shorter than I expected. Considering all three of his sons were over six foot, he was probably only around five foot seven or eight, the same as my own dad. His hair was sandy blond, his eyes a striking blue, and for a man who I was guessing by the age of his kids, must be in his mid to late sixties, still very good looking.

He laughed a lot, but in the midst of all that laughter, I noticed that his eyes went to his kids, especially Gabe, and I wondered. Wondered if he had a clue, even a slight inclination of what his wife had done to his youngest son.

I’m not drunk, but I’m feeling mellow, a little maudlin even as I think about Gabe, how he came into my life, and how I came to be here. So much has changed. In just a short time, I’m living a whole other life, and standing here now, surrounded by relative strangers, I’m hit first with a wave of loneliness, then, out of nowhere, panic.

“You okay?” Jess asks from beside me. Gabe is chatting to someone on the other side of the pool, and I’ve noticed that any time he’s not near me, his brothers or their wives move in.

I’m not sure if this is to protect me from Jackie or Jackie from me, but it’s worked. There’ve been no further run-ins between us, in fact, she’s given me a wide birth all day.

Drawing in a few deep breaths, I take a sip of my drink and attempt to calm my now racing heart.

“Kinda,” I tell her with a smile. “Just taking it all in.”

“It’s a lot.We’rea lot to take when we all get together.”

“I’m used to that, I’m one of four myself. It gets pretty noisy when we have a family gathering,” I tell her with a shrug and a bigger smile as I think of my own family. I haven’t even told my mum what’s going on yet. She knows me and Jay have separated, but every time I’ve spoken to her about it, she’s been convinced it’s just a temporary thing that we’ll soon sort out.

We’re quiet for a while as we sip on our drinks and watch the kids, who, despite the cold, have all decided to get in the pool and spa.

“Do you think he has any idea?” I eventually turn my head towards Jess and ask.

Looking at me with brows drawn together, head shaking in confusion, I elaborate. “Joe, do you think he has any idea, about Gabe I mean?”

“No. Absolutely not,” is her emphatic answer. “When he—Gabe—confessed to us what was going on, we literally . . .” Jess pauses and looks around us to make sure no one nearby is listening.

Like Sam had said would happen, the other guests are starting to leave as darkness falls, and along with the family, only a few other people are remaining.

“Let’s go and sit by the fire,” Jess suggests.

I follow her over to where a dozen chairs are set out around the fire pit, all with big fluffy throws and blankets over them. After making ourselves comfortable, Jess checks again that no one can overhear us before talking.

“I’d been with Coop about two years when we noticed the change in Gabe. They were living in the old house on the peninsula back then, and I stayed over a lot, so I knew him pretty well. Sam has been with Zac since she was about seventeen, so she knew him even better, and weallnoticed the change in him.”

“He was fifteen, right?” I question.