Gabriel's Salvation: small town, misunderstood MMC, overcoming trauma, first love romance

41. Chapter Forty One

“Ithought you weren”t drinking today?” Nate says, in a questioning, almost condescending way.

Fuck sake, get off my case will ya. “What?” I say as I retrieve my beer and close the fridge door.

Nate”s eyes point to the beer in my hand before he shakes his head.

“Oh, fuck off Nate, it’s one goddamn beer.” I crack it open.

“I know, but you said…” Nate whines, before I cut him off.

“What I said was that I don”t drink when I”m driving RILEY around. I said nothing at all about giving up drinking when she”s not with me, did I?”

“That”s true,” Nate replies with a shrug.

“Plus, I”ve spent the whole goddamn day on my very best behavior. I didn”t lose my shit when your little princess demanded we stop for ice cream. And I didn’t lose my shit when you both refused to come on that huge ride with me. And I didn’t even complain about the fact I had to listen to her fucking terrible singing… I mean come on, cats being strangled don’t sound as bad as she did, but I didn’t fucking say a word. So the least you can do in return is shut the fuck up and let me enjoy a goddamn beer in my own fucking house!” I snap back at my brother.

A guilty look crosses Nate”s face. “I guess so,” he mumbles. “Sorry. Thanks again for today.”

“It”s fine,” I huff as I take a swig of my beer. Damn, that tastes good! I follow it up with another as I make my way outside, closely followed by Nate.

I sit myself down in my usual spot and Nate sits in his. I try to enjoy a moment of peace since my ears are still ringing from all the noise and chatter today, but I can”t enjoy it because I can feel Nate”s eyes boring into the side of my head. Surely he”s not still sulking over one beer?

I look over at him, but he averts his eyes and looks away. But seconds later, I feel his eyes on me again. “What?” I snap as I whip my head back to look at him.

“No, nothing,” Nate mumbles before looking down at his feet.

“Good,” I reply as I stand up ready to grab another beer.

I pull two beers from the fridge this time, if for no other reason than sheer laziness and the fact I don”t wanna spend my night walking back and forth from the kitchen to the backyard.

I sit back down, placing one beer on the grass while I enjoy the other. I hear Nate shuffling in his seat, seeming uneasy. “Seriously Nate, what the fuck is it?”

“Well, I wanted to talk to you about something…So I”ve been thinking…” Fuck! Let”s talk and I”ve been thinking, two of my least favorite phrases.

I take a large swig of my beer, hoping to prepare myself for whatever he”s about to say next. Yet nothing could have prepared me for his next sentence.

“I”m going to ask Bella to marry me!”

I spit my beer out in shock, spraying it all over the two of us. “What?” I splutter.

“What did you say?” I cough out.

“I wanna ask Bella to marry me,” Nate replies matter of factly.

Why the fuck would he want to marry her? I know he”s stupidly obsessed with her, always has been, but why would he want to commit to marriage.

My mind whips through all the unanswered questions. Why the fuck would he settle down and marry his first girlfriend? Heck, she”s the only person he’s ever even fucked. Thousands of girls who would happily spread their legs for him, yet he’s gonna marry the first girl? Imagine being stuck with the same pussy for life. My mind shudders at the thought.

“Well? Aren”t you going to say anything?” Nate asks, looking a mixture of sad and annoyed.

“Why?” I ask, unsure what else to say.

“Really Gabe? Why? That”s all you have to say?” Nate huffs.

“Well, yeah,” I shrug. “Wait…” I draw out as it finally dawns on me, “...is she pregnant?”

“What?” Nate says, his face morphing into shock and confusion. “What makes you think she”s pregnant? Did Riley say something? Did SHE say something?”

Nate reaches out and takes the beer from my hand, taking a drink, before handing it back to me. “Why do you think she”s pregnant?” he asks again.

“I dunno, I just couldn”t think of any other reason why you”d marry a girl.” So if she”s not pregnant, which she clearly isn”t from Nate”s shocked response, why the fuck else would he marry her?

“You almost fucking killed me,” Nate laughs, as he takes deep breaths. “I wanna marry her because I love her, you idiot. I love her more than anyone else in the world and I want to spend my whole life with her.”

The shit-eating smile on his face as he says that takes me by surprise. How is he so calm? “Fucking idiot,” he mutters under his breath, shaking his head as if I’m the stupid one for not knowing the answer.

“Oh,” I reply. Because, what else am I supposed to fucking say?

“Do you have a ring and shit? I hear they”re super expensive.”

“No, to be honest, I haven”t thought that far ahead yet, but I am starting to save up. I wanna make sure I get her the perfect ring.” I look over at Nate and see that same, all too familiar, shit eating grin of his again. Seriously, how is he not freaking out? I am and it”s not even me proposing.

“Well, if you need to borrow any money, let me know, I guess.”

“You’d help me? You”re not going to try and talk me out of it? Say something nasty or sarcastic in response?” he asks, sounding kind of dubious.

“I”m not saying I understand, because I”d rather pour paint in my eyes, than spend my life with little Miss Perfect. And I think marriage is a complete mistake in general, but I”m not gonna tell you you can”t. You”re your own man. Plus I”m hardly the person to judge anyone else”s life choices, am I?” I reply as I take another swig of my beer and light my smoke.

“That means a lot bro,” and I hear the sincerity in his words.

“I gotta help my baby brother right? Can’t have him getting his heart broken because he proposed with a goddamn Dollar Tree ring, can I?” I laugh, trying to distract from all the sappiness of this conversation.

“Thanks, Gabe,” Nate says as he wipes a goddamn tear from his eyes. One day I”m taking that kid to the hospital just to make sure he does, in fact, have a dick. No normal man should be as emotional as he is.

“You ain”t gonna do it yet though, right?” I ask, holding my breath.

“I wanna speak to her grandparents first and get their permission, of course.”

“Wait, ain”t it supposed to be the girl”s dad you ask?” I”m sure that”s how it works in the movies, not that I”ve ever paid much attention.

“Well yeah, technically, but her parents are idiots who treat her like crap. They break her heart constantly so they don”t deserve a say in her happiness. No, it”s her grandparents’ approval I really need. Without that Bella would never feel comfortable marrying me. So it”s her grandparents I need to impress… I just hope they think I”m good enough for her.” Nate voices out loud and I can hear the self doubt evident in his tone.

“They’d be fucking crazy not to love you. If they don’t think you are good enough, that’s on them, not you. No one would or could love Isabella as much as you do. Plus if they don’t give their permission, they”re old; they probably already have one foot in the grave, and I”m more than happy to give them an extra shove if you need me to,” I add, only half joking.

“Gabe!” Nate snaps, while trying not to laugh. “That”s not even a little funny. You touch her grandparents and I”ll kill you,” he adds with a forced frown.

“I”m just saying… you need help burying a body, I”ve got a shovel ready.”

“You”re such a dickhead,” Nate responds, trying not to laugh. “You can’t tell Riley though, or anyone else. This has gotta be our secret.” Nate says while pointing a finger at me. Damn, he really loves this girl.

“Don”t worry, I”m a master secret keeper,” I joke, as I pretend to cross my heart. “I won”t tell a single soul what happens behind these four walls.” As soon as the words leave my lips I regret them.

Nate”s face morphs from playful to sad in a microsecond, as like me, his mind instantly reminds him of all the many secrets these same walls held for us both growing up.

“I didn”t mean…” I start, but the damage is already done.

“I know,” Nate replies with a fake smile. “I think I’m gonna hit the hay anyway. I”ve gotta be up early in the morning.”

He stands up and walks away, leaving me kicking myself, for yet again letting my stupid mouth spoil a moment where I was actually feeling close to my brother once again.

Why the fuck am I such a screw up? Even when I”m trying to be nice, or heartfelt or genuine, I”m still a thoughtless dick.

Why am I so shit with words? It”s like no matter what I try to do or say, I screw it up. I bet if it was Tucker he was speaking to, he would have known the perfect thing to say in return.

Picking up my empty beer bottle I throw it at the nearest tree, not caring as I hear it smash.