Chapter 15 #3
I grin at him. “That’s my plan.” I pick him up and he wraps his legs around me as he laughs.
I carry him back to the flattened box and lay him down on his back where I kiss him some more.
Gabriel falls for my tricks and returns my kisses before he seems to remember what he’s doing and grabs Margarine, shoving him in front of my face so I end up kissing the disgruntled feline.
I grimace and pull back, disgusted that my one true love made me… kiss our pet.
“How dare you?” I ask as I grab Margarine from him and place him in the “Donate” box as well.
Lucy Fur is not pleased about having to share and whaps Margarine while he settles into the box, finding the mild beating worth it.
“They’re sitting together!” Gabriel whispers with hearts in his eyes like he totally missed his cat’s assault and has completely forgotten about me.
Instead, I have to sit here and watch my naked Gabriel do a kitty photo shoot.
And he complains that I distract him from packing yet sees nothing wrong with this?
I pull him onto my lap and reach around him to pick up an item. “Where would you like this to go?”
“Let’s donate that. I never even used it.”
I set it on top of Margarine, who doesn’t seem to care.
“You really think this killer Jesse told us about is still alive?” Gabriel asks, trying to glance back at me from his position.
“Something tells me he is.” I run my fingers through his hair and kiss his neck while he picks up something and puts it in a new “Keep” box since the other has been demolished. The item really looks like something that Lucy Fur will never play with, but we must keep it.
“Please be careful and tell me if you’re doing anything. The idea of you dealing with a serial killer by yourself makes me uneasy. Let me help where I can.”
“Of course,” I say.
Gabriel reaches back and cups my face. “I will not let anyone hurt you. The moment you drew me into your world, we were in this together.”
“Can’t I keep my two lives separate so I can keep you safer?”
“No. That’s not how this works,” he says quite firmly as he tosses some stuff into the trash bag. “You put yourself at risk every time you go out. I will put myself at risk to make sure you are as safe as you can be.”
“I don’t like this.”
“And I don’t like you out there killing. Sometimes we have to do things we don’t like for the ones we love.”
I squeeze him tight and he tips his head back to kiss me.
Gabriel sighs. “I didn’t mean to bring down the mood. I just worry.”
“You didn’t. I’m just thinking…”
“Scary day when you stop and think,” he teases.
“I’m thinking about how that dildo and lube ended up in here… almost like someone planted them here so we’d roll around instead of packing.”
He laughs. “Most definitely not. I just dumped all the drawers of that cabinet we moved to our house last weekend and it was in one of them. I forgot. I’m just glad my mom didn’t show up to help us.”
I hesitate. “Wait… wasn’t she supposed to come today?”
“No, that’s tomorrow. She said she’d swing by after work.”
“I wonder whose car lights those are, then,” I say as I flick my finger toward the door.
Gabriel’s head immediately snaps around before he leaps up and trips over a cat scratching post that’s never been touched—why touch it when she could sharpen her precious claws on the finest furniture in my house? “Oh fuck, I got my days mixed up. Clothes. Clothes. Where are my clothes?”
“Somewhere… around here.” I start patting around. “Here are your pants, but I don’t see your underwear. Where the hell did I whip them off to?”
“Pants are good enough,” he says, beginning to cram them on. “What are you waiting for? An invite to put yours on?”
“Do you remember when you flung the lube out of my hand and onto my pants?” I ask as I hold them up.
He yanks them out of my hands and runs to the bathroom.
I follow him and watch him scrub my slacks in the sink while trying to put his button-up back on.
“There!” he says as he proceeds to display a pair of slacks that very much look like I pissed my pants.
“Do you think she’ll notice?” I ask while I slip them on.
“Fuck…” Gabriel dashes back out, shirt buttons askew but he doesn’t seem to notice. The door opens and he looks around before snatching up the first thing he sees and holding it against my groin. “Just hold that there until it dries,” he demands.
I look down at Margarine.
Margarine looks up at me.
He’s strangely not too fond of being held like this.
“I brought more boxes,” Mabel says before witnessing my state of undress.
“My nipples get warm when I work,” I explain.
“I… see.”
“Gabriel wouldn’t let me wear my fishnet top I generally wear when I work out. He said if he had to be bored to death while packing, he wanted something to look at.”
Mabel just shrugs. “I mean… none of this surprises me.”
“Mother, I want you to know that none of this happened,” Gabriel says.
“If you were in charge, he’d be naked,” Mabel tells him.
Gabriel grimaces a bit, likely because we just were. “Funny, Mom.”
“I’d rather be naked than doing this,” I grumble.
“I bet,” she says as she tosses her coat down and then hugs Gabriel. While she’s doing so, Gabriel seems to take note of his dildo lying out and proud. He does some wicked back kick at it, sending it flying across the room and ricocheting off the walls.
“What was that?” Mabel asks.
Also curious what that noise was, Margarine tears free from my arms and goes galloping after it. It’s the first time any of us has seen the cat move and it’s all to draw attention to Gabriel’s toy.
“Hahahahaha. Nothing. I heard nothing. Liam wants a hug. And he didn’t piss himself. What actually happened is I spilled my drink on his shirt and pants. The shirt could come off but I didn’t have any spare pants for him.”
“Got it,” Mabel says, wrapping my naked torso up in a hug.
“I feel like this should be awkward,” I comment as Gabriel uses the distraction to chase after his dildo.
“It’s only awkward if you think about it too hard,” she assures me.
“I see,” I say before she draws away and I sit down to resume the torture.
“Mabel, come join us where we cannot help Gabriel. Instead, we must hold up each item that he will scrutinize before deciding where it should go. It is… may I say… thrilling. Go ahead. Grab that ball of trash… I mean… that exquisite item at your feet and see where it might go?”
“It goes in the trash,” Mabel says as Gabriel dives forward to keep it from falling inside the white bag of doom.
“That’s not… Lucille came home with this toy.”
Mabel and I lock eyes.
I may hate her hugs.
I may not understand her affection.
But we’ve found some common ground for the first time.
“Honey, I’m going to work in the kitchen,” Mabel says as she grabs a box and off she goes. I am astounded by this woman.
“Mom! No, wait, let’s all work together, okay?” Gabriel protests, rushing after her.
Once he’s out of sight, I begin sorting through things by putting almost everything in the “Keep” box, deciding that he can go through this at some point in his life that won’t be tonight.
“Mom, no, I need that!”
“It’s broken, Gabriel. Broken! I’m pretty sure you can afford a new one, and if you can’t, your millionaire boyfriend can.”
“Multi,” I correct, just so she knows her baby boy is well taken care of. “Gabriel, I don’t know what it is, but I will buy you ten of them.”
“You two are not helpful!” Gabriel calls back, like we’re the problem.
My phone beeps and I look down at it to see that Matthew and Jesse have finally decided to reply to a text I sent them after we left work. Do Jesse and Matthew not realize what blackmailing is? They should drop everything and answer the very second I message.
Jesse: If Gabriel asked you not to buy him a piece of property, a car, or a ring, why do you think a boat might be the answer?
Me: Jesse, why are you even included in this?
Jesse: You messaged me!
Me: I didn’t realize you were a part of this group chat or I wouldn’t have. Your ideas are the worst.
Matthew: You… think Jesse recommending a normal Christmas present is… the worst? He gave you a huge list of normal things earlier, including: an electric throw, iPad, watch, clothes, books, cat tree… like all of Jesse’s ideas were fantastic.
Me: You are also banned from this conversation.
Jesse: So you just want to talk to yourself?
Me: What is wrong with a car?
Matthew: I think he said his car is newer and he doesn’t need a different one. He seems to like his car.
Me: If I hand him a ring, it’s not like he’ll refuse it.
Jesse: “Here, my one true love, I have purchased you the very thing you didn’t ask for.”
Matthew: “Wow, how nice of you not to listen to me. What else are you not listening to me about?”
Me: This friend bullshit is the worst. I liked it better when you both feared me.
Jesse: The only thing I fear about you is when I have to work with you.
Matthew: At least you get breaks from him.
Me: I will break you both so that neither of you need to come to work tomorrow.
Jesse: I have an idea… and you’re not going to love it, but Gabriel will. How much are you willing to suffer… and bleed?
Me: I would drain every ounce of blood from my body to make Gabriel happy.
Matthew: You’ve got some fucking problems, and I say that in the best way possible.
Me: Fuck off, Matthew, and Jesse, if this isn’t the best idea I’ve ever heard, I will blackmail Michaels into replacing you.