Chapter 7 #2
Me: Yes, but my brothers are leaving soon. They have to get back for training, which is good because it smells like balls in my gym. Only Harris Brothers train on Christmas Eve.
Sloan: LOL. That sounds weirdly adorable.
Me: It’s not. Was Sophia spoilt by Santa?
Sloan: Definitely. How about your niece?
Me: Rocky is going to need her own jet for all the presents she has to take home.
Sloan: I completely get that. Sophia gets two Christmases now, so she’s thrilled to get double the presents.
Me: One silver lining to having divorced parents I guess.
Sloan: I guess.
Me: Well, enjoy your time with her. Just wanted to wish you a happy Christmas.
Sloan: Thanks. Miss you. xx
Our conversation was light and casual, which is probably okay since she’s been hit with a lot of heavy from me and my family as of late.
But my brothers are right. The way Sloan behaved at the hospital was anything but light and casual.
And while I respect the time she has with her daughter, part of me wonders if she’d answer if I tried to ring her right now.
In our previous arrangement, she almost never answered. She’d usually text or call back hours later. It annoyed me, but now I know it was probably because she was waiting for Sophia to go to bed. But things are different now, right?
Steeling myself, I press SEND on her number and hold my breath as the line trills in my ear.
“Hello,” Sloan answers after two rings.
“Sloan, hiya,” I reply in surprise.
“Hey, Gareth,” she replies back casually like it’s completely normal for her to take a call from me. “How are you? How are you feeling?”
“I’m feeling well actually. Am I catching you at a good time?” I ask, propping my arm under my head.
“Yeah, you definitely are.” Sloan’s voice is soft. I swear I can hear the smile on her face. “I’m being ignored in my own home because Freya and Sophia are obsessed with Fortnite.”
I chuckle at the image. “I’m sure those two gaming together is quite a sight.”
“It really is,” she replies with a fondness to her tone. “It’s kind of annoying, though, because I’ve prepared a beautiful dinner and they won’t even stop to eat. How about your group? Calmer now that your brothers have left?”
“Definitely,” I reply with a laugh. “Before six o’clock this morning, Vi was already yelling at Tanner because he snuck into their room to wake Rocky.”
“You never wake a sleeping baby!” Sloan exclaims.
“He learned that the hard way I’m afraid.” I shake my head as I recall his wide, panicked eyes when Rocky began crying like none of us had ever heard before. He looked so pathetic.
“Was it nice having everyone at your house? Did it feel kind of weird there after…everything?”
Her tone tells me she’s referring to the attack, so my body instantly tenses.
“It was unnerving at first, but having everyone here helped me forget. The security company is coming tomorrow to see what we can do to make my place more secure. I refuse to let a couple of thugs scare me out of my own home.”
“That’s good, Gareth. Really good.”
The line goes quiet for a few seconds, and I exhale with relief over how easy this is for us.
Discussing the details of each other’s lives with no limits.
No boundaries. It’s nice. I’ve lived my life privately for so long, but having someone to talk to about menial things feels better than I ever imagined.
“So, can I talk to you about something? Or do you need to get back to Sophia?” I ask, steeling myself to man up and do what I intended to do with this call.
“I can talk,” she replies, and I hear the background noise soften as she walks away for some privacy.
“Okay. Well, I know you got hit hard with the Harris crazy over lunch at your house the other day, and I’m sorry you were stuck in the middle of that.
I’m also sure the stress of the hospital probably makes you want to stay as far away from my family as possible, so I understand if you want to say no.
But it sounds like Vi is actually going to go through with her wake-wedding idea.
She’s even picked a resort in the Cape Verde islands already. ”
“That’s awesome!” Sloan replies politely. “I think it will be really good for your family.”
“I want you there, Sloan,” I blurt out.
“What?”
“I want you to be my date at my sister’s wedding.” My chest feels tight. I’m more nervous now than I was the time I propositioned her to dominate me.
“Gareth—” She begins to argue but I cut her off.
“I’ve given this some thought, and this is the more I told you I want that night outside your house.
I know you have Sophia and that being a mum takes up a large part of your life, but you need time for yourself as well.
And in regard to us, nothing has changed for me. I still want more. A lot more.”
Silence descends on the other end of the line, and I can feel my heart sinking from her lack of response.
“Has something changed for you?” I ask, holding my breath high in my chest.
Sloan clears her throat and replies softly, “No.”
“Thank fuck,” I exhale, relief blanketing my entire body. “So, will you come with me?”
“When are you going?” she asks timidly, like she is actually considering it.
“In a few weeks. I don’t know if Sophia will be with her dad. Or perhaps you want to bring her along? I’m sure she’d love the beach, but I don’t know how she’d feel attending a wake. We could figure something out.”
Sloan laughs softly. “Sophia will be in school, Gareth.”
“Right,” I reply quickly and shake my head like a moron. “So then, if we can work out the timing so you don’t miss your time with her, will you come?”
“I need to think about it,” she replies slowly, then rushes out, “It sounds lovely. But there’s one thing I should know before I contemplate this further…Where are the Cape Verde islands?”
I laugh and we continue talking lightly for another thirty minutes. It feels good. Even though she hasn’t agreed to come along yet, she’s not saying no. That’s a step in the right direction.