3. Gabriel
GAbrIEL
“I saw that,” said Jason.
“What?” asked Gabriel.
“The wince when you sat down. Was that from Saturday night?”
“I’m not having this conversation with my boss on a Monday morning.”
“Fair enough. We’ll do your one-to-one today over lunch.”
Gabriel snorted, but there was no point in arguing with Jason. You’d never win.
“What’s funny?” asked Dexter, walking into the meeting room.
It was their Monday morning leadership meeting.
Monday was the HR team’s anchor day, in that it was the one day of the week the entire team needed to be in the office.
The other two required in-office days were your choice.
There were five hundred people based out of the London office, and only three hundred desks.
The middle days of the week were the most popular with underwriters, who needed to meet their brokers, so Monday was always a good choice.
Nobody wanted to come in on a Friday, though Gabriel did occasionally, as he often had to facilitate leadership team days, and that was the only day when they were all free.
“The Three Queerketeers are having lunch together,” said Jason.
“I thought it was my one-to-one?”
“Change of plan. Emergency team meeting.”
“So the others will join us?” asked Gabriel, referring to the three other people on their HR leadership team who hadn’t arrived yet.
“This is just for the Queerketeers,” said Jason.
“Ah, great inclusive role-modelling from our chief people officer,” Gabriel deadpanned.
Jason smiled, but in a way that was giving cartoon villain vibes, which meant an intrusive thought was in his head. That was never a good thing, unless you were a spectator. Then it could be hilarious.
“Lunch sounds great,” he blurted.
Dexter and Jason both laughed, leaving Gabriel to hope some emergency would come up which meant the lunch was cancelled.
The lunch was not cancelled, and after his replay of Wayne’s jackhammering, they ordered their food and were then on to his least favourite subject: his brother-in-law to be.
He’d felt shitty about cancelling on Sunday lunch yesterday, but after three terrible dates in a row, seeing his sister all mushy over the perfect guy was not how he wanted to spend his day.
“I can’t believe you’re going on his stag do,” said Dexter.
“What am I supposed to say when my mum puts on that voice?” He winced. “Sorry, I didn’t think.”
They’d both had very different relationships with their mothers. Even though he complained about his own sometimes, he knew how lucky he was.
“It’s fine,” said Jason. “We got what you meant.”
Dexter nodded his agreement.
“I can’t change my mind now, can I? Though I got a flexible ticket on my flight in case something urgent came up.”
“You mean you hope something urgent comes up,” said Dexter.
“If you don’t want to go, just tell him,” said Jason.
“Yeah, okay,” Gabriel snorted. “We all know how that conversation would go.”
He imagined those gorgeous blue eyes looking at him, all sad, and he’d cave immediately.
God, he was pathetic. He was in his mid-thirties, why couldn’t he say no to a hot guy?
Gabriel had no problem saying it to senior leaders who earned three or four times what he did, but with Bobby . . . impossible.
“You can do it now,” said Jason.
“What?”
“He’s heading over to our table.”
Gabriel looked up, and there was Bobby walking straight towards him. He’d seen the man in a suit a few times, but he must have forgotten how hot he was dressed like this. If Bobby asked Gabriel to lie on the table and throw his legs over his head in front of everyone right now, he’d do it.
“You might want to put your tongue back in your mouth,” whispered Dexter.
“Get fucked,” he whispered.
“Gabriel, I was hoping you’d be here,” he said with his big, beautiful smile.
He opened his arms, and Gabriel had no choice but to get up and hug the man, trying not to let their bodies touch too much. He could see Jason and Dexter were both fanning themselves and being dicks. The glare he shot them did nothing to take the shit-eating grins off their faces.
“Is everything okay?” he asked, thinking the urgency might have something to do with Alex.
“Can I talk to you in private?”
“We’ll wait by the bar,” said Jason unhelpfully.
All Gabriel could do was watch his friends abandon him to have an awkward conversation with the man who would be his brother-in-law in a few weeks.
They took their seats at the table, sitting opposite each other.
Their knees touched, and Gabriel’s whole body thrummed with electricity at the contact.
He was acting like a teenager with raging hormones.
“I’d like to start by apologising, Gabriel.”
“For what?”
“I don’t know what I did to upset you, but it’s something, because it feels like you’ve been trying to avoid me for the last three months.”
Gabriel hadn’t been trying to avoid Bobby, he’d been deliberately avoiding him.
Unfortunately, Bobby had picked up on it, which wasn’t surprising.
The guy might look like a jock, but he was smart and intuitive, and no doubt a brilliant lawyer.
He hoped Bobby hadn’t discussed it with his sister, but then he would have heard something if he had.
Alex was hot-headed and would have had a go at him for ghosting her fiancé.
“Is it about the stag do?” asked Bobby.
“What do you mean?”
Gabriel might work in learning and development, but he was also an accredited coach. When he wasn’t sure of the best thing to say, he’d ask open questions. It often worked in helping fill any gaps in his knowledge and turn down the heat on emotions if needed.
“I feel like it’s around the time you agreed to come that you started keeping your distance. I know Alex and your mum pressured you into coming. I wouldn’t want you to be uncomfortable. Is that it?”
He looked so earnest. The concern was obvious in his beautiful eyes.
He imagined what those eyes would look like as Gabriel was underneath him, getting pounded.
His dick twitched, reminding him he was in a public place, and his brain was being very inappropriate.
Bobby had given him an opening. The stag do was not the reason he’d kept his distance, but it was something he didn’t want to subject himself to.
“I don’t feel comfortable going, to be honest. I just don’t think I’d fit in with your friends.”
Bobby’s expression changed to one of sadness, and Gabriel felt terrible for putting that look on his face.
“If your brothers were there, it might feel different, but I –”
“Wait a minute. Do you think my friends will make you feel unwelcome because you’re gay? That won’t happen, Gabriel. If it does, they’ll have to deal with me.”
His eyes flashed with anger, and Gabriel felt his cock thickening. That had to be one of the hottest things he’d ever heard a guy say outside the bedroom.
“I don’t want you worrying about me when you should be enjoying yourself with your mates.”
“But you’re family, Gabriel, and family comes first.”
He felt like a complete arsehole. Bobby had done everything to welcome Gabriel into his life, and what had he done? He felt like a first-class creep, and he wasn’t sure where to take this conversation.
“Can you give me a week before you make a final decision?” asked Bobby.
“Why? You’re not going to do something extra, are you?”
Bobby laughed. “Nothing like that. I just want to make sure you feel comfortable, but if you still don’t want to come, I’ll take the heat from Alex and your mum.”
Why did the guy have to be so caring as well? He couldn’t just be a good-looking arsehole? And why couldn’t a man like this be interested in him, instead of all the wankers he seemed to meet?
“Okay, a week it is,” said Gabriel, knowing he wouldn’t be agreeing to anything, especially as he’d been given an out.
Bobby smiled, and it lit up his handsome face.
How had his sister found a guy like this, and where was the gay version?
His brothers looked nothing like him. They were both dark-haired, and Martin looked like he would grade your sexual performance, while Ryan’s scowl implied he would rip your head off if you went anywhere near him.
Then there was Bobby, who was like a golden retriever.
“Shall we meet here after work on Monday?” asked Bobby.
“Let me check my diary,” said Gabriel, getting his phone out. “I have a couple of late calls. I can be here for just after six thirty.”
“Great. I’ll book us a table and see you then. Sorry for interrupting your lunch.”
Then, as if he’d choreographed it, the lunch was delivered, so Bobby said goodbye and left.
Jason and Dexter couldn’t get back to the table quickly enough.
Needing a moment to process the conversation that had just happened, Gabriel bit into his club sandwich, which was delicious but needed more mayonnaise.
He added that from the pot on the table, and then some ketchup to his skinny fries, feeling the gazes of his friends boring into him as he avoided eye contact.
A deep sigh of frustration from Jason, who had the patience of a puppy, made Gabriel chuckle.
His plate was pulled away from him, forcing him to look up.
Dexter had been the one to move his food.
“Speak, because his leg bouncing is going to cause an earthquake,” he said, using his head to signal towards Jason.
Gabriel gave them a brief rundown of the conversation he’d had with Bobby, pulling his plate back and munching his fries at certain moments to leave dramatic pauses.
Mainly to fuck with Jason, given that coming here for lunch had been his idea.
He finished by telling them about the plan to meet Bobby here again in a week.
“Do you think he’s going to invite a load of gay guys to join you?” asked Dexter.
“No, he’ll probably get him a date or something,” said Jason.
Gabriel groaned. “Hopefully not.”
“It might be awkward if he asks what your type is, and as you describe it he’ll be thinking, hmmm, that sounds familiar.”
Gabriel glared at Jason, who cackled.
Bitch!