10. I’m Still Me
Chapter ten
I’m Still Me
I t isn’t lost on me that there are no solar flares when Gabe grabs me this time; maybe I imagined it. He follows me and when I reach for the handle, he places his hand on the door to prevent me from leaving.
“I’m pretty sure this is called kidnapping.” I crane my neck to look at him.
“Well, you keep running away when I’m trying to talk. It’s rude if you ask me.” He hasn’t removed his hand, even though I’m pulling down on the handle.
“I didn’t. And this is you trying to talk?” I yank the door open and he pushes it close.
“ You’re the one who came to me .” Again, with the stupidly handsome smirk .
“An obvious mistake I’m trying to remedy.” We are still struggling to control the door. “Do you kidnap women often?” I glare at him.
“Nah. I actually have to force them to leave.” He chuckles and the sound of his laughter unlocks the most familiar feeling. I ignore it, more focused on my leaving than anything else.
“And yet. Here I am, trying to leave. And here you are, not letting me go.” The smile slides from his face and he finally removes his hand.
“There you go.” He reaches for the handle, ignoring the fact that I am still holding it.
When our hands touch, solar flares ripple out from our connecting flesh. A second later, Gabe quickly pulls his hand away and I’m sure he sees them too.
“Did you—”
“Static shock,” he announces, at the same time I start asking my question, cutting me off. He’s shaking his hand and not paying much attention to me. “Oh sorry, did I what?”
“Nothing. I thought— Nevermind.” I look between Gabe and the door, realizing I no longer want to leave.
“Well, see you later? Or probably never.” He cautiously reaches for the handle again now that my hand is gone.
“You are….” I pause as I fight to find a nicer way to phrase what I am about to say.
“Uh-huh?” He is starting to smile again .
“Unbelievably annoying!” I blurt out when he starts wiggling his brows at me.
Letting out an exasperated groan, I turn away from the door.
He starts laughing loudly and I find myself thinking of Eliam’s laugh.
Gabe’s is different. It’s more measured and sensual.
His laugh doesn’t light up the room like Eliam’s does.
It twirls around you as it encases you in desire. “Why are you laughing?”
He disappears and returns with coffee. “Because I think you’re entertaining. I mean, you’re beautiful—which doesn’t hurt—and you’re also not throwing yourself at me constantly.”
Gabe motions towards a giant light blue couch.
It is a replica of the one I have in my room.
Glancing around, I finally notice that his room is a mirror image of mine, only the colours are different.
When I sit down, Gabe doesn’t. Instead, he places his mug on the table and heads to the trays of food.
He hands me a plate, piled high with everything he could ram onto it, before he sits down.
“Thank you.”
“Not a problem. The least I could do is feed you, since you plan to stick around.” His eyes twinkle with mischief.
“I haven’t decided yet.” I take a sip of the coffee and cringe at how nasty it is.
“Decided what?”
“If I’m sticking around.” I pick up the pastry that looks the sweetest, and take a bite so I can remove the bitter taste from my mouth .
“You are.” He winks at me and I roll my eyes.
We spent a couple of hours talking after that.
In the beginning, the conversation is relaxed and casual—we mostly sit around flirting, debating and laughing.
Gabe gushes about his mother and younger sister but doesn't talk about his father much.
And I tell him about my parents and Ambra, and about how much I miss them.
“Why didn’t they come with you?” He’s walking back from another trip to the cart.
“They couldn’t. It wasn’t really planned. I decided to come at the very last minute.”
“I should have pegged you for a rebel.” Gabe moves away with the empty mugs as soon as he drops off the plates.
“I’m usually the opposite!” I yell out in his direction.
He comes back with two flutes filled with my favourite drink. “Time to switch it up,” he says playfully and hands me a glass.
“So, what about your dad?” His hesitation makes the innocent question feel like I’m prying. “I’m sorry, you don’t have to answer that.”
“No, it’s fine.” Gabe isn’t smiling now. The playfulness has vanished. “My father is a complicated man. We used to be close, but now we mostly talk about work and his expectations for me. There’s nothing else for me to really say about him because I feel like I don’t know him anymore.”
I don’t know how to respond. I’ve always been so close to my parents. I can’t imagine how different things would be if they felt like complete strangers to me. I scoot closer to him and reach for his hand. Interlacing our fingers, I disregard the flares which seem to be increasing with every touch.
“I can’t relate to what you’re going through but I know it can’t be easy. I’m sorry.” I’m using my thumb to stroke his.
We sit in the intimate silence until I lose track of time. But eventually, Gabe clears his throat and seems to snap himself back to his default setting.
“Thank you but it’s okay.” Gabe twists his body around so he’s facing me. “You wanna do something?” He reaches towards me with this free hand and tucks a curl behind my ear.
“Do something like what?” There’s a tremble in my voice at his apparent suggestion, and he seems to find my reaction endearing since he beams brightly from ear to ear.
“Easy there, speedy. I’m a man of virtue,” he gasps, feigning offense. “I was talking about going on a date. Not you getting into my pants.”
Heat runs up my neck and pulses instantly in my ears. “I wasn’t— I didn’t— I—”
Gabe is laughing gleefully at me fumbling over myself. “Is that a yes, then? Will you go on a date with me?”
I’m engaged to Uziel, had sex with Eliam and now I’m here. Confused by it all and enjoying every second. I ignore the dread of how the shit will eventually hit the fan.
“Sure. You can take me out.”
Gabe hops out of the seat and offers me his hand to help me up. “Phenomenal. How does two hours from now sound?”
“I think I can make it work.” We walk over to the door and he reaches around me to open it.
I step into the hallway and turn to head back to my room. I glance back at Gabe, who hasn’t put a shirt on the entire time we were together. He is draped along the door frame like he had been this morning.
“Don’t be late, Buttercup.” I side eye him and start walking. I’m not far enough to miss it; it’s the sound of his ridiculously delicious laugh as he closes the door.
Housekeeping clearly stopped by while I was with Gabe because my room is spotless and it smells amazing.
I lounge around, watch some human television and waste fifteen minutes picking out an outfit.
I’m getting ready to shower when a knock at the door interrupts me.
I open it, tightening my robe around me.
“I could get used to this view.” Gabe’s voice startles me.
“You’re early. I still have an hour to get ready.” I haven’t moved out of the doorway and he doesn’t seem interested in coming inside.
“Change of plans. I’m sorry but an emergency came up at work. Raincheck until tomorrow?”
I don’t expect to be so disappointed but I am. “Sure, sure. It’s not a problem!” I’m twisting the belt around my fingers.
“I really am sorry. And I’ve got to go. But don’t worry, I’ll make it up to you!” He leans over and places a soft kiss on my right cheek. “See you tomorrow. 6AM. Don’t be—”
“Late? You worry about not cancelling . How ‘bout that?”
His only response is a light chuckle as he walks away. My disappointment starts fading the moment I realize how tired I am. I take a quick shower, set a wakeup call and go straight to bed.
The water was so crystal clear that my reflection bounced back at me like a mirror.
There were lush pines and green foliage surrounding us.
Off in the distance, the top of the trees curved to meet colossal mountains which kissed the sky.
Small white clouds made the expansive blue sky more blotchy than unblemished. But all of it was beautiful .
Laughter pulled my attention from the lake; Gaea was giving Syn a piggyback ride, and every few steps, she would wobble. I caught him trying to sneak up on me as I was turning around.
“I almost had you!” He bent over to place a kiss on my cheek before he sat next to me. “Isn’t the water cold?”
I was running my hand back and forth, creating an imaginary current I convinced myself was shooting from my fingertips.
“It’s nice.” I felt myself smiling at the beautiful human boy with his deep brown chocolate eyes. “Aren’t you going to get in trouble for ditching school?”
He laughed at my question as he plunged his hand into the water so he could mimic my actions. “Maybe. It’s worth it though. I get to spend the day with you.”
With his free hand, he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me as close to him as possible.
My back was against his chest, and eventually, our breathing lined up; our hearts beating in complementary cadences.
The sunlight danced through the water, and the glass-like lake shimmered bewitchingly.
Syn and Gaea were still fooling around. His two friends kept watching them, occasionally elbowing each other.
He leaned forward and softly nuzzled his chin in the crook of my neck before kissing me there. “I think I love you.” His voice was a whisper on the breeze, almost drowned out by the laughing and sound of moving water.
I held my breath for a minute, exhaled slowly and simply replied, “I think I love you too.”
I startle awake, panic flooding through my body. I’m having dreams about being in love with the teen version of a man I’d only just met. Maybe everyone is right about warning me to stay away from humans. If dreaming or hallucinating about them is the result, the celestials are on to something.
It is still dark outside and the alarm hasn’t gone off, so I flip over, determined to get more sleep before my early morning date. Nervousness makes me want to cancel it, but I also can’t wait to be around him again. I close my eyes, and fight the urge to scream as I attempt to go back to sleep.
The musical wakeup call arrives entirely too soon after I’ve drifted off.
But I drag myself out of bed and start to get ready.
Gabe hasn’t given me a dress code so I don’t know what to wear, and the time of day doesn’t really help.
We could be doing anything. I rummage through the extensive closet until I end up with a relatively cute ensemble.
I stand in front of the floor-length mirror to review my completed outfit.
I paired a short, pleated black skirt with a black, V-neck shirt that had no collar.
There is a gray-and-white image of a man on the front of the shirt with blue paint splatter behind his head, and next to his image is colourful, graffiti lettering.
Lastly, I put on a yellow beanie, and plait my curls into two braids which now fall on either side of my face.
I look down at my feet and admire the bright-white crew socks against the all-black sneakers I found.
I pick up a small, red cross-body bag and sling it on at the sound of knocking. When I open the door, Gabe is propped up against the wall on the other side of the walkway.
“Morning.” His smile makes my stomach flutter. “Ready to go?”
“Definitely!” I close the door with too much enthusiasm.
“Easy. You break it, you buy it.” He laughs as we start making our way to the elevator.
It is quiet when we step out and enter the lobby. The few staff members who are present greet Gabe as soon as they see him.
“ Someone’s important,” I probe as we walk out into the nippy morning air.
“Marginally.” He doesn’t volunteer any more information. “This way.”
Gabe places his hand in the small of my back and guides me towards a line of cars. We walk to the only one creating exhaust but before the driver is able to grab the handle, Gabe opens the door for me.
“Thanks.” I slide in easily. “So where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise,” he answers as he takes a seat and closes the door behind him.
We drive in silence for a while until we get out of the city.
Once there are unending pastures on both sides of the road, Gabe and I start talking.
The more we talked, the closer we sat, and if the drive had been any longer, I may have ended up in his lap.
By the time the car pulls up to our location, my legs are thrown across his and he is caressing my thigh.
Being with him is as easy as breathing. When the driver opens the door, I am sure he blushes at how intimately we are entangled, which only amuses Gabe.
“Lighten up, old man. It’s not like we’re naked,” Gabe says, laughing. He speaks to the man like he is family and not his employee. “Well, not yet anyway.” The man’s face flushes again.
Gabe gets out of the car and extends a hand to help me; I slap it away. “Not yet?” His extreme confidence is equal parts overbearing and winsome. “Ignore him— I’m going to.” I smile at the driver who laughs.
“I’ll send you a message when we’re ready. Don’t go too far.”
“Yes, sir.” The driver nods at us, gets into the car and drives off.
Gabe takes my hand and interlaces our fingers as he starts walking. We go down a grand staircase and walk for about a minute before we turn a corner and I see the entrance sign.
“Where are we going again?” I finally ask, still confused at our destination.
“An amusement park. Come on!”