7. Gabriel
GAbrIEL
Gabriel opened his eyes and immediately closed them again.
The brightness of the room made his head throb as if someone were pushing a knife into his temple.
Where was he? He concentrated on trying to retrieve his memory vault.
Gabriel was experienced enough to know he had a hangover.
How had that happened? A flash of memory reminded him he was in Las Vegas.
That made sense. It was probably a criminal offence not to be hungover in this city.
The US had some crazy laws, so that was completely plausible.
Gabriel wasn’t usually a big drinker. He’d left those days behind him in his twenties.
He could happily have a few, but the hangovers were two-day affairs now, and he saw it as a waste of time to spend that long doing bugger all.
Why was he in Las Vegas? Ah, yes, Bobby’s stag do.
Oh fuck! His sister and Bobby’s best friend had been having an affair.
Bobby finding out, him crying on Gabriel’s shoulder, and then a blank.
Had they gone out and gotten drunk together, or had Gabriel drowned his sorrows alone knowing Bobby would no longer be in his life because of his idiotic sister?
The sound of a grunt next to him snapped him out of his thoughts.
Had he brought some random guy back to his hotel room, or was he in the guy’s room?
He still didn’t know where he was. Opening his eyes might help.
Bracing himself, he opened one eye. That wasn’t bad, so he opened the other, which was a mistake.
He had to blink a few times as his eyes were dry, probably a combination of the air conditioning and his body being dehydrated.
Gabriel slowly looked across at the guy sleeping, but he was wrapped up in the duvet, so he couldn’t see him.
Gabriel saw a bottle of water on the bedside table and reached for it, knocking it onto the floor.
Thankfully, the carpet dulled the sound and meant it didn’t smash.
His bed mate didn’t move. He picked up the bottle and downed the lot, gasping for breath when he’d finished.
That had helped, marginally, and meant he could look around without wincing.
He spotted enough of his possessions to know he was in his own room; that was a positive.
Now, he just needed to find out who he’d slept with and politely get rid of them, although .
. . if they were hot, he could see if they were up for a second round.
But given he had no recollection of the night before, it couldn’t have been that memorable.
Before he could deal with the man in his bed, Gabriel needed more water and painkillers.
He had paracetamol in his wash bag, which was in the bathroom.
Thinking of the bathroom made his bladder wake up.
Having a piss had just moved to the top of his list. Getting out of bed, he was a little unsteady on his feet, but he made it into the bathroom without making noise.
He closed the door quietly, not wanting to wake his guest until he was certain he could speak.
Gabriel pulled his cock out, which was thankfully soft, and the relief was instant.
Once he’d shaken himself off, he washed his hands and then grabbed his toothbrush.
His mouth felt dry as fuck. Once that was done, he rummaged for some painkillers.
He had another bottle of water in the bathroom, so he could get them down him, and hedging his bets, he took three instead of two, hoping they’d work quicker.
It was tempting to take a shower – as it would wake him up and he’d feel better, even if it was only for about twenty minutes – but that would wake his guest up too, whoever they were.
The last thing he wanted was for him to think it was an invitation to join Gabriel.
He didn’t understand why people had sex in the shower.
It just washed away the lube, and having water pumped inside you by an unlubricated dick was not pleasant.
Deciding against the shower, he ran the tap until the water was warm, cupped his palms and splashed his face a few times. That felt better. It was when he was drying his face and looking at himself in the mirror that he was sure his heart had stopped beating.
“What the fuck!” he said aloud, unable to stop himself.
He was wearing a wedding ring, or at least it was a ring on his wedding finger.
This couldn’t be happening. Gabriel was the sensible one.
This was something his sister would do. How could he be so drunk that he’d marry a complete stranger?
He’d wanted to experience everything Las Vegas offered, but this?
Perhaps it was part of a joke or something.
He yanked the bathroom door open, and it felt like his heart stopped for the second time in as many minutes. The mystery man in his bed was Bobby.
Gabriel opened his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief; it had all been a dream.
“Thank fuck you’re awake. I was about to call someone,” said a familiar voice.
Bobby’s handsome face came into view, his brow furrowed in concern.
“What happened?” asked Gabriel, his voice low and croaky.
“You fainted, but only for a few seconds.”
“Why did –”
Gabriel held up his hand to be sure he hadn’t imagined it, and there was the wedding ring. Bobby smiled at him and held up his own hand, with a matching ring.
“Good morning, husband,” he said with a chuckle.
“Why are you laughing?” asked Gabriel, sitting up.
“It’s funny. I found out my fiancé had cheated on me with my best friend, so I got drunk and married her brother. It’s like something out of a film.”
“Er . . .” Gabriel wasn’t sure what to say. “Do you remember anything?”
Bobby shook his head. “Not a thing, but there’s a wedding certificate on the table. Gabriel Mensah and Robert Kavanagh. Apparently we chose Mensah-Kavanagh as our surname.”
“I didn’t know your name was Robert. Ugh, forget I said that. What the fuck are we going to do?”
“Relax, Gabriel. It’s not legally binding.”
“What?”
“A friend of mine got married in Vegas, but they had to do the legal bit in the UK. We’re not really married.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“Thank fuck for that.”
“You could do worse than having me as your husband, Gabriel.”
Bobby looked offended, and Gabriel couldn’t help but laugh.
From complete panic to the realisation that they’d just done something silly but meaningless.
Given what Bobby had been through yesterday, he was surprisingly good-humoured about the whole thing.
He was right: Bobby would be a great husband for someone.
A lucky woman who wouldn’t cheat on him, like his sister did.
Gabriel went to get up, and Bobby helped him stand and made sure he was steady on his feet.
It was only then he saw Bobby was only wearing his boxers, which were tight and showed off a prominent bulge.
He had to pretend it was an eclipse, so he didn’t look directly at it.
His body was something else, though. Gabriel had only seen glimpses over the past two years, and here it was in its full-muscled glory.
His sister was an idiot. Why would you pick Dillon, who looked like a rat boy, over this Greek god?
Maybe Dillon had a big dick or something, but from what Gabriel had seen, Bobby had nothing to worry about.
“We didn’t do anything last night, did we?” asked Gabriel, sitting on the bed, unsure if he should have said that aloud.
Nothing felt wet or sore, which were the usual signs, but if Bobby had decided to experiment when drunk and Gabriel had no memory of it, he would feel bereft.
Bobby laughed. “I like you, Gabriel, but not that much!”
Gabriel laughed with him. It relieved some tension. Technically, Bobby was still engaged to his sister. They hadn’t spoken. Nothing had been broken off officially yet. It was still possible they could talk when they were both back in the UK and get back together.
“I’m going to order room service. I don’t want to risk seeing the others,” said Bobby.
“Do you not need to speak to anyone?”
“Not today. My head’s banging, and we have our trip to the Grand Canyon.”
“You still want to do that?”
“Of course. Let’s both leave our phones off, enjoy the day, and deal with everything tomorrow. What do you think?”
“That sounds nice. But . . . are you okay?”
Bobby sat down on the bed next to him and put his arm around Gabriel. Feeling his body heat, and smelling a scent which was basically masculine sweat, was one hell of an aphrodisiac. His heart rate was high again, and he needed to focus on not getting hard.
“I’m not okay, no, but I don’t want to deal with everything today.
I just want one more day before I have to face it all.
It’s a lot to ask, Gabriel, as it’s your sister, but can you keep me company today, and we’ll deal with everything tomorrow?
I was thinking of trying to change my flight, so I don’t have to travel back with everyone else. ”
“The tickets are flexible, so let me sort that, and you arrange breakfast. Just get me a bit of everything.”
“Thank you,” said Bobby with a smile.
He leaned forward and kissed Gabriel on the temple, and pulled him into another sideways hug, making his stomach lurch.
He could do this for Bobby and be there for him.
They’d clearly had fun last night out drinking in Sin City, even if he had no recollection.
Spending the whole day with this gorgeous man, this time sober and being able to remember it, was something he would happily do.
Thankfully, they’d not done anything else crazy last night, so there wouldn’t be any more drama, right?