Gabriella Ch. 04

"Well, you'd have to actually let them spend the night for that, Steven."

"Ouch."

Ella fixed her plate and sat down beside him. Her nerves were on edge. Simon would be back today.

Steven shoved bacon into his mouth. "All this came from my fridge?"

Ella took a bite and nodded.

"Figures. I never reach past the beer."

She watched him tear through his bare waffle. "You don't use syrup?"

"Nah, I don't like sweet stuff. Well, with the exception of beautiful young girls who cook me breakfast," he said with a wink.

Ella's skin warmed. "Simon doesn't like syrup either." Why did she divulge that information? She hoped her comment didn't raise Steven's suspicions.

"Hmm, I didn't know that. Always knew we were brothers from another mother," he said, seemingly missing any significance to her remark. He licked his fingers one by one. "So, this is all cool, right? There's nothing weird between us now, is there?"

"Weird like how?"

"Well, you know, we were hanging out last night. I just want to make sure there's no weird vibes or anything."

Ella sat back. "Steven, would you calm down if I told you that I had no desire whatsoever to sleep with you?"

"Ow, that kinda hurt." He rubbed his chest. "But yeah, it does make me feel better. Don't have to worry about you stalking me like so many of the ladies."

Ella laughed as Steven popped the last piece of strawberry into his mouth. "I need to get you home before they get back. I'll be out of the shower and ready to go in fifteen minutes. Cool?"

She nodded. "Cool."

A part of her was so happy Simon was coming home today, but another part knew that his bond with her mom was probably stronger while hers was weakening by the day. Everything was as it should be. Ella glanced down at her food, her appetite now gone. **********

Simon

"Jeez, slow down man," Steven said.

Simon was halfway through his second beer while they waited for Pete and Tek to arrive at the bar.

He and Patricia had been back for a week. On the surface, things seemed to be back to normal, but underneath he knew that he had fucked up when he hesitated. And he still didn't know why he had. But Patricia was at least talking to him and on occasion laughing.

Gabriella was another story. He hadn't seen much of her since his return. She was at school during the day and managed to stay gone at night, just barely making it home right as he and Patricia headed to bed. Their only real contact was if Nolan couldn't take her to school in the morning. Even then, she would stay occupied with her iPhone or just stare out of the window. But he knew it was for the best. Being too close to her made his senses loopy. Right and wrong flew out the window while he chased what he wanted in that moment. That loss of control was never a good thing for him.

"Hey, over here!" Steven shouted. Pete and Tek walked over. Steven and Simon both stood to let the other men slide in first.

"What the hell?" Pete said, sitting down. "Why do we have to sit on the inside?"

"My legs are longer than yours," Simon answered.

Tek, who stood about the same height as Steven, looked at him for an answer.

Steven scoffed at him. "Oh please, I'm an outside guy all the way."

"Anyway, sorry so late. Liz was being difficult," Pete said.

Simon knew it was coming. Every time Pete and Steven hung out the two went at it because of Pete's wife. But why Pete continued to confide in Steven about his marital problems eluded him.

"Difficult?" Steven drained the rest of his beer. "I'm sorry, but is she ever anything other than difficult? I thought that was kind of the standard for her."

"Look, she had my keys and wouldn't give them to me. She's afraid I'm gonna try to drive drunk one of these days hanging out with you jackasses."

"No, what she has is your balls in her purse," Steven quipped.

Tek snickered while Simon grinned behind his bottle.

"Fuck you!" Pete said.

Steven offered him a beer. "Jeez, it was a joke. Lighten up."

Pete twisted the top off and took a sip before he spoke. "Well, lay off my wife, will ya?"

"Okay, okay, no more wife jokes. Although speaking of lay, I swear if you just switched your style up in bed, you two would fight less."

"What?" Pete asked, leaning forward.

Simon set his drink down and placed his hand on Pete's shoulder. Even though Pete was a small guy, a man can only take so much. And Steven never knew when to shut up. "Steven, knock it off."

"What? I'm trying to help the man out. I mean, don't they just look like a missionary couple? I'm trying to broaden his horizons...make her see stars and shit so she'll leave him the hell alone. But now that I think about it, she's more dominant, so maybe she's on top. I can see her being like an air traffic controller."

"You think that's funny, huh?" Pete asked.

Steven smirked. "Actually I do."

Pete's mouth twisted into a grin. "Yeah, maybe it is. Almost as funny as your Ella-Holly mix up."

Simon noticed the awkward exchange between Pete and Steven before he turned back to Pete. "The what?"

"Oh, well, I don't tell it as well as Steven. And since he likes to talk so fucking much, I'll let him have the floor."

A stare-down between Steven and Pete followed.

"What Ella mix up?"

Steven cracked his knuckles; a tell-tale sign of nervousness. "Look Simon, don't get all pissed at me okay? Seriously, it's not a big deal."

"What the fuck did he mean 'Ella mix up'?" Simon asked.

"Pete, word to the wise, when I tell you a secret, keep it asshole," Steven said.

Simon felt his blood heat up as he waited for one of them to answer him.

"Okay, you might find this funny, but when you and Patricia went out of town last weekend, Ella came over. She just showed up at my door step while I had a girl over. Holly. Remember the tall brunette from Fisher's birthday party?" Steven explained.

Simon prayed he could find some humor in this story.

"Um, well anyway, it was kinda funny because Holly got all pissed, thinking I was seeing Ella on the side." Steven took a sip of his beer. "And before you say anything, nothing happened, man. I never touched her, I swear to God. She just came over and we hung out for a while," he said, raising his hands as if to surrender.

"Although she did spend the night," Pete chimed in, now leaning back against the booth.

"You know what? Kiss my ass," Steven replied. "That's the last time I ever tell you anything."

Pete smirked. "Payback's a bitch, isn't it?"

"Asshole," Steven muttered.

Simon couldn't wrap his head around it. Gabriella had spent the night with Steven? Images of her moaning underneath his friend flooded his eyes. He couldn't breathe.

"Look, it was no big deal, I swear. I didn't even know she had slept over until the next morning. She slept on the sofa, made me breakfast and then I took her home."

Simon shook his head and removed a twenty from his wallet. He slammed it down on the table, grabbed his helmet and rushed out. His body trembled from anger. .

"Oh, come on man! Wait a second!" he heard Steven call out from behind. He needed to get the hell away from here before he did something he regretted.

The parking lot was quiet until the bar doors opened and the rowdiness from inside tumbled into the street. Simon exhaled, praying it wasn't Steven who followed him out.

"Simon, look it wasn't a big deal okay. And this is why I didn't tell you. Because I knew you'd get pissed. And I shouldn't have told Pete, I just wanted someone else's advice about what I should have done."

"You should have sent her home," he hollered back, not bothering to turn around.

Simon just needed to get to his bike. He heard Tek in the distance telling him to come back into the bar. They all could go to hell if they had been keeping this from him. His jaw hurt from clamping it.

"Simon, come on man. I mean, you know how she is," Steven said.

Simon turned around and took a threatening step toward Steven. "What the fuck does that mean?"

"Dude, do not answer that," Tek whispered.

Steven shrugged. "Look, she's the one that showed up at my place. Not the other way around. Besides, she's pretty good company," he said. "Wait, that came out—"

Those were the last words to leave Steven's mouth before he was crouched on the ground cupping his bloody nose.

"Son of a bitch!" Steven shouted.

Simon shook off his hand, his knuckles throbbing from swinging full force into his best friend's face.

Tek laughed. "Oh shit, are you okay man?" he asked, standing over Steven.

Simon placed his helmet on and tore out of the parking lot.

***

He slammed the front door harder than he intended when arrived at home. Thank God Patricia was out with Myra tonight because alcohol was about to become his closest friend. Adrenaline coursed through his blood. Steven insisted that nothing happened and he had never lied before. But he knew his friend and he knew Gabriella.

He slung off his jacket and headed for the kitchen. A beer wouldn't do. Tonight he needed something stronger. He found an old bottle of scotch in the cabinet and poured himself a shot. It burned a line down his throat but it didn't burn off his anger. He poured another shot and that's when his eyes connected with Gabriella's. She stood in the kitchen door wrapped in a pink towel as she looked back and forth between him and the bottle. He paused a moment before he chugged down the drink.

Simon poured another glass and brought it to his lips. He shook his head and chuckled before he drank. Life could be so cruel. Had he just waited another two minutes at the bar, he wouldn't have caught the sight of her wet skin.

"Where's my mom?"

"Out." He refilled the glass. Three was usually his limit, but fuck it.

Gabriella rolled her eyes. "Well, I figured that much."

She gripped the towel tighter, his cue to stop staring at her. He grabbed the bottle and glass and sat down at the table.

"Are you okay?"

"Nope."

"What's wrong?"

Simon placed his head in his hands. "Is this how things are going to work between us? I hurt you, so you see how deep you can cut me? Because if it is, I'm out." Her confused expression annoyed him. "I'm not going to play that game with you."

"What are you talking about? What happened?"

"I just punched my best friend of nineteen years in the face tonight."

"What? Why?"

He shook his head again and poured another glass, but he didn't drink.

"Oh," she whispered. "Simon, nothing happened."

"Then why the fuck were you there?" he yelled, louder than he intended.

She shifted her weight from one foot to the other and crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't owe you an explanation. If I want to hang out with Nolan all day, I can. Or if I want to go visit Steven, I can."

"He's my best friend, Gabriella!" Simon stood abruptly and knocked his drink onto the floor, shattering pieces of glass everywhere. She glanced to the floor and then to him, her brown eyes wide and frightened. This girl was going to be the death of him. It was inevitable. "But I guess that doesn't matter to you. I'm sure you've come between several friends before."

"You're just saying that because you're mad."

"No, I'm not mad. I'm furious!"

He needed to call it a night. He wasn't thinking straight and he was too pissed off to filter the insults spewing from his mouth. A cold shower and a good night's sleep would be the cure to Gabriella. Normally in a situation this volatile, he'd crash at Steven's. Pete's wasn't an option because of his Liz and Tek had a live-in girlfriend. He was trapped.

"Gabriella, put some clothes on and leave me the hell alone. I'm serious," he said lowly, while he swept up the glass and emptied it into the trash. "I don't want any massages or anything else you use to get your way. Just leave me alone."

She opened her mouth to speak, but retreated.

Simon sat at the table with the bottle of scotch. Her stereo blasted so hard, he couldn't tell if it was his own heartbeat thumping or the bass beat.

He closed his eyes, but all he could focus on was Gabriella wearing that tiny pink towel for Steven. He opened his eyes, the beat penetrating through to his head.

Simon took several deep breaths and looked toward the hallway. His eyes zoned in on the small droplets of water that she had left behind. Now past images of he and Gabriella surfaced. Her straddling him in his office chair, her on her hands and knees on the couch, her clinging beneath him as he fucked her with abandon. His eyes focused on the water as it began to dry. He wondered if she had taken a shower at Steven's.

Fuck...

He followed the drying water droplets until they led him to her door. He pushed it open to find her in a short black skirt. Only the lacy straps of her black bra interrupted the line of her back.

He stepped through the door and glanced down at her iPod. The one he bought for her before their affair had begun. She hadn't asked for it but he knew all the kids had one. But she never asked for anything. New clothes, phones and mp3's. Nothing. He wondered if it was a pride thing or if times had been harder for her and Patricia than either of them let on.

His mind pulled him one way, his body the other. He hit pause on the iPod, causing her to jump. She sent him a quizzical look.

His eyes scanned her chest, the soft swell of her breasts sitting high in the cups of her bra. "Why did you go over there?"

She rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. "Nothing happened. We ate pizza and watched some movies. That's it."

Simon dropped his gaze to the floor. "Why-did-you-go-over-there?"

She sighed. "Because I was bored, okay?"

She's pretty good company...

He smirked. "Bored, huh?" He shook his head and took a step toward her. "How often do guys get the pleasure of your boredom?"

Her tiny hand caught his cheek and the left side of his nose. Simon felt like his face had exploded. Given his buzzed state, he couldn't have avoided the slap even though he should have expected it.

"Get out!" Her voice trembled.

"Gabriella—"

"No. Leave. I mean it." She opened a drawer. "You would never say things like that to her—just me."

Simon took another step closer. "Why can't you understand how hard this whole situation is for me? This isn't the man I wanted to be."

She turned around. "But I haven't done anything to you except give you what you wanted. But you've made it perfectly clear that you don't want me. So if that's the case, then just leave me the hell alone."

Simon closed his eyes and squeezed the bridge of his nose. If only it were that simple. "I can't," he said in a defeated tone.

His words hung heavy in the air. Words that he wished he could take back.

"What are you saying?" she asked.

"I don't know what I'm saying. Christ, I am so fucked," he muttered.

"Simon?"

He heard her calling him, but he couldn't look at her. Not yet. He was too ashamed. He had never been so weak in all his life.

He needed to leave before he made things much worse. Before he lost all common sense again.

"Simon, look at me," she whispered.

He slowly opened his eyes as she lifted her hand to his face, the side that was still stinging. Her gentle touch made him turn his head to kiss her wrist. Their eyes met and the last bit of resistance he had flew away. He devoured her lips while his hands roamed over her body and beneath her skirt. His tongue tangled with hers as she moaned into his mouth. He placed her on top of the dresser and lowered his kisses to her neck. The scent of strawberries clung to her soft skin.

"Simon," she whimpered, her hands fumbling with his belt.

"Tell me no," he whispered in between kisses. His head felt light while his dick strained against the zipper of his jeans begging for release.

Simon," she moaned again when his hands gripped the string of her panties to tug them down her legs. His fingers brushed against her hot sex.

"Gabriella, please tell me no," he begged, about to kiss her again, when she turned her head away. She clamped her legs shut, trapping his hand between her thighs.

He was about to speak when she glanced up at him, wide eyed. Then he heard it. A door closed and voices carried through the house. *

Thank you all for reading and hope you enjoyed chapter 4:-) I plan to have chapter 5 out soon. My usual thanks to Kaia, my bookend, for being such an inspiration and friend. And to August and her magic in polishing my chapters. Couldn't do it w/o you ladies!

Soular