Aftertaste (Sin #2)

LI.

I sigh in frustration. "I'm done sitting on the couch, babe. Literally over it. If I have to do it one more minute, I'll go fucking insane. I'm good, I'm healed and I'm over it already. It's like it never happened. Okay?"

There's a long silence from her. "Okay," she says softly, quietly.

"Okay," I say. "I'll see you later."

"Sure," she says and by the tone of her voice, I don't know if she's mad or if she really accepted it that easily and she's just completely nonchalant about it. I'm hoping for the latter. "Do you want anything to eat?"

"No, I'll just have a protein shake when I come home. I ate already. I thought you were coming home later."

"Yeah, well ... I came home earlier because I thought we could go somewhere. Like a dinner or something."

Fuck. I pinch the bridge of my nose, looking around myself. "We can do that later. Or I can turn around and come back. I'm on foot, though."

"No, no, it's fine. I'll be too tired afterwards probably, anyway. We'll go another time."

The one time I decide to leave the couch and finally go outside, Gabrielle decides she wants to go out. Fantastic. I guess she's over the whole babying me thing. "Okay," I say, hating myself right now. Especially when I could've had a nice evening with her and now I don't know what mood she'll be in when I return.

˙˙˙

Sam calls me on my way back from the gym. "What's up?" I ask in greeting.

"Yo. Have you heard from Snake recently?"

"I talked to him a few days ago. Briefly."

She lets out an annoyed noise. "So the jackass has been ignoring me."

"He knows?"

"He would if he picked up his goddamned phone or open the door when I stop by his place. What the fuck is the problem with you men sometimes?"

I scratch the back of my neck. "I don't know, Sam. Maybe he's just fed up with you and your games."

"I'm carrying his fucking child, Sin!" she growls. "Do you think this is a game?"

I grimace. "I don't know what's going on with you two, Sam. You want me to give him a call?"

Sam is silent for a few seconds and I can only hear her breathing. "Yeah, if you can. Just tell him to call me back. It's really important, Alex."

"I know it is. I'll see what I can do. So, is it confirmed now? You're ... pregnant?" I have a hard time even saying it, let alone imagining it. I could never see Sam with a kid. I've always thought she's more like me and that she'll stay away from kids as long as she can.

But shit can happen sometimes and it can happen quickly, I see. "Yeah. Confirmed by the doc. I'll be a mother."

I let that statement sink in. I still can't imagine it. I have a hard time picturing it, especially with Snake. He's probably going to lose his shit, but I know he's kind of obsessed with Sam, so he could come around and accept it.

I would. With Gabrielle. It'd be hard, sure, but I wouldn't leave her side, no matter what. We're in this together. She's my ride or die and I know that, no matter what, I could never leave her. I'm not embarrassed to say I'm obsessed about her, too.

"Well, shit. Who would've thought? Congratulations, I guess," I say with a grin, looking to my left and right before crossing the street. "Fine. I'll give Snake a call. He needs to find out."

"Yeah, thanks. For everything."

"Sure."

When we hang up, I call Snake immediately. He doesn't pick up so I send him a message.

Call Sam.

To which he actually responds, Nah, I'm good. Let her learn the lesson.

I roll my eyes. These two.

Suit yourself, mate. Just know I wouldn't be calling if it wasn't important.

He doesn't text back, which I expected, anyway. I put the phone back in my pocket, blowing hot air out into the cold one through the mouth. When I get to our building, I light up a cigarette and smoke it before I go up.

I know Gabrielle's in bed already the second I step inside because everything is dark and quiet. So much for a good night.

I make myself a protein shake in the kitchen and go to the bathroom afterwards, trying to be as quiet as possible.

When I come back from the bathroom and get in the bed, I hear Gabrielle shifting and I pause. "Are you awake?" I whisper.

"Yeah," she says, facing me.

I get under the covers. "Well, hello," I say cheekily, getting close to her and putting my hand on her hip. I close the distance between us completely, finding her mouth in the dark and kissing her.

I let out a groan in pleasure because hell yeah, kissing her is so addictive I could do it all day and night if she let me.

She puts her hand on my face, her touch soft and tender as she starts caressing the side of my face.

I squeeze her hip, pushing my hips against her and drop my mouth down to her neck because I know this always drives her crazy. She drops her hand down to my arm and I hear her panting. When my hand travels downwards, coming to the waist of her shorts, she stops me by putting her hand on mine. "No. We can't."

I stop what I'm doing. "Why?" And if she says it's because of my shoulder, I'll really lose it.

"I'm on my period."

My mouth lifts downwards. "You're joking," I state in frustration. Are you fucking kidding me?

"I'm not. I'm sorry," she says apologetically.

I groan. "Ah, hell," I say, disappointed. It's been days since we've been intimate and it's a big difference since before that when we had sex every day. Multiple times a day, even.

Gabrielle lets out a giggle. "Poor you. Suffering so much," she says, kissing the centre of my chest. She puts her arm over my stomach and places her head on my shoulder.

I shift, making myself comfortable, wrapping an arm around her, too. It takes me a while to fall asleep. I stay up and think about how good life is right at this exact moment, but also thinking that Gabrielle and I still have many things we should talk about.

I kiss the top of her head. The thought doesn't scare me as much as I thought it would. I know I'll do anything to keep her. Because she's worth it. And I'm also done being a jackass to her.

*

Two more chapters and we're done!