“I can’t believe you guys talked me into doing this!”
Gabby and Gabe were standing on the edge of the corn field, he was holding black canvas bag. For some reason this felt wrong, Nina was right, after all it was stealing. She guessed that when they were kids and did this, it was the thrill of possible chase and getting caught that was the fun part of it as much as corn roasting.
“Oh come on Gabby, it is just like the old times” Gabe answered as he pulled her into him and placed a quick kiss on her lips
“No it’s not. We are not kids anymore, we are adults and this kind of feels wrong. How about we just go and ask old lady Bertha to give us a bag of corn and we pay for it too”
“She would probably give it to you and tell you to keep your money” a deep voice said behind them and they both spun around surprised. A tall older man was standing few yards behind them, white hair, wrinkles around grey smiling eyes, long walking stick in his right hand “It is good to see you kids back to your old tricks” he smiled.
“Good to see you too Bob” Gabe replied a little stunned and rooted to the spot. Gabby just stood there too, not sure what to say.
They just got caught red handed.
Old man Bob smiled
“Go on, go. Take as many as you want, and tell the rest of the gang I said hi. I missed chasing you kids trough these fields. You all grew up too damn fast. These younger generations are not into it unless it’s a chase in some kind a video game” he chuckled “I don’t think I can do chasing anymore either, old age you know” They were still staring at him warily
“I’ve heard you both were visiting. Glad to see you both back, even if it’s for the summer. You kids take care, and stop by sometime if you get a chance, to say hi” he turned around and continued walking.
“What the heck did just happened?” Gabby was still looking at retreating back of an older man and started laughing. Gabe started laughing with her
“I think he just gave us his blessing”
They filled their canvas bag with corn and headed towards the river bank where Nick, her cousins and their wives had the fire going on already. They were all sitting around the fire, conversation and laughs flowing around, obviously waiting for Gabby and Gabe and the corn. Glowing red embers were spread around the fire that was crackling in the middle and they made about dozen or so sticks they can stick the corn on and place on the embers to roast.
“You guys didn’t take long” Nick said
“We ran into an old man Bob”
“Huh?!” was everyone’s reply, shocked looks on their faces
“He didn’t yell after you or chase you guys around the field?” Pete asked, now laughing. They were all chased by Bob at some point or another in their life.
“No, he pretty much caught us red handed and then told us to take as many as we need” Gabe said
“Did hell freeze over?” Nick still had that shocked look on his face
“Not really. He looked really nostalgic there for a second. Told us to say Hi to everyone and how he missed chasing us trough those fields, like it was last year and not what, twenty-twenty five years ago. Kids these days don’t know how to have fun it looks like, it’s all about gadgets and video games. He was probably getting a trill out of chasing us around that field, just as we got it from outrunning him with his corn. Hmm...” Gabe answered as he moved Gabby’s sitting log in front of his so she would sit close to him. She sat on the log between his legs, he wrapped his arms around her, pulled her into him and nuzzled and kissed her neck.
Everyone got the second shock in the matter of the same amount of minutes and then they all smiled. Dan had a huge grin on his face as he broke
“Holy crap!!! I owe Nick a case of beer! Damn it!” still half shocked, half laughing, he turned to Gabe and said “Well, I’ll be dammed!!! Finally... looks like hell did freeze over or is about to! It is about a God damn time man!”
“Ha ha ha... It took you long enough! Only about twenty years or so” Pete was laughing so hard he almost fell of his log. He had identical happy grin on his face, looking at Gabe. They were high-fiving and fist bumping each other.
Gabby was perplexed. She looked at her brother and her cousins grins and did not understand anything, even their wives smiled.
“Huh?! What did I miss?” she said
“Oh come on cuz, you missed it all apparently! The guy was smitten with you probably since the day you were born and you were oblivious to it your whole life, entire time!” Pete said, “We were all hoping that you would come around and realize it before one of us had to smack you over the head, and that didn’t happen. You went up and moved overseas and then he goes and moves there too, we definitely thought he went after you.”
“I have a confession to make sis” Nick said “this is why I insisted on you coming here this year. I knew Gabriel was coming here at the same time and I thought that you two might still have a chance when you meet again. I didn’t think it was going to happen the first day you see each other though” Nick was laughing now, slapped Gabe over the shoulder and fist bumped him too. And then Gabby realized the real reason behind her brother’s persistence for her to visit them. She still had a hard time with some parts of their conversation though she didn't get.
What in the world is going on? she thought
Did everyone just up and went nuts on her?
And Gabe looked awfully proud and pleased, huge Cheshire grin on his face.
Then Pete started
“Gabriel, you know we all love you and we love her like she’s our sister, so there is no need for me to stress this... you better treat her right or...” Gabby interrupted suddenly
“Seriously?” she was irritated now
“What?” they all said it together and looked at her puzzled
“I am older than all of you” she pointed a finger at all of them
“Not me!” Gabe said smugly and she rolled her eyes
“So?!” was the rest of them response
“You are all going to give him a speech how to treat me?” all men shook their heads affirmatively and shrunk their shoulders; like is a man thing and women do not understand it.
“I am not a kid damn it!” she said sourly as she was trying to wrap her head around what her cousins and brother had said.
Was he really that much into her all those years that everyone else knew about it but her?
Was she really that oblivious of it that she never noticed?
She peeled the corn and handed it to Gabe to put it on a stick and place it on the fire to roast. Then she leaned into his warm chest, his hand was wrapped around her waist, her head tucked under his chin and she felt all happy and content. His smell tickled her senses, spicy and masculine and all Gabe. She breathed it in deep and butterflies started fluttering in her stomach. Conversation and laughs were still going on around her and she would occasionally nod her head or threw a short comment here and there, but her mind was in the past.
She smiled at all the visions that were going through her head at the moment. All the things she and Gabe did as kids and teens, how he would always be there for her, calm her temper, hold and hug her when she got upset, laugh with her when she was happy. How teasing about them being a couple had never bothered him and she would fly off the hook at anyone for it, how he got upset when he found out that she was going out on her first movie date with a guy from school, all the dirty looks he was giving to any guy that was around her. That story about him punching a kid in high school that Gabby tutored because he said she was easy, she always thought that was a little farfetched, it turned out to be true, he broke the kids nose. She tutored the boy, nothing else, didn’t even liked the kid; she remembers he gave her the creeps.
How anything that Gabby said she liked, Gabe would somehow find a way to get it for her; from her favorite perfume to a bag, a book or a CD that just came out, to a gold bracelet she admired and he got it for her graduation. She got him a waterproof army wrist watch he liked. He would make her coffee before they went to school, most days get her lunch, heck he went to buy her pads one day when she got her period and had none with her at school.
But then, she did the same thing for him too. She would sneak him out of detentions as much as he did her – unless they were stuck together, cheat on exams passing him answers, help him with his homework when he asked and when he didn’t. If there was a show he wanted to see, she would just get tickets and tell him that they are going. She got her uncle to buy a BB air gun for her so she can give it to him for his birthday, and the first thing he does is teach her how to use it. How he wanted that Swiss army red pocket knife and Gabby surprised him with a set that included a pocket knife and a smaller knife to put on a key chain and how happy he was when he saw it. They were doing things for each other all the time; it was like a second nature to both of them. Was she really that oblivious and did not see that it was more than just a friendship for him?
“Yes” Gabe said softly in her ear as he wrapped his arms around her tighter.
She stiffened.
Him and his uncanny ability to read her mind
“Stop thinking about it. It is in the past. Yes, you were oblivious of it, yes I always did have a thing for you and we can talk about all of this later if you would want to. Now I would like you to relax and enjoy this evening” he whispered softly in her ear and a delicious shiver shot down her spine. She tilted her head up to look at him
“I am so sorry for being so oblivious. You never said anything, never made a move on me and always treated me like a sister. And there were all those other girls. I never thought you would be interested” she said quietly and pressed her lips on the line of his strong jaw and throat and kissed him when he lowered his head to her. His stubble was showing and tickled her lips. She gently bit him and then licked that same area and continued pressing soft kisses down his neck, the way he did it to her in her dream. He hissed and then growled slightly. She felt that growl vibrating in his chest through her back and smiled, his breathing got deeper, his pulse went wild and she saw his eyes go dark.
She chuckled softly and reveled in her new found power she felt she had over him. She pushed back into him and rubbed her bottom against his groin, skimming her fingers over his thighs. He went hard as a rock instantly and she felt him pressed against her bottom and lower back. His erection was impressively large. He shifted slightly, tightened his grip around her and whispered
“Stop that”
“Or what?” she challenged him
“Or I am going to throw you over my shoulder, carry you out of here somewhere I can have my wicked ways with you and make up for the last twenty years or so of yearning after you. Make no mistake Gabby; you will not be able to walk for a while after I get you all to myself.”
Her breath caught and her eyes widened at his words, she briefly looked around, no one was paying them too much attention. She started panting all of a sudden and excruciating heat was pooling between her legs. She got all hot and bothered, she wanted Gabe, she wanted him now and she wanted to get away from everyone here and allow him to have his wicked ways with her.
She remembered her dream from last night and what happened by the lake this afternoon and determination set in, she challenged him again
“Hmm... Promises, promises” she kept on rubbing against him
“Gabby! I mean it”
“So do I” she said.
He got up abruptly, picked her up in his arms, ran for the river and jumped in the crystal clear cold water with her in his arms. The river was not that deep at that particular spot, up to Gabby’s shoulders, but it was enough to submerge them. She gasped as their heads came above the cool water, and she started laughing. She knew exactly why he did that
“Now we can leave without being so obvious about it and embarrassing you in front of your family. Besides I don’t think your brother or cousins would appreciate me hauling you out of here like a caveman and over my shoulder” he whispered in her ear, still carrying her in his arms and going towards the shore, got out of the water and put her on her feet. She lost her flip-flops, her dress clung to her, revealing everything from slim waist, shaped legs to perky and hard nipples from cool water. Gabe turned her into him. She still wanted him. Maybe cold water doesn’t have the same effect on women as cold showers have on men.
“Gabby needed to cool off” he said as they all looked at them, laughing. Gabby just smirked and smacked him on the shoulder with the back of her hand, amused look on her face.
“You’ll have to excuse us right now” she heard Gabe say “Nick, she’s staying with me”
“Remember the curfew Gabriel!” Nick shouted after him laughing. They all laughed. Gabe flipped one finger salute that she guessed was intended for Nick, pulled on her arm and started walking towards his house. She still heard laughter behind her as they were leaving.