Page 63 of Saving Ren
“Do you not think this is all a little bit ridiculous?” Yeah, my brain obviously chose to ignore Jo’s words and say these words instead.
Gabe pulls his head back and stares at me wide-eyed for a few seconds.
“Ridiculous? What the fuck, babe?” He swings his legs out from under me, planting his feet on the floor, and sits up, shifting me to sit beside him.
“Explain to me exactly what it is that you think is ridiculous? Us? You being here?”
My mouth dries as I watch how pissed off what I’ve said has made him. I open it to speak, but he cuts me off again.
“Ya know what? I like you. I wanted you safe, and yeah, I’ve liked having you near, I know we’re just getting to know each other, and this hasn’t been the ideal way to start a relationship, but that’s what I thought we were doing, starting something. Am I wrong on that score?”
I stare at him for a few seconds, my own anger now bubbling in my belly.
He stands, rakes his fingers through his hair, and paces in front of me.
“I don’t do this.” I watch as he waves his hand between us. “I don’t do relationships, so excuse my fucking ignorance if I’m reading this all wrong, but what is it exactly you think is happening here, between you and me, I mean?”
“You gonna listen to my answers before you fire off any more questions?” I ask. He stops pacing and looks at me. I stare or may be glare at him for a few seconds. His hands bury themselves inside his pockets as he lets out a sigh and his shoulders relax a fraction.
“Sorry,” he mumbles. “It’s just that. . .”
“Ugh!” I put my finger up, he narrows his eyes on me. “My turn,” I tell him. That earns me a scowl.
“Woman. . .”
“Don’t woman me either, Wild.”
Without another word, he sits on the edge of the coffee table in front of me.
“I like it when you’re bossy,” he says with a wink followed by a lick of his lips.
‘Stop trying to distract me.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he says quietly, knowing full well that’s exactly what he’s doing.
I launch right in.
“We’ve just met, and I’m already living in your house. I’m eating your food, sleeping in your bed. We don’t really know each other, and yet, right now, I feel like I’mtotallydependent on you. That’s what I meant about the whole situation being ridiculous. Us, this.” I make my own hand gesture between us. “The way we’ve been thrown together, I mean seriously, you couldn’t make this shit up. That’s what I meant by this situation being ridiculous.”
I pull a cushion onto my lap, raise my knees and squash it against my chest as I sit back into the corner of Gabe’s big leather sofa. His hands go to his hips as he watches me.
“Do you want to be here?”
Seize the fucking day, Lauren.
“No,” I tell him honestly. I actually hear the rapid expulsion of air that escapes him at my response. His mouth opens to say something, but I continue talking. “What I want is to be in my own place, for me and you to be taking our time, going out on dates, getting to know each other like normal couples do. What I want is for there to be no pressure on us to make this work. What I want isnotto be wondering if I still need to be worrying about whether my crazy ex is still trying to hunt me down.”
“You want to go out on dates? I asked you the other night if you wanted to go for dinner. I want to take you on dates.”
I let out a sigh. “That’s all you got from what I just said? That’s your response?”
“You’re here, Lauren. The situation is what it is. All relationships start with a couplenotknowing each other. We’re just doing thegettingto know each other part while living in the same house. That just means we’ll get to know each other quicker. I don’t think either of us are stupid people, so I reckon, we’d both know by now if there was no chance of what we’ve got going anywhere, don’t you?”
He’s up and pacing in front of me again. His hands moving between his hair, the back of his neck, to his hip, or animatedly gesturing towards me. He stops pacing at the end of each sentence but starts moving again before I can respond.
“There’s no more pressure onusto make this work than there is on any other relationship out there, and the fact that you’re worried about your fuckwit of an ex still wanting to hunt you down, is why, amongst a few other reasons, I want youhere, where I know you’re safe.”
He stops his pacing, sits back down on the coffee table, and leans towards me. “Now,” he says softly. “You wanna go on a fucking date with me or what?”
