Neither of us had heard the actual interview so far, but in an email I received from Demetria, it mentioned that Nate talked about the situation with the fire.
Whatever.
“I’m not about to be a part of his game anymore. This is what he does,” I said to Gabe with a roll of my eyes. “When he doesn’t get a rise out of someone, he throws temper tantrums. He can’t get me on the phone. I’ve blocked him everywhere on social media and refuse to speak to him, so now he’s trying to get to me by going public.”
I shrugged. “He can act like a child on his own. I’m too busy writing this album.” Grinning, I lifted on my tiptoes and kissed Gabe’s lips.
He still scowled but kissed me back.
“That’s not all you’re busy doing,” he said.
I shook my head, laughing. “No, it’s not. Speaking of …” I paused and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him toward the staircase. “I want to sing something for you.”
“Yeah, what?”
I breathed a little easier when it looked like I’d gotten Gabe’s mind off of my dumbass ex and focused on me. Nate was a problem for another day, and truthfully, I felt freer from him by the day. With each song I wrote or arrangement I completed, I felt the hold of his contract loosening from around my neck.
Soon enough, I’d be able to part ways with Nate completely. In the meantime, I had something planned for Gabriel and me.
“It’s upstairs,” I purred.
“I need a shower. I smell like horses,” Gabe grunted as I led him up the stairs. “We’ll shower together.”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” I said. “Oop!” I yelped when he lifted me over his shoulder and carried me the rest of the way to the bathroom in his bedroom.
Thirty minutes later, we emerged from the shower, clean from the animal smell but a whole lot dirtier from our activities in the shower.
Gabe laid across his bed, dressed in only a pair of boxer briefs, while I laid my head against the back of his shoulder. I lifted my head to get a better view of the wolf tattoo.
“You got more of him shaded in.” I noticed the increased fur on the left side of the wolf’s face, making it look almost entirely mature, like a full-sized wolf. The right side of the tattoo had more colors that made the wildflowers pop.
I was amazed at how the two sides of the wolf came together to form its shape.
“A little more to go,” he said, glancing back over his shoulder. “I thought you were going to sing for me.”
“So impatient,” I admonished, lying my head back down against his shoulder. I waited for a beat and then began singing the first song I’d written that night back in New York. It was about the whirlwind of new love.
“What’s the title of that one?” Gabe asked once I stopped singing.
“‘Tornado’,” I said with a smile.
“I like it.”
“You say that about every song I sing.”
He chuckled. “True, but I also fucking like the song. Love it even.”
My stomach clenched at the four-letter word. A lump formed in my throat, and I turned, placing a kiss to the center of his back. He shivered.
I sat up and began running my pointer finger along one of the petals of the wolf, tracing it. Gabe trembled again.
“Stop that,” he said, swatting my hand away from his back.
“What?” I laughed and traced the wolf’s left eye.
His body shivered again, and I gasped.
“Oh my goodness.”
