Lucky In Love, page 10
“That's Noah. He's always been that way. You know that,” Gabe shrugged, unable to see the significance in what I was saying. I sighed and dropped back into my seat, feeling defeated not only by the current conversation, but the pens as well.
“You're right. I guess I do. I'm sorry about the couch.”
“That's ok. As long as I know you're alright, I guess I'll let you get back to what you were doing.” He gave me a crooked smile and waited for me to return one. After I did, he got back up from the bed and walked over towards the door to leave.
I turned my head to watch him go and said, “Thanks for checking on me. I really am fine.” I mustered a second, more convincing smile.
“Good. So, you'll get rid of the couch?” Gabe gave it one last shot.
“Not a chance,” I replied flatly and turned back towards my desk. A second later I heard the door shut and Gabe was gone.
Chapter 13
Lindsay Rose
A few weeks went by without much change. After three days of fumigating and deodorizing the new couch, it finally took on a scent we could all live with. While the color bothered me less, Gabe continued to whine about it, and eventually I broke down and purchased a cover for it, just so I wouldn’t have to hear about it anymore. When it came to the noise, I did nothing at all. In the end, it had a better effect than I could ever have imagined. Not only did it keep people from having sex on it, it also kept them from sitting on it while playing video games, since the constant shifting around they did while engaged in their games created so much noise it became distracting. Instead, they opted to move the games to Gabe’s room, where they could sit on his bed while they played on his flat screen TV. From then on, the living room was a completely different place. No longer did I have to fight for the couch or the TV, they were both available any time I felt like sitting down to watch a movie or read a book. While I was the only one enjoying these perks, the guys did eventually move on and accept the changes that had been made against their will.
Noah and I had moved past the constant bickering and had now settled into a more peaceful stage of not talking at all. Sure, we still exchanged the basic niceties, but beyond that, our friendship had come to somewhat of a standstill. In some ways, I told myself that things were better this way, but the truth was that I missed him. Even when he was being an ass, I had always known that he cared about me. Our friendship had been such a certainty in my life that the thought of it wavering and possibly disintegrating all together wasn’t something I had ever even considered until now. In spite of evidence to the contrary, I told myself that things would be fine. That if enough time passed, things would eventually return to the way things had always been. In the end, that was easier than dealing with the alternate possibility of losing him all together.
As the weather was continuing to get hotter with the summer approaching so rapidly, Tara and I were spending more and more time at the beach. Working on our tans, we took in the nice, warm, balmy breezes before vacation season hit and all hell broke loose, turning our beaches from a relaxing retreat, into a stress filled sandbox.
It was on one of those beach days that Jason decided to take it upon himself to break into my laptop to retrieve some information he was after. He had spotted my bag with the laptop in it lying on the small table by the chairs. Glancing around sneakily, he casually strolled over to the table and pulled the computer from my bag. Sure that no one was watching, he walked with the computer over to the small desk in the living room and began to power it up. Much to his disappointment, he soon realized that I had put a password in place to prevent this very thing from happening. After struggling to crack my code for some time on his own, he decided to enlist Gabe in his mission, who was an all too willing participant from the moment he walked in the front door and spotted my laptop in Jason’s hand.
The two of them continued to try every word combination they could think of, unsuccessfully. They were so engulfed in what they were doing, they hadn’t heard when Noah came in through the back door, and even now that he was standing right behind them, they were completely startled by the sound of his voice as it broke their concentration.
“What are you guys doing?” Noah asked, taking a sip from the soda he was holding. Standing behind Jason looking over his shoulder at my laptop in front of them, Gabe decided there was no point in trying to make something up, so he went straight for the more obvious truth.
“Trying to break into Lucky's computer.”
“Why?”
Without looking up from the computer, Jason answered him, “We have a bet going about our finals. If her students get more A's then mine do, I owe her a hundred bucks, and vice versa.” He began typing again and was denied once more, a second after he hit enter.
“So?” Noah wasn’t seeing the connection. Finally, Jason turned around to look at him.
“So, she already gave her finals and I'm giving mine tomorrow. I want to see the grades so I know whether or not to make my final a little easier.”
“And that's in the best interest of your students, of course,” Noah stated sarcastically.
“Of course,” Jason nodded vigorously. Gabe was beginning to get impatient.
“Man, are you going to help us or what?” he demanded of Noah who was still standing in the doorway drinking his soda.
“It's her middle name,” Noah shrugged, as though it was obvious.
“Oh, great. Like I know what that is.” Jason felt no more optimistic than he had before Noah showed up.
“Try, Marie,” Gabe added, sounding helpful.
“Ok.” Jason began to type it, when he heard Noah let out a loud snort.
“Marie? Why, Marie?”
“I don't know, Lucky Marie, just sounds good.” Clearly unaware that he had said anything funny, Gabe looked back at the computer screen to see if his guess had been correct.
Only Jason had stopped typing and Noah had begun to laugh.
“Are you serious? Her name isn't actually Lucky, you dumbass.”
“It's not?” Gabe asked, sounding very confused. Jason looked up at him and smirked.
“It's Lindsay.”
“Lindsay? Are you sure? She doesn't look like a Lindsay.” Gabe was in total disbelief.
“Trust me, she's a Lindsay. And her middle name is Rose,” Noah replied, still looking amused as he passed them and went up the stairs. Jason watched him leave before he turned back to the computer and began to type in ‘Rose’.
“Ok, let's see if he's right...and he is! Perfect.”
Gabe was suddenly less interested in the computer. Instead he was looking rather disgruntled, as he muttered to himself, “How the hell did he know that and we didn't?”
“I don't know, but I am totally out of a hundred bucks,” Jason said only half listening, as he began scanning the files he had been searching for.
Just then, I opened the door and walked in, with a cooler in one hand and my beach chair in the other, while my extremely large, blue, beach bag was flung over my left shoulder. I took two steps inside, before letting everything drop to the floor. I slipped out of my flip-flops and caught a glimpse of Jason and Gabe suspiciously hunched over the desk. Then, I raised my eyes and saw the guilt on their faces.
“So...do you want to just give me the money now?” I asked sounding as cocky as I could.
“Absolutely not! I could still win,” Jason replied with fierce determination, but we both knew he didn’t have a chance.
“Sure you could.” I grinned and gave him a wink, as I walked past them toward the kitchen. Gabe, who hadn’t said anything until now, suddenly fell into step behind me.
“Hey, Lucky....or should I say, Lindsay?!” He sounded almost accusing.
“You could I guess...” With my forehead scrunched in befuddlement, I looked over at Jason for some kind of help.
“He thought Lucky was your real name,” he answered matter-of-factly and continued reviewing my files.
“Oh...ok,” I said, still not sure what the problem was.
“That's all you have to say? Ok?” To my surprise, Gabe looked genuinely hurt.
“Kind of, yeah. What did you want me to say?”
“Girl, I thought we were friends.” He was shaking his head and looking at me with his big brown eyes, using them scrupulously to convey his disappointment to me.
“Aw, Gabe the Babe, got his feelings hurt?” It was hard not to sound as though I was mocking him.
“Maybe just a little,” he said, still looking pitiful, now having resorted to simply staring at the ground.
“Come here and let Mama make it all better.” I reached out my arms to give him a hug and he promptly trotted over to let me hold him.
“Feel better?” I asked, as I felt his hands beginning to wander.
“Almost.” Gabe squeezed a little tighter to ensure I didn’t let go just yet.
Having finally finished snooping through all of my files, Jason stood up from the computer. He made a face when he caught sight of us.
“Ok, well, I'm going to leave since you two are busy groping each other.”
“Are you feeling left out?” I hadn’t been this popular in a long time.
“A little, but I know where to go to get some groping of my own.” He grinned and grabbed his keys. A few seconds later he was gone.
Realizing that Gabe was still holding on to me and that his hands had now stopped moving and were comfortable resting on my ass, I felt it was best to move on to something else.
“Hey, you want to watch a movie tonight?”
He pulled back.
“Sure, here or at the theater?”
“Here, that way we can pause to pee.” I half expected to hear complaints about the couch again, but they didn’t come.
“Very true,” Gabe nodded.
“What do you want for dinner?” I asked, starting back on my path to the kitchen.
“I don't know, let’s just pick something up, when we get the movie,” he suggested. I stopped again and turned around.
“How’s now? I'm starving.”
“Now works.”
We were already half way to the door. I slipped back into my flip-flops, spent a minute digging around in my beach bag for my wallet, before Gabe told me to forget it and that he would pay, and we took off and began our impromptu Sunday night date.
We picked up some burgers while we were out and devoured them long before we ever got home. Thinking we would get hungry later and desire something to snack on during the movie, we pulled into the grocery store and loaded up on everything ‘snacks’. By the time we left, we had spent fifty bucks and were carrying multiple bags back out to the car.
When we got back home with our movie and food, I made a beeline for the couch preparing to unload. Gabe stopped me before I had a chance to pour out the bags’ contents and assertively grabbed me by the shoulders and pointed me towards the stairs, insisting that we must watch the movie in his room, since he would under no circumstances spend the next two hours trying not to move to avoid making any noise on our lovely new couch. It seemed reasonable enough to me, so we went upstairs. I dropped off our goodies in his room, before heading over to my own, where I quickly changed into some more comfortable clothes. I reappeared in Gabe’s doorway wearing baggy old sweats and a tank top. He was already sprawled out on his bed, wearing pajama pants and a T-shirt, digging around for some red vines amongst the various articles of junk food. I cleared off a side of the bed and joined him and we began our movie.
Two hours later, we were still in the exact same spot, completely surrounded by empty wrappers and half eaten bags of potato chips. The credits were scrolling down the screen of Gabe’s flat screen TV and he reached for the remote to shut it off. I pulled myself up from the pillows and sat up.
“I can't believe they ended it like that! I hate it when they leave you hanging like that!” I was pointing at the screen, which was now completely black.
“You know they just do that so they can make a sequel,” Gabe replied, grinning at me.
“Well, I still think they should finish one movie, before they worry about making the next one,” I mumbled as I sank back down into the bed.
“True. So, it's your birthday in two days. Are you excited?” Gabe’s unexpected change in subject garnered him a nasty glare.
“Gabe, I'm not five. Birthdays become less appealing the closer you get to thirty, and I am too close to be excited about anything.”
“Oh, come on. You aren't exactly old.” He was playfully poking me in the side.
“I guess. I don't know, birthdays just make me think of Grandma Pearl. You know, she used to bake me an Angel food cake every year. And it wasn't like my birthday cake for the party or anything. She would make it just for me and keep it here at the house, so I could eat it with her when I came over,” I said, suddenly taking on a more serious tone.
“I wish I could have met, Grandma Pearl,” Gabe added, sounding very genuine. I turned my head to look up at him and smiled.
“She would have liked you,” I said, imagining for a moment just what that meeting might have looked like. No doubt she would have had something to say about his crazy hair, but overall she would have given him high markings. Grandma Pearl had been an excellent judge of character and Gabe was good people, she would have seen it instantly.
As if he had heard what I was thinking, he smiled and said, “You think?”
“Absolutely,” I nodded.
“I'm sure I would have liked her, too.” He laid his head back on his pillow and stared up at the ceiling looking satisfied.
Realizing how long it had been since I had seen a clock I began to search the room for some sort of device that might tell me the time.
“Do you not have a clock in here? What time is it?”
Gabe reached down to his pocket and pulled out his cell phone.
“It's 12:30.”
I sat up again and stretched.
“No wonder I'm so tired. I better go to bed, I've got an early morning.” I began to yawn.
“You could always sleep in here. You know...if you are too tired to walk down the hall.” He patted the pillow beside him invitingly and I sank back down into it.
“Yeah? It is pretty comfy over here.” I rolled onto my side and curled up against him as he reached his arms around me and held me close. I exhaled slowly and closed my eyes, allowing the comfort of his embrace to sink in and ease the tension that I had been storing all throughout my body for weeks. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself face to face with Janette, Gabe’s girlfriend. Not surprisingly, he kept a framed photo of the two of them right on his nightstand right beside his bed. Feeling suddenly uncomfortable, I pulled away from Gabe and sat up again.
“You know, I better go to my room. I have my alarm set and stuff so it will just be easier that way,” I said, already standing up and walking towards the door.
“Are you sure?’ Gabe asked, trying once more to entice me to stay.
“Uh-huh. Good night, Gabe. Thanks for the movies and dinner.” Something about spending the night with Janette’s boyfriend, even if it was just to sleep, didn’t seem so appealing with her eyes piercing into me the entire time. I turned and smiled at Gabe one last time before I turned and walked out of the room.
“Night,” he called after me and I could hear a distinct tone of disappointment in his voice, as I quietly walked along the hall and into my bedroom. Closing the door behind me, I slipped out of my sweats and crawled into my own cold and empty bed. I tried fluffing up the pillows around me and tucking the blanket in tightly against my body to try and ease the feeling of being lost in too much space, but it didn’t work. The warmth that Gabe’s body had brought to mine had disappeared and left behind a chill that reminded me of how a cold stone felt to the touch. Frustrated with the thoughts that began to flood my mind, I stared at the ceiling in hopes that my brain would mirror the blank slate it was faced with. When that didn’t work, I pulled the blankets over my head and let out a muffled whimper.
The next thing I knew, I was throwing my blankets back to check my phone which had jingled out of the blue, indicating that I had received a text message. Not knowing who would be contacting me at such a late hour, I jumped out of bed to retrieve my phone from my purse. I slumped back onto my bed, when I saw who it was from. It was Gabe. I hesitated for a moment before reading the message.
“You should have spent the night with me.” I threw my head back into my pillow for a moment, then, knowing that no good could come from this, I began to text him back.
“Are you nuts?” I hit send. Seconds later my phone lit up again.
“Maybe.” Maybe? How about, definitely! Spending the night together in the same bed with the possibility of cuddling was one thing, but this was starting to feel more like I was being propositioned.
“I just don't think it would be right, with you having a girlfriend and all...remember?” I sent it.
“Oh ok, that is probably true.” His next message said, sounding more reasonable. I nodded to myself and began to type again.
“Glad you are seeing things my way.” I pushed send one more time and set the phone down, expecting that to be the end of things. Just as my head hit the pillow, my phone lit up again. Startled, I sat up and reached for the phone again.
“LOL, can't say you never thought about it though.” Instead of letting it go as I had suspected, he had opted to go the other route and was in turn becoming bolder in his messages. Well, there was no way I was admitting to anything.
“Maybe, maybe not.” I smiled smugly and waited for his reply.
“Liar! You know we have both thought about it.” I knew we were treading a thin line, but I couldn’t help myself. I was enjoying the unplanned flirtation. He was right, we had both thought about. Acting on it, however, was an entirely different subject.
“Doesn't really matter though, does it?” I replied, intending to steer us back to reality. When I received Gabe’s response I realized he wasn’t ready to return just then.
“That's a matter of opinion.” I stared at the words on the screen of my phone and started to picture what Gabe looked like right then. Was he sitting on the edge of his bed the way I was, anticipating the possible outcome of the conversation? Or was he lying down, relaxed and expecting me to come around. Then, I remembered the fact, that no matter where he was in his room, Janette’s beautiful face was only a few feet away. Angrily, my fingers started moving across the miniature keyboard of my phone.
