Grown Enough For Love - Chelsea Falin Page 0,1

and said it sounded like mewling.

“Is Jay here?” Savannah asked, pulling herself from the memory and Gabriel’s arms simultaneously.

Gabriel shook his head. “No. He’ll be home in about an hour if you want to wait.”

“Wait, what are you doing here, then?” Savannah asked, but the presence of Nanny offered a hint.

Gabriel shifted his weight from one foot to the other. As he did, Savannah noticed a definition in his lean muscles that hadn’t been there four years ago. “Oh, Jay didn’t tell you? Yeah, me and Rio live here now.”

Savannah cocked her head to the side in confusion. “Rio?”

Gabriel chuckled. “My son.”

“Wait… how out of the loop am I? I didn’t know you had a son.” Savannah shook her head. A lot of things had changed while she’d been gone.

Gabriel shrugged. “You never called, I guess. I know you never called me.”

Savannah snorted. “I didn’t phone my parents unless I had to, and I called Jay several times. But, he never mentioned you had a son or you lived with him.” Savannah’s face grew stormy. “And I didn’t call you because Marissa made it very clear she didn’t want me to.”

Gabriel shifted his weight again. He’d done that when nervous since he was a kid. “Yeah, well, Marissa knew you had a crush on me when you were a kid, and she was the jealous type.”

Savannah’s eyes grew wide and her jaw dropped. “Crush on you? On you? Whoever said that?”

Gabriel’s face broke into a huge grin. “Oh, c’mon now, my little kitten. You wrote ‘I love Gabriel’ all over your notebooks in primary.”

Savannah blanched and then she blushed. For some incredible reason, she’d thought her schoolgirl crush on Gabriel had been a secret. Savannah had thought wrong.

When Savannah stayed silent (and red), Gabriel laughed and patted her on the back. “Oh, it’s fine. You were a kid, and all little girls have crushes on their brother’s best friend.” His smile stayed fixed, but his eyes flicked up and down quickly. “Although, I have to say, you’re certainly not a little girl, anymore. My kitten’s all grown up.”

The tone in his voice made Savannah blush again, but Gabriel only laughed. He opened the screen door and waved his arm for her to go inside. Savannah sat on the old but comfortable green couch Jay had kept since moving in here six years ago. It was the only seating in the tiny living room, so Gabriel sat beside her.

Gabriel leaned back into the seat, with his long legs stretched out before him. Savannah felt butterflies in her stomach and chastised herself yet again. She wasn’t a little girl, anymore, and all those years of crushing on Gabriel were plain silly. He'd never (and would never) think of her as anything more than his best friend’s little sister… or a mewling, wet kitten. Or would he? The way he’d looked her over was something Gabriel wouldn't have done before she left.

Steering her thoughts away from such ridiculousness, Savannah asked, “How long have you been living here with Jay? And why? What happened with Marissa?”

Savannah was happy Marissa was no longer in the picture, and that had nothing to do with her schoolgirl crush on Gabriel. Marissa had been an evil woman, and Savannah had never understood what Gabriel saw in her, to begin with. Unless it was Marissa’s huge breasts, big bottom, and tiny waist, that was. But half the guys in town had been given the opportunity to appreciate those assets.

Gabriel’s handsome face grimaced. “Well, after I knocked her up almost three years ago, Marissa decided she didn’t want to be a mom… and she said, in her own words, I’d become boring in bed.” He sighed.

Savannah’s face grew warm thinking about Gabriel in bed. Before she could stop herself, she asked, “And are you boring in bed?”

Gabriel turned towards her with a wicked grin. He laughed softly, and said, “Decidedly not.” He punctuated his statement with a wink and Savannah wanted to crawl away somewhere.

What was wrong with her? It wasn’t like she was an eighteen-year-old virgin leaving home for the first time again. Savannah had done a good amount of experimenting in college like every small town person tries to do. Here with Gabriel, however, she suddenly felt inexperienced, shy… too young.

Gabriel was staring now with an eyebrow raised. “Are you okay, Savannah? You’re acting kind of strange.” He shrugged. “Well, maybe that’s how you act, now.” Gabriel smiled sadly. “It has been a while, hasn’t it? I remember