Wayward Son (Jensen Family #3) (22 page)

Shaking his head at her comment, “Trust me, no one there was insane
.
J
ust angry
,
but emotionally
stunted enough to be unable to verbalise and deal with it like a normal member
of society and you don’t leave group until you’ve spilled your guts,” he
answered.

“You don’t seem out of control now
,
” she observed.

“They broke me. I’m not th
at person anymore. I
still have a temper but I recognise the flash points now and can step away most
of the time. I’m just beginning to like who I am
.
”

“This last year has been hell then?” she asked.

“Pretty much, it’s starting to look up now though
,
” he s
miled
.
“We’d better start heading back,” his
phone bleeped, he chuckled at the message and held the screen towards Angel,
the message simply said
.
“Incoming
.
”
T
hey left the ice cream parlour and began a slow stroll back.

“Why don’t you tell Quinn
it’s
over
when we get back and let me take you
home? James and Novak can grab a lift with one of the others
.
”

“I want to do this my way Gavin, I know Quinn better than you do, if I
tell him now he’ll make a terrible scene and I really want to avoid that
.
”

“Fair en
ough, just call me when you get home,
let me know you’re safe
.
”

“I will, I promise
.
”

“The things we’ve talked about, they’re between me and you
,
” he said.

“That goes without saying, I would never tell anyone else
,
” they were walking close together,
their h
ands brushing against each other.

“Angel
,
” he stopped
walking and waited for her to turn to him
.
“You probably already know this but I’m going to say it anyway. I want
to be with you, I want everything, a relationship, everything. Crap.” He ran
his fingers
through his hair
.
“See what you do to me
?
I’m not even making sense
.
”

“Ssh
,
” she put her
finger to his lips then stepped in closer, lifting her lips to his and wrapping
her arms around his neck, revelling in the fuelled but gentle kiss they
exchanged. “Yo
u’ve got me
,
” she whispered against his lips
.
“You just need to give me a little time
to do the right thing
.
”

“Ok
.
”

Novak had got so wrapped up in rubbing sun lotion on Kiera’s back that he
had completely forgotten to keep an eye on Quinn, it wasn’t until
he’d heard the other boy call out Angel’s name that he
realised he’d screwed up.

“Fuck
,
” he murmured.

“Where’s Angel?” Quinn demanded of Kiera.

“Don’t know, I’ve been with Novak most of the day
,” s
he answered sitting up and clutching her
tiny bikini to her
more than considerable assets
drawing Novak’s gaze away from Quinn’s furious red face.

“Fine, where’s Gavin?”

“He went for a swim
,
” Novak’s head
snapped up to glare at Quinn.

“I’ve been on the water for hours and haven’t seen him
,
” Quinn answered
.
“You’re
lying
.
”

“Just one minute pal
,
” Novak started
coming to his feet
.
“Where the hell
do you get off calling me a liar? I’ve answered your question now fuck off
.
”

“If he’s with Angel, I’ll kill him
,
” Quinn threatened.

Novak drew himself up to his full six foot
four
inch height
.
“You’ll have to
go through me first
.
”

“That’s not a problem
.
” Quinn said but
he’d already taken a step back from the man mountain in front of him.

“Let me tell you something
,
” Novak stepped
forward
.
“If I hit you
it’s only going to sting
a little, if Gavin hits you,
he won’t stop until you need an ambulance and life support so I
suggest you back off , can you
r silly threats
and go look for your girlfriend elsewhere
.
”

Quinn was about to reply when one of his friends called him
,
“Quinn, loo
k
,
” he pointed down the beach. Everyone
turned to see Gavin and Angel strolling side by side towards them.

“Uh oh
,
” Gavin said as
he saw all the faces turned towards them.

“Novak’s a really crap look out
.
” Angel replied. They moved a little further away fr
om each other.

“Angel, come here
.
” Quinn demanded
as they got closer.

She felt Gavin tense beside her,

“Don’t let him talk to you like that
.
”

“Relax, its fine
,
” she speeded
up, pausing by Novak she hissed
.
“Thanks for the
early warning
.
”

Novak merely shrug
ged and made his way towards
Gavin.

Quinn grabbed Angel’s arm and pulled her roughly over to their chairs,

“You’
re hurting my arm
,
” she said calmly, prising his fingers
from her. Quinn responded by thro
wing her into one of the chairs,

“How dare you wander
off, especially with him,
I told you not to go anywhere near him, you lying bitch
,
” he shouted.

“That’s it
,
” Gavin went to
go to Angel’s side but Novak’s strong arm wrapped around his shoulder and
turned him away.

“Come with me my bad tempered friend
,
” he
said calmly.

“He shouldn’t treat her that way
.
” Gavin seethed.

“No he shouldn’t but equally, it’s got nothing to do with you and he’s
not worth going to prison for
.
”

Gavin sighed
.
“You’re right,
he’s not
.
”

Quinn, emboldened by being surrounded by his
friends
decided to take things one step further
.
“That’s right, walk away, your friend
has already started fighting your battles for you, you pussy
,
” he shouted.

“
I take it back, h
e is worth going to prison for
,
” Gavin growled, turning away from Novak, tre
mbling
with rage.

Large strong hands grasped his shoulders and Novak’s brown eyes stared
into his
,
“I’ll handle
this
,
” he told him then began to walk away.
Instinct told him Gavin was right behind him; he whirled to face the younger
boy. Putting both hand
s on his chest he pushed Gavin
backwards
.
“Stay
,
” he told him then went to deal with
Quinn.

“I’m a very patient person
,
” he told Quinn
.
“But you are getting on my last nerve,
was my warning earlier not enough to deter you?”

“I don’t have a problem with you
,
” Quinn replied
.
“It’s that
coward who needs to face me
,
” he pointed in
Gavin’s direction.

“Right now, he is a seething ball of anger, if I step aside and let him
at you,
you’ll die, I guarantee it. Your
problem is
,
you think he’s
done things with your girlfriend that he hasn’t, it’s all in that tiny little
head of yours. His problem is you treat your girlfriend like a dog, you expect
her to obey your every command
,
only you’ve got
yourself a girl who has a brain and
can think for
herself and you don’t like it. We’re going to pack up and leave now, I don’t
want to hear one more word from you
.
I
f I do
, I’ll deck you myself
.
”
H
e stepped around Quinn and helped Angel
to her feet
.
“Are you ok?”
he asked, examining the red
welts on her arm
.

“Yes, I’m fine
,
” she answered.

“You should come with us
,
” he told her.

“Thank you Novak, but I’ll be ok here
.
”

Novak returned to Gavin’s side
,
“
w
e should go
,
” he said quietly.

“You should let me at him
,
” Gavin replied.

“Listen to me
,
” No
vak frowned at his friend
.
“He really isn’t worth it
.
”

“No, but she is
.
”

“Holy shit
!
You’re in love
.
” Novak grinned.