Wayward Son (Jensen Family #3) (50 page)

“If you wish to continue leading this team, you need to bulk up and work
on your speed
.
” Coach repl
ied
.
“The other
commitments can be taken again at a later date
.
”

Gavin wiped the sweat from his face and glanced up at Angel before
replying
,
“I’ve already
told Coach Bates that I would be with him for the entire season
,
” he said referring to his swimming
coach.

“Then I suggest you tell him that you are no longer able to do that
.
” Coach Byrne replied “Why did you
commit to the swim team anyway?”

“I wasn’t Captain at the time so it didn’t matter
.
”

“It matters now
,
so you need to
drop swimming. Just because
the rugby season is
almost over it doesn’t mean you can lay off the weights and training you know
and I suggest you also distance yourself from personal distractions
,
” he looked over to Angel.

“I’m not distracting him
,
” she protested
.
“I just happen to be
here at the same time as he is
.
”

“Hmm
,
” Coach
muttered, he turned back to Gavin
.
“I want to
weigh you
.
”

“Yes coach
.
” Gavin
acquiesced.

“Hit the showers boys
.
” Coach Byrne
called as he led Gavin over to the scales.

They had the remainder of the days lessons
together then Gavin dropped Angel at her house before returning home and
spending a quiet evening with Novak, finally going to bed early and watching
television. He was dozing his way through a repeat of C.S.I when his mobile
rang.

“Hello gorgeous
,
” he sm
iled into the phone.

“Hi
,
” Angel was also
smiling
.
“I enjoyed
watching you in the gym today
.
”

“I bet you did
,
” he laughed
.
“Did you enjoy Coach having a go about
my weight too?”

“No, of course not but I do think he’s right. You said yourself that
Rugby is
your dream and if that means you have to put
on more muscle then that’s what you have to do
.
”

“Yeah, I guess, I don’t like to get too big though, I’ve done it before
and just
end up looking way too butch
.
”

Angel laughed
.
“I don’t think
you could ever look like that. How much weight have you lost?”

“Just over half a stone
.
”

“That’s too much, I saw you before you lost it and I prefer you heavier
,
” she told him.

“Huh, really? I don’t have a problem going back up to that
weight but I don’t want to get much heavier than that
.
”

“It’s not like you get fat is it? You just need to put on some muscle
bulk, a little more won’t hurt, and I’d like it quite a bit
.
”

“I’ll see how it goes. Coach wants me lifting 250 pounds by the end
of the summer so I’m going to be putting in a lot of gym
time
.
” he warned.

“Are you trying to distance yourself from me already?” she asked.

“No, just being away from you tonight is killing me
,
” he replied
.
“Tell me something, why do you like
me?”

“Isn’t t
hat obvious?”

“Er, no. Going on our initial meeting, I appear to be everything you
despise. I’m scruffy, athletic, moody, outspoken and a bit of a ladies’ man so
you can see why I don’t get it.”

“You are opinionated, not outspoken, your buff not athletic a
nd boy are you pretty.” She breathed
.
           “You are intelligent and
talented as well as kind and thoughtful, the fact that you have a temper and
have been a bad boy in the past only adds to your appeal. I thought I would
hate it if you were overprotec
tive, which you are by
the way, but I actually like it, all the time you are around, no-one will touch
me, I feel safe and protected with you, I don’t have to pretend to be anything
other than who I am
.
O
f course, the killer smile and beautiful
body are al
so quite attractive but I really only like
you for your car
,
” she heard him
laugh softly
.
“What’s wrong?”
she asked, he was usually so confident and
self-assured
,
but
tonight he seemed a little less sure of himself.

“I’m nervous about the game, if we lose
,
there goes my stint as Captain. A lot
rides on this game, if we win this, we are county champions
,
if we mess up the
n the
other team gets the title
.
”

“You can only do your best
,
” she told him.

“Yeah, I know
,
” he paused
.
“I wish you were here
.
”

“That can b
e arranged
,
” she answered
.
“Dad and his disapproving looks are
out, I’ll get Mum to drop me over
.
”

“I’m supposed to be resting
,
” he said but he
was smiling.

“I’ll help you sleep
,
” she crooned
and within ten minutes she was in his bedroom, slipping out of h
er clothes and under the covers.

Coach ripped a few strips from him the following day when he arrived at
college with Angel, a fresh bite mark on his neck and dark circles under his
eyes, he stepped out of the office and straight into Quinn who smirked at
him as he had just listened to each and every insult and
threat the Coach had thrown Gavin’s way.

“Watch where you’re going?” he snarled at Gavin.

“If you had any sense, you’d steer well clear of me
,
” Gavin replied.

“You can’t touch me without being arrest
ed, you
know it, I know it and by now most of the college will know it too
,
” Quinn spoke loudly, hoping everyone
would hear
.
“I’m not scared
of you
.
”

“I don’t care if you are or not
,
” Gavin sh
ot back
.
“Just stay out of my way and we won’t
have a problem
.
”

“Boys
.
” Coach warned
.
“Nice of you to show your face Quinn
.
”

“Yeah, sorry Coach, family business kept me from attending practice
.
”

“That’s not a good enough excuse, you will be spending today’s match on
the bench, I seriously doubt you are match fit anyway
.
Gavin has taken over as Captain
.
”

“You can’t do that
.
” Quinn shouted.

“It’s done, live with it
.
” Coach returned
to his office.

Quinn turned and stormed over to his locker and began pulling his kit
from it, throwing it on the floor. Gavin couldn’t help
laughing as he stripped down to his shorts, although he was relishing the
fact that Quinn had been put in his place, he wasn’t looking forward to the
medical he and the rest of the team would be required to have which Quinn would
be omitted from as he wasn
’t playing.

“Shut up
,
” Quinn snarled
as Gavin sauntered by.

“Make me
,
” he replied.

“You won’t be laughing when you lose, just remember that it was me who
guided the team into this position
.
”

“Win or lose Quinn, I’ll still be happy
,
” Gavin smiled
.
“I have y
our
place as Captain with the respect of the team, not only have you been
relegated, you’ve been benched too.  I’m already more popular than you
throughout the entire college as I don’t have to bully my way into people’s
affections, I have more natural tal
ent in my little
finger than you have in your entire body, oh, and I have your girl
…….
and she’s good
,
” he elongated the last the last word
.
“How does it feel to be a first class
loser?” Gavin didn’t wait for an answer
,
he joined the rest of the team and s
pent the
remainder of the day with them, preparing for the game.

Quinn went from being mildly irritated at Gavin’s presence to absolutely
fuming at his last words. He was angrier with Gavin than he was with Angel
,
as he now knew that Gavin would take
every
available opportunity to gloat at him and wind
him up. He had to find some way of getting this boy out of the college, he had
managed to spread the rumour about Gavin’s past criminal record in the hope
that at least some of his popularity would wane but i
t
seemed to have had the opposite effect, the rumour that it was Gavin who had
beaten Angel also failed miserably and Quinn was at a loss at what to do next,
at least he would be able to plot while he watched that afternoon’s game from
the bench.

As was t
he norm for the end of season game, the
players’ families were invited to attend and Gavin stepped onto the field
amidst loud cheers from Paul, Julian, Angel and Novak. Paul and Julian were
sitting three rows back from the pitch with Angel and Novak in fro
nt of them. While the players’ were warming up, Coach Byrne
took some time to introduce himself to Paul.

“I’m very pleased with Gavin’s performance and commitment Mr. Jensen
,
” he said
.
“I’ve asked him to bulk up a bit and
I’d appreciate it if you would enc
ourage him likewise
.
”