Stay - Book two in The Stormforce series

Chapter 2

Gabe was slumped against the pillows of his hotel bed. His fingers grazed over his iPhone as he scrolled through the photos of Abby. When he came across the one of her sleeping, he felt as if an invisible hand was squeezing his heart. It was the first one he had taken of her, just after they met at the hospital. 

How could something so right, go so wrong? 

He should have gone with his gut and never responded to the letter from the hospital. Damn Mary and her meddling. He had gotten along quite nicely before that, never opening his heart to any woman. The closest he had got was Cherylynn. It had been fun to hook up with her whenever they could. But for him, it was only that, fun. Yeah and look how that turned out. How could he have predicted, that she would turn into some psycho bitch from hell? 

Running a hand through his curls, he looked up at the ceiling and blew out a long breath. What the fuck was he going to do, to win Abby back? 

His pity party was interrupted by a loud knock on the door. 

Reluctantly, he rose from the bed and went to see who it was. He really wasn't in the mood for company. 

He had barely turned the lock when the door was pushed open, just missing his face. In strode Pod, carrying a couple of pizza boxes and a brown paper bag. 

"If the mountain won't come to Mohammed, then the party will come to him." 

"Er yeah. Not exactly how the quote ends mate." Gabe sighed. 

Pod dumped the boxes on Gabe's bed and waved his comment away. "Whatever." 

He grinned as he pulled a large bottle of Wild Turkey out of the brown paper bag and waved it in Gabe's face. 

"What you need my friend, is to get totally shit faced and forget all your woes for a little bit. I'm fed up with you sulking in your room whenever we're not on the road or on stage." 

"And you think this will help because?" Gabe scowled at him. 

Pod concentrated on opening the bottle and pouring two shots before he answered. 

Handing one to Gabe, he clinked their glasses together. 

"In the long run? It probably won't. But it'll be a bit of a craic, and I'm bored shitless." 

He grinned and downed the shot in one. 

Gabe couldn't help smiling at Pod's use of the Irish term for fun. 

"Aaaah what the hell." He replied and downed his shot.

They spent the afternoon like a couple of teenagers. Eating pizza, getting drunk and attempting to play C.O.D on the Xbox. 

"Hey mate, you remember how we used to do this all the time before the band took off?" Pod asked Gabe. 

"Ha! Yeah, life was so much simpler then." Gabe chuckled. 

"Too right. The only problem we had then, was worrying about what Gaz and Phil would get up to next." Pod laughed. 

"You remember the time they stuck beer cans to our hands with super glue while we were sleeping?" 

"Aaargh, don't remind me. Our hands were so sore when we got the fuckers off, we couldn't play our guitars for over a week." Pod grumbled. 

"Yeah, but the payback was sweet." Gabe grinned. 

Pod started laughing as he remembered what they had done. 

"I wish I could have been a fly on the wall when those air horns went off in their bedrooms. Man, were their parents pissed at them for trying to sneak girls into their rooms at two in the morning." 

Gabe nearly choked on his pizza, he was laughing so hard. 

Pod looked over at his friend and gave himself a mental pat on the back. It would do Gabe good to let loose for a while, even if it was only temporary. He knew how much the guy was hurting over Abby.

As the afternoon turned to evening and the bottle emptied, they had to concede they were way too drunk to play the Xbox anymore. 

Gabe lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Pod joined him and they stayed that way, lost in their own thoughts. 

Pod was just starting to drift off to sleep when Gabe spoke. 

"Do you think she will want me back?" 

Pod considered the question. It wasn't easy getting his mind to focus, so he took a while before he answered. 

"I have to say, no one was more surprised than me, that you fell so hard for her. I never thought I would see the day when a woman would break through your defences." 

"Neither did I." Gabe sighed. 

"Well then. Why have you given up so easily?" 

"What do you mean?" Gabe turned his head to look at Pod and groaned as the room spun. 

Pod just lay there with his eyes closed, a smug grin on his face. 

"You need to woo her." 

"What the fuck does that mean? And how come you're suddenly such an expert on love and relationships?" Gabe snapped. 

"Ah, to be sure, are you forgetting where I come from?" Pod drawled in a thick Irish accent. 

"I wish I'd never asked." Gabe groaned. 

"All I'm saying is, you need to make a big romantic gesture. Show her how much you love her." 

"Oh, yeah? Do you have any ideas on that, oh great one?" Gabe asked with a sarcastic drawl. 

"Nope. Not a clue." Pod yawned, turned over and was snoring before Gabe could reply. 

"Thanks mate." Gabe grumbled, as he thumped his pillow and decided to let the alcohol do its thing, slipping into a dreamless sleep.