Gio

Hell yeah. I'm on fire today! All these genius ideas keep coming, and my body feels alive and flowing with good energy. One after the other, these unique thoughts pop into my head like beautiful bubbles filled with groundbreaking ideas. They are coming in fast recently, and I have to write them down before the complexity of them pops and evaporates away, never to be grasped again. I've run out of room in my notepad, so I found some old Post-it notes in a drawer, and I'm making a little row along the edge of my desk to come back to later.

I turn the fan on my desk to high. It's been hotter than usual today and strangely thick with humidity. It's only the first week in September, and late summer heat waves here are usually more like an oven than a sauna. All the curtains are drawn to keep out the sun, and thankfully, I've been able to keep the house a few degrees cooler.

Weathering steel. Yes. That'll hold the bank back there. All the angles should relate and be outwardly proportional. The ratio should be the same as the ratio of their sum to the larger of the two. Yeah. That's right. Fibonacci. We could do the planting like that, too. Fuck yes! It's perfect. 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89—

"Babe, everything okay? You haven't started dinner." I hear Ren's distant voice in the hallway. She must have just got home from work.

"Sorry, I just got caught up in stuff," I say, unable to unglue my eyes from my drawings. I just need to get this idea out.

"Why is the table shaking?" 

I glance over to see Ren standing in my office, staring at me funny.

"What?" 

I look under the drafting table, and my leg is bouncing under the desk rapidly, making the table vibrate. Huh. I hadn't noticed. Whatever. I swing around in my chair to face her. Wait till she hears this! 

"I had a brand new idea for the Taylor job! Remember the terraces? Yeah, that, but imagine them curved into the landscape!" I make a sweeping gesture with my hands. "The pea gravel paths will wind down through long ornamental grasses to reveal a fire pit and more gardens. I want to pull in some giant boulders to make it look really natural and rugged but also perfectly geometrically related. Isn't that an amazing concept?

"Yeah, it's—"

"I'm so inspired recently! I interject, standing up. "All these great ideas keep flooding in!" Putting my hands on her shoulders, I pull her into a big hug.

Mmm, she's so soft and warm. I love her. I'm so glad she's home. I pull back to kiss her, and her kiss floods my body with endorphins. I deepen the kiss, feeling a rush and arousal growing, and I can help but move my hand to her juicy ass.

"Gio," Ren says, pulling back and removing my hand.

Ugh. She's been such a wet blanket since we got home from Hawaii. She hasn't wanted to have sex at all, and my body is constantly reminding me. I've had to self-soothe in the shower every morning just to keep my sanity, but it's not enough. I've been getting hard at the drop of a hat the last two days. I jerked off again last night, too. I feel like I'm sixteen again! Why can't Bella be taking advantage of all this energy with me?

But I don't want to start a fight, so I try to refocus on my project. Sitting down at the desk, I remember the other exciting project I worked on last night. "You should see what I did for the job on Sky Ridge, Bella. It's genius! Let me show you!" I quickly rifle through the large sheets of paper on my desk.

"Gio, did you eat lunch today?"

"Hmm? Um, I had a banana, I think, in the car on the way home, I'm really not hungry, it's so hot out today, yanoe?" I say in one breath so I can move on to more important thoughts.

"Um, you sure you're okay, though?"

All these questions... they grate on my skin. Can't she see I'm in a good mood? Getting things done? I wish she'd lighten up.

"Yep." I pop the P sound at the end without looking at her.

She turns to leave but then turns back. "Oh! Here. This came for you." She tosses a letter by my elbow on my desk and sighs dramatically. "I guess I'll go make a salad for dinner."

Unbothered, I grab the envelope and look at the front. What's this?  It has my name written elegantly on the front, but I don't recognize the handwriting. It's definitely not a bill—a cheque from a client, maybe? I check the return address, and my heart stops.

♥︎♥︎♥︎

Fifteen minutes later, Ren calls me to dinner. I stalk into the dining room, grab the plate of salad, and dump myself in a chair at the table.

"What's-a-matter with you?"

"Nothing," I growl, folding my arms.

Ren bites back an inappropriate smirk. "It's definitely not nothing. What just happened?"

"The letter you just threw on my desk?" I say, arching an eyebrow sardonically. "My dad sent it."

Finally taking it seriously, she comes to sit opposite me at the table. "Really? What did he say?" 

I huff, and my leg starts bouncing quickly again. "I read two sentences and then threw it in the garbage."

Her eyes go wide. "What?"

Fuck! I hate that I'm so agitated right now; I was in the flow. This is all his fault. My whole life's his fucking fault.

"Like he thinks he can just walk right back into my life like nothing happened! Fuck off. Like, where was he when I actually needed him? To be there to play ball with me, teach me about girls, stop me from doing all that bad shit. To take care of me, to take care of my mom!"

"Babe—"

"Don't defend him, Ren. She'd probably been able to see a real doctor and be alive still if he hadn't left us! I don't need him now!" I slam my hands with a shocking bang on the table. "He can go fuck himself for all I care!"

Ugh. I don't want to feel like this. I was feeling amazing earlier. I get up suddenly, my chair screeching on the tile floor, and cross to the window, folding my arms again and looking out into the distance.

"Gio, I know he doesn't deserve anything from you, but you forgave me for leaving you, and look what happiness it's brought us."

"You're not blood, Ren," I say, turning around. "You were allowed to leave me. He's my father! There's no excuse!"

She gets up to stand by me, rubbing my shoulder. "I get it. I do."

"Err!" I grit and pull my shoulder from under my hand. "No, you don't... thankfully. Sorry. I just need to go for a walk," I sigh.

"But what about dinner?"

"I'm not hungry. I'll be back. I just need to cool off," I grumble, crossing to open the back door. "God damn it, it's so hot!" I yell, slamming the door behind me.

♥︎♥︎♥︎

I rub off the sweat from my forehead with my wrist, listening to the familiar sound of gravel crunching under my feet as I walk back up our long driveway. I don't know why our cool coastal breeze hasn't shown up yet. 

My gait is lighter as is my mood as I head toward the house. I turn the old brass knob and open the back door with its familiar creak. I see Ren in her usual corner of the sofa with a book, but I head straight for the fridge. I need something cool to eat. Pulling out a jar of pickles, I go to sit next to Bella on the sofa.

"What are you doing?" she asks me with obvious irritation. 

What's with her lately?

"Sitting next to you? Is that a problem?"

"Um, nooo." Bella rubs her forehead, looking hot and exhausted—poor thing, she probably has a shitty day at work, and I'm not helping.

"Ugh," I sigh, putting an arm around her. "Sorry about earlier, Bella. I don't know, that letter totally threw me, but I feel much better now. Annnd... I had a great idea for the wedding when I was out on my walk." I kiss her on the cheek.

"Gio, what's up with you? You left twenty minutes ago, totally worked up, and now you're back, as cool as a cucumber, and want to talk about the wedding?"

"Nothing's wrong with me, Ren. I just got over it. I mean, why does he get to control my mood? I'm beyond that now. I want to live in the present. The past is the past, who cares, there's so much else to focus on and do! I'm just going to ignore it. Life is what you make it, and I don't want to let him or anyone else bring me down. You can let it go, you can choose, live for today, and all that shit they say. I love you Bella, you're much more my family to me than he is! And we will be a family soon, we will be, let me tell you—"

"Babe," she interrupts me.

Irritation prickles me again as I lose my train of thought. "What?"

"You're, you're. I don't know. Are you sure you feel okay?"

"That's like the millionth time you've asked me that in the last two days! I'm fine. I'm great, actually. I'm just not going to let him disrupt my good mood. This is what I was talking about. Why can't I just be excited like normal people!"

"You seem... more than normal." She bites her lower lip nervously. "I mean... I can tell you're feeling good, mostly... but...you're not sleeping well and forgetting things, like forgetting to eat, and—"

"I'm taking my medication, Ren!" 

I know what she's getting at, and I can see maybe that's what it looks like... but... fuck. I'm going to see Dr. Thompson tomorrow anyway. I can talk about it with him. Ugh. Why does everyone want to knock me down right now? It's not like she hasn't also been in a heightened emotional state since we've been home. Maybe it's this strange weather.

"It's hot!" I continue. "You're just in a bad mood. You have been all week."

Her face screws up, and anger flashes through her eyes, but then she lowers her gaze. "Okay, yeah, maybe," she grumbles. 

She sighs and rolls her head in a circle to relax and I take the moment to pull a pickle from the jar.

"Why are you eating pickles? I made you a salad for dinner!" she snaps.

"Sor-ry. I totally forgot, okay?" I grit, getting up to grab the fucking salad.

"Wait," she says, holding my arm. "Maybe I'll have one of those."

"What? You've always said you hate pickles, Bella."

Jesus. If anyone is acting strange, it's her.

"Those are the fresh ones you bought at the farmers market, right? I don't know. Those smell really good to me right now."

"Be my guest," I say, holding the jar out.

She takes a bite and softly closes her eyes. Well, she obviously likes them. I pluck one out for me and enjoy its deliciously refreshing crispness.

"I know you won't completely agree, Gio," she says, finishing crunching on her last bite. "But you know, if you don't try to give things a second chance, you might miss out on something really good."

She grins at me with a cheeky look. Good. I love cheeky Ren.

"Are you trying to turn you finally trying a pickle and liking it into an analogy to try to make me see my dad?" I smirk.

She smirks back. "Maaaybe," she sings with a sparkle in her eyes. 

Fuck, she's so sexy right now. I get up off the sofa and press play on my Queen CD I have in the stereo, turning the volume up and grinning widely.

"Come here, Bella," I say, taking her hand and pulling her to stand. "I think you've been missing out on something else really good recently." I place her hand on my quickly stiffening cock.

She giggles as she grasps it, and my body goes electric. She wants to play, too. Finally! I kiss her on the neck and enthusiastically feel her up. She doesn't try to stop me; in fact, she hums softly as I pinch her nipple and grabs me tighter. YES! Game on. Immediately, I take her hand and pull her to the bedroom. I need her naked fucking pronto.

"What about your dinner, Gio?"

"Oh, yeah. Later. I'm more interested in feasting on you right now."

She bites back a smile. "You think too much with that big dick of yours sometimes, smart-ass."

"Yeah? Well, we'll see who's ass is about to smart, Bellisima." I grin and spank her. "But speaking of smart. After you get what's coming to you, I want to show you what I've been working on. It's going to blow your fucking mind!" 

♥︎♥︎♥︎

https://youtu.be/qaH7exO9GzQ