Page 346 of His Virgin Romance Series

GABBY

“Hi, you,” I said, picking up the phone.

“Hi,” Miles replied. He sounded a little off.

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

“Everything’s fine,” he said. “I just… what are our plans for tonight?”

“We didn’t really have major plans,” I admitted. “I thought we’d order in some food and watch a movie? Is that okay with you?”

“Sure,” Miles replied distractedly. “I just… before that… can we talk?”

“Oh… sure,” I said. “You sound nervous.”

There was a small pause. “I am.”

I smiled, realizing that it probably had something to do with the dinner tomorrow with his parents. He had been a little shaky the whole of today, and I knew this was a big deal to him. I had promised myself that I would do whatever it took to make him feel calm and supported. I had picked out my dress for the dinner. I wanted to make an impression, and I wanted Miles to be proud of me.

“Don’t worry,” I said softly. “Everything’s going to be fine. I’m right here with you.”

“I love you so much, Gabby,” Miles said, and his voice was pregnant with emotion.

I smiled. “I love you too.”

After he hung up, I ordered some pizza and then put on some classical music. I was tidying up the living room when the doorbell rang.

“That can’t be the pizza already,” I said, frowning.

I went to the door and opened it to find Mom and Seth standing there with smiles on their faces. “Surprise!” Seth said. “We’re crashing.”

“Oh my God,” I said, taken completely by surprise. “What are you guys doing here?”

“We realized that we weren’t going to get an invitation to come see your apartment or your roommate,” Mom said, wagging her eyebrows at me. “So we invited ourselves… and we brought Chinese takeout.”

“I just ordered pizza.”

“Great,” Seth said. “We’ll have a choice.”

I knew it had been a mistake giving mum and Seth my address, but it was also unavoidable. I sighed, smiled, and shook my head at both of them. “I was planning on inviting you guys over,” I said. “It’s just that things have been a bit hectic with finals and work.”

“Excuses, excuses,” Seth said teasingly.

“So,” Mom said, cutting in. “Where’s the boyfriend slash roommate?”

“That’s the real reason you’re here, isn’t it?” I asked.

“Duh.”

I laughed. “Oh, Mom, no one says ‘duh’ anymore.”

“I just did,” she retorted. “So that’s obviously not true.”

I shook my head at her and smiled. “He’s at work right now, but he should be back soon.”

Just then I remembered what Miles had told me about Seth and the fact that he might not be too happy to learn that Miles was my roommate and that we were dating now. I still found that odd, but I decided that since we had discussed waiting to tell my family, I should at least give him a heads up before he got home. So while Seth and Mom got comfortable in the living room, I snuck into my bedroom and dialed Miles’s number. I waited for a while, but he didn’t answer. I tried again, and this time the dial tone was different. I frowned, but the line went dead, and I realized that his phone had probably died on him. I sighed and headed back to the living room.

“I must say… the apartment’s nice,” Seth said, looking around.

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