Page 69 of A Lot Like Adiós
All right. For the fans.
Chapter 15
He knows we’re having sex,” Gabe muttered darkly as Michelle locked the front door of her parents’ house. Focusing on his embarrassment over the Condom Aisle Confrontation kept all the other uncomfortable feelings at bay, but it required constant effort.
“Gabe, you’re thirty-one, not sixteen. Chill.” Michelle took his arm and steered him toward the steps. The only benefit to getting caught by his dad was that he no longer had to sneak in and out through the back of the Amatos’ house.
Gabe was wearing the same slacks he’d worn the day before and the nicest of the T-shirts he’d packed, but he kept touching his neck like he should be wearing a tie or something. Michelle had put on black jeans that made her ass look fantastic, and a sleeveless red wrap top that emphasized her hourglass figure.
“Should I go back and shave?” Gabe touched his cheek, felt the beard growth there. “I should shave.”
“You don’t need to shave. I like your face as it is.” She sent him a saucy grin and kept hold of his arm, probably so he couldn’t make a run for it.
They’d come up with a story to explain why Gabe was there,seeded with snippets of truth. According to the fabrication they’d concocted, Gabe had seen one of Jasmine’s Instagram pictures, which had led him to finding Michelle’s account. He’d DMed her—Michelle had insisted on this part, as penance for all the years hehadn’treplied to her messages—and they’d started talking. As they rekindled their old friendship, one thing led to another. Gabe had come to New York to stay with Michelle for a few days, to see if the spark they felt online existed in person, and he’d just gotten there the night before.
Why all the secrecy? Because they knew everyone would make a huge deal about it, and since this was so new, they wanted time to explore it alone before bringing their big nosy families into it, especially with Gabe’s complicated history with his own parents.
Michelle had crafted most of the story, and Gabe had been too absorbed in ironing his T-shirt to give much input. But something about it reminded him of all the times they’d brainstormed plot points for their fanfic together. Back and forth, coming up with bigger and more outrageous galactic adventures for Zack and Riva. He’d missed that.
Even armed with what Michelle had claimed was a convincing lie, Gabe’s stomach was still tied in knots as they made their way over to his parents’ house and up the steps to the front door.
Part of him wanted to run all the way back to California and pretend none of this had ever happened.
Another part of him just wanted to get this over with.
And yet another part wanted to see his mom again. She’d reached out to him after the blowup with his dad at Nikki’swedding, but as he had with Michelle, Gabe had ignored her entreaties.
At the door, Michelle slid her hand down his arm to lace her fingers with his. She gave his hand a light squeeze.
“You should ring,” she said softly, smiling up at him. “It’ll be okay. I’m right here.”
Gabe took strength from her reassuring smile. As much as he wished he’d never started this ruse, and as much as he wanted to blame her for dragging him back to the Bronx in the first place, he was glad to have her by his side so he didn’t have to do this alone.
Clinging to her with one hand, he raised his other one and rang the doorbell.
The familiarbing-bonghe remembered from his childhood rang out, and he held his breath. A moment later, the door swung open, and his mother’s face appeared on the other side of the screen.
“¡Mi Gabriel!” she cried, then pushed open the screen door to let them in. “Ay dios mío. Get inside, get inside.”
“Hi, Mami.” Gabe stepped into the house and was hit with the familiar aromas of lemon polish and his mom’s cooking. It slammed him back to his past just as his mother threw her arms around his neck and hugged him so tight he thought he would choke.
“Ay mi nene,” she crooned. “Mi bebe.”
Gabe hugged her back, astonished by how small she felt. She’d always been short, but now she seemed tiny. Was he really that much bigger? Or was she shrinking with age?
That thought upset him, so he pushed it away, holding his mother while she rocked him.
Finally, she released him, and lifted a hand to wipe her eyes.
Fuck, he’d made his momcry.
“Mami, no llores,” he pleaded, feeling like the worst son in the world.
“Estoy bien,” she said, brushing him off. Then she clapped her hands on his shoulders and squeezed his biceps, shooting Michelle a knowing look. “Mira, qué grande y fuerte.”
Michelle smiled easily and leaned in to kiss the older woman on the cheek. “Hola, Norma. Nice to see you.”
Norma looped her arm through Gabe’s and walked him toward the kitchen. Despite the years, his mother’s brown skin remained smooth and her spiraling curls were still dark, with only a little gray at her temples. “Oye, muchacho. I wanted to go over there right away, pero your father told me lo que estabas comprando, y él lo dijo qué I shouldn’t interrupt you.”
