Page 89 of A Lot Like Adiós
Gabe stood next to Michelle in her brother’s old room, staring at the bed like the floral coverlet concealed bear traps.
“I didn’t see this coming,” he said in a low voice. “I figured they’d make me sleep on the sofa. Or in the backyard.”
While Gabe had loved sharing a bed with Michelle at the hotel, after his talk with Nikki, he was finally seeing the wisdom behind Michelle’s no-bed-sharing rule. They neededmorespace between them, not less.
“I kind of did expect it,” Michelle admitted. “That’s why I washed the sheets from the other room and made up the bed like I hadn’t been sleeping in there.”
“Ah. I was wondering why you’d decided to do laundry at the crack of dawn before we drove upstate.”
“Clearly my mother has decided it’s better to risk un escándalo than get in the way of our secret romance. We should make sure the condoms haven’t been tampered with.”
Gabe shuddered. “I hope you’re kidding.”
“I am. Mostly.”
“That’s not comforting.”
“Look,” she said. “The bedrooms are connected. We’ll waituntil my parents go to sleep, and I’ll sneak into the other room through the bathroom. Then I’ll get up early and remake the bed so my mom doesn’t know I slept in there.”
He shook his head. “Your mom will definitely know. These walls are thin, and as you might have noticed, we’re not great at sneaking around.”
Michelle pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes and groaned. “God. You’re right. We suck at this.”
“I could go sleep next door in my parents’ house.”
“How the hell would you explain that? You’d have to tell your dad the truth about why you’re in New York. Are you ready to do that?”
No. He wasn’t. “Should we tell them we had a fight?”
“They’d ask a million questions, and our moms aresuperexcited about this dinner tomorrow. It would crush them.”
It echoed what Nikki had said earlier, and Gabe felt a pang of regret. He should’ve just told his father the truth—that he was in New York for work and Michelle was helping him.
But he still would’ve had to explain the condoms. And why he’d been sneaking around next door. And why he hadn’t called them in nine—
Never mind.
“We technically shared a bed last night,” he pointed out. As awkward as the whole thing was, part of him really looked forward to cuddling with her all night again.
“That was a hotel,” Michelle replied softly, and Gabe understood the distinction. It had been a place where they could play pretend and indulge in all their fantasies together. But now, back in her parents’ house, they were confronted with reality.
And a lack of privacy.
“Besides, your parents are right down the hall,” he added.
“Having loud sex where my parents can hear it would really sell this fake dating story.”
Gabe rubbed a hand over his face. “Your father would kill me.”
“Plus it’s only a queen-size bed.” She looked at it skeptically.
“We’ll manage,” he said, then remembered what Nikki had told him that afternoon.
You better figure out what the hell you want before you drag her into this any further.
Was he leading Michelle on? Giving her false hope?
“I’m going to buy my plane ticket tomorrow,” he blurted out. Might as well get it out there before this went any further.
