Page 129 of Along Came Amor
Text Exchange with Damaris Fuentes
Ava:Something terrible happened.
Damaris:OMG what??
Ava:I’m in love with him.
Damaris:You are such a fucking drama queen. Don’t scare me like that.
Ava:But it’s terrifying! Also, my cousin Michelle’s boyfriend caught us kissing.
Damaris:Tell me EVERYTHING.
Chapter 39
As much as Roman hated to leave without saying goodbye to Ava, he exited the suite with Ashton and Gabriel and brought them up to the Dulce Flor’s private lounge for VIP guests.
Being away from her for two weeks had sucked. He’d dreamed about her almost every night, and despite the exhaustion of a long trip and an overnight transatlantic flight, the thought of reuniting with Ava had energized him more than a triple shot of espresso. Walking into the suite and seeing her had been like entering one of his dreams. She was right there, almost within reach, but a crowd of women had stood in the way and he hadn’t been able to go to her, for reasons that seemed nebulous and only made sense in the depths of the subconscious.
It was getting more and more difficult to hide his feelings for her, and he just didn’t want to fucking do it anymore. So while Ava was probably freaking out about Gabe walking in on them, for Roman, it was actually a relief. He needed to talk to Ashton about Ava, and this meant they could do it in front of Gabe. Hell, Gabe was also dating one of the Primas of Power, maybe he’d have some additional insights to offer. Roman would welcome all the suggestions he could get.
They took seats at a circular booth set lower into the floor and placed their drink orders—a sidecar for Roman, a gin and tonic for Ashton, and a seltzer with lime for Gabe.
Once the waiter was gone, Gabe wasted no time in broaching the topic of Ava. “Gotta say, man, I’m not thrilled about hiding this secret romance thing from Michelle.”
Ashton grunted. “Join the club.”
Roman spread his hands. “I don’t like it either. If it were up to me, I’d take out a full page ad in theNew York Times.”
Gabe propped his elbows on his knees. “Let me guess—Ava doesn’t want her family to know?”
Roman scowled. “Is this a common occurrence?”
Ashton nodded. “Por las primas poderosas, sí.”
Roman leaned back, sensing he was in for a story. “So all three of them have done it?”
Ashton rubbed his jaw. “Jasmine and I—well, you know the tabloids were an issue for both of us. Plus, she had something called a Leading Lady Plan.”
“What the hell is that?”
“I’m still not sure, but the primas bring it up every so often. Something about making jefa moves.”
“Huh.” Roman turned to Gabe. “And you?”
“Michelle and I used to be best friends,” Gabe said. “There was some past baggage we had to work through. And our parents are next door neighbors.”
“Why does that matter?” Roman asked.
Gabe and Ashton exchanged a look, and Gabe launched into an explanation about his history with Michelle. How they’d reconnected after more than a decade of silence and Michelle tricked him into staying with her at her parents’ house—right next to his own family, whom he’d been estranged from at thetime. Gabe made a point to emphasize how their attempts at sneaking around had completely backfired.
While they were talking, the drinks arrived, along with a selection from the tapas menu. Someone must have noticed that he was there.
At the end, Roman tried to put it all together. “You and Michelle were pretending to be dating to keep everyone from finding out you were actually dating?”
“We weren’t dating yet, we were—you know what, never mind, that’s a good way of putting it.”
Ashton spoke in a mock whisper. “They were fucking.”
