Page 131 of Along Came Amor
Now it was Ashton’s turn to give Gabe a smug smile. “Go ahead. Tell him what you did.”
Gabe coughed and mumbled something about fanfiction.
Roman stared at him blankly for a long moment. “That doesn’t help me.”
Ashton pinned Roman with a direct look. “¿Y qué quieres con ella?”
Roman spread his hands. “What do I want with her? I want everything.”
Ashton shook his head. “See, that’s your problem. You always want more than what you have. You have to learn to be satisfied with what she’s willing to give, until she wants to give more.”
Roman sighed. “I’m trying to take it slow. I asked her to leave stuff at my place and she got all squirrely.”
“Ava doesn’t rush into things,” Ashton said. “Take it a day at a time. And for fuck’s sake, make her tell Jasmine. Hide it from the rest of them if you have to, but Jasmine needs to know before we walk down that aisle.”
“I’m trying.” Roman’s voice was strained.
“Try harder.”
Chapter 40
The bridal shower was going about as well as could be expected. There were nearly forty people on the guest list, mostly family, with a few of Jasmine’s industry colleagues and a handful of the friends she’d stayed in touch with from high school and college.
The younger guests—Ava’s sister, Michelle’s niece, Ronnie’s stepdaughter, and Sammy’s oldest daughter—teamed up with Lily Benitez and Nino Colón, Jasmine and Ashton’s costars fromCarmen in Charge, to trounce the cousins and tías in games of Bridal Taboo and Wedding Family Feud. The older generations got them back by kicking ass in Name that Disney Love Song.
“What even isThe Rescuers?” Michelle’s twelve-year-old niece Phoebe asked scornfully, to which Jillian replied, “It’s a classic, you infant.”
Titi Nereida surprised them all by writing the dirtiest version of Fill in the Blank Wedding Vows imaginable.
“¿Qué?” the old woman said, looking around innocently. “Penis is a noun, ¿verdad?”
“I’m going to be hearing that in my nightmares for the rest of my life,” Michelle muttered, draining another mimosa. Abuela declared that she’d peed herself laughing, and Titi Lisaagreed that her pelvic floor had never been the same since having Jasmine.
“How many times do you want me to say I’m sorry?” Jasmine grumbled.
Even with Ronnie and Michelle moderating the games, Ava had more than enough to keep her mind off Roman.
She was stacking champagne-glazed donut holes—pink with sugary sparkles—into a pyramid on a tray when Michelle strolled over. Her tank top read “Bisexual & Bicoastal.”
“I haven’t seen you since you got back from PR,” Michelle said, popping a donut hole in her mouth. “How was your sexcation with Roman?”
Panic jolted through Ava’s body. Four donut holes fell to the floor as she whirled around and grabbed her cousin’s arm. “Gabe wasn’t supposed to tell you!”
Michelle’s eyebrows flew up to her hairline and she almost choked. “Relax, I waskidding.” Then her eyes narrowed in suspicion. “What wasn’t Gabe supposed to tell me?”
Ava pressed her hands to her face. Michelle had been joking, her particular brand of irreverent and slightly raunchy humor. But Ava had overreacted and given the game away.
Everything was falling apart.
Before Ava could deflect, Michelle gave a dramatic gasp. “Oh my god, are you and Romanfucking?”
“Lower your voice, andyes,” Ava hissed. There was clearly no getting out of this conversation.
Michelle flicked Ava’s arm. “How come Gabe knew before I did?”
“He only found out today.By accident.”
Michelle crossed her arms and leaned a hip against the counter. “I think you’d better start at the beginning.”
