Page 78 of Yours, For Now

Max snorted. "Please, let me forget for the night. My lawyers are on it, and I'm hoping a bride falls from the sky for me. Otherwise, I don't want to think about it. Gabe can tell you another time, Lina."

We continued to chat, laugh, and de-stress. Even if it helped, one thing took hold of my mind. I wanted to clear up a few things with my fake girlfriend, and come up with a way to get it all, even if I couldn't have it all today.

I got into bed, ignoring the nerves fluttering in my stomach and pushing them way down. I pulled the covers higher, up to my shoulders. The sheets were white and soft, but the comforter stole the show. It looked like an oversized knitted blanket, made with the chunkiest light blue yarn I had ever seen. I tested its texture with my cold hands— it was nice and soft under my fingertips.

The house logs shaped the walls, but the ceiling had been covered by white shiplap; it helped make the room feel bigger and cozier, somehow. The window to my right was closed, curtains drawn, and the door to my left remained shut. Gabe was still in the bathroom down the hall; we had taken turns getting ready to sleep. I was pretty confident we'd managed to hide that we'd both changed in the bathroom, instead of in the bedroom like a couple who saw each other naked occasionally.

I took a deep breath. I wouldn't be opposed to seeing Gabe naked occasionally. But I couldn't think of that, when I was about to share a bed with my fake boyfriend and not get him naked. I had always run my life by making myself strong in the face of difficulty. I could make myself strong in the face of temptation.

And for once, I was with someone who got that about me. To the point I'd opened myself to him, through a stone door I hadn't opened before. Heavy, it had only moved enough for a crack through which to show him who I am, but maybe it had been enough. If he'd tried to kiss me again, this time with no witnesses, I would have let him.

Gabe came into the room, looking freshened up. He rounded the bed to what I deemed to be his side, and I followed him with my eyes. Only my lamp was on.

He got in the bed casually, like we did this often. Like he didn't mind at all that I'd taken claim of the left side of the bed. He simply adjusted his pillow and lay on his back, an arm above his head and the other on his stomach. One knee was up, the blankets scrunched up between us. He was on easy display to me, and his legs and wide torso reminded me why I was tempted in the first place. I stitched my strength around me with silver threads. I wasn't sure if I had the capacity to move the stone door again. It wasn't until that moment that I realized that, after so long finding comfort in my might, I'd forgotten how to be soft.

But Gabe was soft. Maybe he could teach me. If I managed to thaw enough to let him in.

"You know—" he scratched his stomach, the fabric of his shirt wrinkling with the motion. We both lay on our backs, but I turned my head to him. "I can't believe a little over two months ago I found you at Construction Cares for our yearly check-in. Now we're in bed together."

"Things like this happen. Two colleagues getting friendly and leading them to bed. We just decided to fake it."

He snorted. "Stranger still."

This weekend could help me decide if I dared show Gabe more of the vulnerable me. Saturday would show me what we could have.

I took a fortifying breath. "What's your family’s morning routine like? Pajamas or not for breakfast, that kind of thing."

"PJs for breakfast. Whoever is up first starts getting things ready. It's usually brunch, but it'll be different tomorrow morning since your family is coming. So we'll get up, everyone but my parents will make a quick breakfast while they get ready for the day. That way, after we all clean up, they can start cooking. Then we all get ready."

"So everyone helps?" I asked. "Even your friends?"

He nodded. "House rules. My parents have never wanted to hire staff for this house; they think that doing these things ourselves will give us character. In the city it's different, but here? They only have someone to do maintenance if no one's visiting, but nothing else. They say that this way we'll never forget what it's like to look after ourselves and people we care about."

"Quite progressive. In so many ways, I'd never know you're rich." I turned to my side to get a better look at him. "Lake house aside, you don't seem to throw cash around."

He shrugged. "My parents weren't rich back in Chile. My mom is a social worker with very strong equity ideals, who's kept us all in line. I don't think the Sotomayor Group would be what it is, considering the amount of social-forward policies we have, if it weren't for the way Max and Javier invested in the business. They're our strongest shareholders, after the fours of us. It's given us a lot of leeway to do things differently."

"How did you meet them?"

He smiled and scratched his jaw, one hand still pillowing his head. "College. Max and I connected immediately; we both clocked each other's last names in two of our classes and found each other, and when we realized we're both Chilean, I immediately invited him for once— like the number eleven in Spanish,once, as in elevenses. A Chilean version of high tea, to give you an idea— anyway, I digress. Max met Jake through me, and I met Javier through Max. We've been pretty close since."

I smiled. I didn't have friendships like his, focused as I was in earning my dad's trust. Hearing him talk about his family and friends made me think that I might have been missing out.

In the silence that followed, he turned his head to admire me. Warmth spread through me at the openness lighting his eyes, his brown irises beautiful and comforting.

"Are you too good to be true, Gabriel?"

The grin that took over his face bloomed slow. The light in his eyes turned into a playful glint.

"I'm doing things right, if you're asking yourself that."

I smirked. "Show me more of that tomorrow when my parents, Tío Miguel, and my aunt are here, and I will sing your praises."

"How about we just have a nice day tomorrow? Let's enjoy ourselves. Then end the day with a walk by the lake."

"It's a plan. Good night, Gabe." Moving slowly, I turned off the lamp and lay on my back, sheets once more up to my neck.

"Good night, Lina."