Page 52 of Family Bonds- Gabriela & Luca

She typed back:I like the second better.

You’re killing me, Gabriela.

Holy cow. Was she not alone in her thoughts?

You didn’t answer me.

The bubbles were on her phone as he was typing.You know the second one is tempting, right?

Exactly why I like it,she typed back.

Maybe we think a lot more alike than we both realize.

Woohoo! Now they were getting somewhere.Great minds,she replied.

You started it,he replied. She heard her parents moving around downstairs and realized that this might get out of hand.

I should probably stop,she teased.Don’t want to be responsible for…any consequences.

Consequences?His reply came almost instantly.I like consequences.

Her fingers hovered over the keyboard, a rush of heat curling through her. Oh my God. She so wasn’t going to sleep tonight!

Careful,she typed slowly,I might take that as a challenge.

I like challenges too.

She set her phone down for a moment, letting the tension hang. Just a simple text exchange, but it had her heart racing, her body reacting, a playful shiver running down her spine.

And the thought that he was probably grinning on the other side made it infinitely worse.

17

TO PRETEND

“Hey there, stranger,” Gabriela said to him on Monday morning.

In the gym and the first time he’d seen her since their little texting adventure on Saturday night.

First time he’d talked to her again too.

What the fuck was he doing pretty much sexting with Gabriela that night?

Mild sexting at that, but still on the border of something he’d never done before.

“Hi,” he said.

She was eyeing him like she was waiting for him to make the first move. Or bring it up.

Nope. Not going there.

It felt like something drastic had shifted and he was the one balancing on the thin line waiting to topple over.

She’d left him on read when he said he liked challenges.

Did that mean she didn’t? That it was all a game and one she got too deep in?

“Looks like you’ve been here longer than normal or came in earlier than normal.”