Page 39 of Yours, For Now

"I don't have a fan club, but thanks for the sentiment." Rodrigo gave her a kiss on the cheek. "It's a silly thing, but so fun to bug him about. Prime ammo for when you're trying to distract him or trash talk him."

"Go ahead, don't keep us waiting." Lucía rolled her fingers in the air as if to speed him up. "I have food I want to finish and, if my best prima is going to date him, I want to know how to tease Gabe at the family events."

Gabe groaned and faced his plate, focusing on his half-eaten sandwich. I took a bite of mine, but directed my attention to Rodrigo.

"It started a couple of years ago, when he was newly single. News spread that he wasn't seeing— what is her name again? Your ex? She's married to Óscar now."

"Essie." I washed down my food with beer.

"Essie! That's her. Well, they'd been together for ages, since before the start of the League. Gabe was one of the founders, right? Helped us find a place to play in. I wasn't around back then, but apparently he and Essie were the It couple. Until they broke up, Essie badmouthed him, and a group of defenders joined forces to cheer for him. One day, they arrived with signs, and we've never let him forget it."

Lucía laughed. "Were they hoping Gabe would choose one of them as the new girlfriend? Those of us cheering for our guys know when someone comes to the games hoping to meet someone, but I didn't know they would band together."

"They did that one time," Rodrigo said after drinking some of his beer. "But this guy here hasn't had anyone cheering for him from the bleachers since then. Until today, of course."

Rodrigo pointed at me with a lift of his head and went back to his food.

"The players are as good at gossip as others think femme folk are," Gabe said. "How can that still be a story people tell, two years down the line?"

"I'm more impressed by how much you must like my darling prima," Lucía countered, "to have broken up this two-year period."

Gabe pushed his now-empty plate aside. "Like I said… I'd always suspected I'd want this to happen if I spent more time around her. I was not wrong."

"Did you know, Lina? That this would happen?" Lucía smiled. "He's here giving you all the compliments, maybe you can share some."

Gabe said he wasn't a good liar, but wow, did he know how to deliver as a fake boyfriend. His comments were believable; I would have never guessed he was making it up.

"I didn't," I confessed, my heart speeding up, because I was about to say something closer to the truth than to a lie. "I always thought of him as attractive, but getting to really know him? That's what did me in."

Gabe leaned down toward me; I didn't quite realize what he was doing and turned to him— the kiss that would have landed on my cheek pressed against the corner of my mouth.

I blinked at him in surprise, my lips tingling like they were getting ready for a real kiss. He released a gust of air that tickled my face, and smiled right after.

Based on what he did when faking it, Gabe would be a great real boyfriend. The kind of boyfriend I might have wanted for myself, if I had been trying to find one.

Chapter 13

Lina: my uncle is driving me wild.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I

think I'm going to go home. I'm still

going to work, but I'm going to do

so while well-fed, on my sofa, and

in my PJs.

Gabe: sorry to hear your uncle is

annoying you. Want to come over

and work from here? I haven't seen

you in a few days. They're going to

start thinking we broke up