Page 45 of Yours, For Now

I shrugged. "Maybe I haven't asked because I'm Latino."

She separated a strand of her hair and twisted it with her flat iron, creating long curls around her pretty face. A big section of her hair remained clipped high on her head.

"Did your parents make too much of a fuss when you moved out?" she asked.

"No. They're awesome. They made it clear they'd support us in anything we wanted. And it's not like I'm truly independent. I have what I have because of them, and I live in a family property. I didn't pay for it." I shrugged. "I don't think that's really different."

She chuckled. "I get that. I stayed here because my parents have a hard time letting me go— while I'm single, anyway. And I like the amount of money I'm saving. It could come handy one day, if I wanted to create my own side business. Or I'll just have one hell of a retirement fund."

"So if I'm hearing this right, you plan to move out married and with a whole lot of savings."

She unclasped the big section of her hair, and separated it into sections again. She continued curling it, each pass of the flat iron hypnotizing.

"I'm not waiting to be married to leave. I've fought some fights with my parents already; one day I'm going to be ready to fight for my right to move in with someone if I want to, and I will fight then. I just don't know if I want to go there simply to live alone."

I nodded, my eyes still fascinated by her movements.

"So are you going to stand there the whole time?" she asked. "I promise it's okay if you come into my room."

I raised an eyebrow and sat at the feet of her reading chair; my knees nearly touched the seat of her vanity. She worked on the section of hair closest to me, and I studied the way she twisted the flat iron and slid it down her long locks.

"It's relaxing to see you do your hair," I said after a while.

She sighed. "You're a good guy, Gabe."

In the mirror, her eyes locked with mine.

"What makes you say that?" I tapped a finger on my knee. "Because I said I like watching you do your hair?"

She left the iron on a silicon mat on the wooden surface in front of her. She shifted to face me more fully. "And for everything else."

I smiled. If our relationship had been real, I would have followed the drive to caress her face, maybe even kiss her. But her parents showed up at her door and interrupted the moment.

"We're leaving," Iris said. "Don't be late, kids. Hurry, or you won't make it in time for the ceremony."

"We'll leave in ten minutes." Lina went back to her hair.

"See you there," I added, and they left us alone.

Privacy with her like this shouldn't have made me gulp. We'd been alone in my home and it had been okay. It didn't have to be different now.

Only it was me now in her space, and it felt different, somehow.

I needed to distract myself. "Any family members I should be aware of?"

She shook her head. "I don't think so. Lucía won't be there, as this is the other side of the family. This will just be a standard one-day wedding thing."

I nodded. "So most of your family lives around here?"

She nodded as well. "Yeah. Both sides. Most of them came here over the years. Even my grandma, against her will. How much family do you have here?"

"Only my parents and sister. I have a hundred cousins in Chile, but we haven't visited much. Maybe that's why I'm so close to my parents, my sister, and my friends. We only have each other."

"I'm excited to get to know your family a little better." She put her flat iron back on the silicon mat and checked her reflection. "Shoot, I forgot the jewelry. I should have done my necklace before my hair."

She found a couple of shiny pieces in a drawer, untangled them, and put them on her vanity.

"I'll help." I stood and offered her my hand; she put her necklace in my palm. This would serve as another distraction.