Page 71 of Yours, For Now

And he did. His hands shifted, one down to my neck and the other to the back of my head, fingers tangled in my hair, and his tongue made its way into my mouth, and he tasted like espresso, and it was me who melted, to the point he had to help me stay up on my feet with his strong arms around me.

"Guys!" Vi yelled, and we nearly jumped apart. I would have taken a step back, but Gabe held me in place. "Oh, sorry— anyway, I told Dad! He's calling mom."

"I called Sonia," Raúl said, joining us in the office. "She's making pastel de choclo at the cabin in celebration."

Gabe let go of me in stages, like it was hard for him to do. Once free— bereft— of his arms, Vi hugged me again.

"You're gonna love pastel de choclo," Vi said.

My heart beat wild in my chest, my lips still tingling from kissing Gabe. I stole a glance at him, who looked at me sheepishly; I would have asked about his shy look, if my mind could make any sense of things, and I could find the words. Raúl approached us, anyway, and I had to put my focus on him.

"Congratulations, you two." He hugged Gabe, then he hugged me. "Well done. This is great."

"Thanks, Dad."

"Now the work really begins," I added. "We need to sign the contracts, study our competition, complete the final proposal, and hope for the best."

"Let us know how we can help," Vi said. "This is a family business, right? This is how we do it. All together."

I was so high from the kiss I didn't even have it in me to feel the punch of that, reminding me how different things were in my own family business.

"Want to call your dad?" Gabe asked me.

"No, I'll do it in person. I should go."

He nodded, his eyes still reserved. "I have soccer tonight. I'll see you on Friday. I'll pick you up at five, then I'll drive us to the lake house."

"Sounds good. See you in a few days, okay?"

Chapter 21

Gabe: I saw Enrique at the game (we won).

He talked about sheep, for some reason?

Said he wants to get into animal farming

Lina: yep. That's what he's into. Currently

finishing up his degree. Also, thanks for

winning.

Gabe: yeah, I won alone, sure. For you ;)

but it just makes it all worse, that your

uncle wants him to run the company.

The guy is into sheep. What????

Lina: lol yep. I know. But I can't be too

upset about that. It keeps him away,

and he's all about sustainable farming.

Just like I'm trying to push for