Page 88 of Yours, For Now

She crossed her legs and shook her foot. She raised an eyebrow and gave me a once over. "You mean, how our dads make it impossible for us, and my brother is just about to leave town altogether to get a break from Dad, and my cousin is steering the ship as best she can and with so much zeal that it can only be her running the show in the future, so I need to figure out a plan because I can't stay?"

I had been gathering words to start on my response, but the last part stole them all from me. I closed my mouth with a snap.

"Mmh, yes," Lucía said. "I can see you didn't expect that."

"No, I didn't. Luce— you want to leave?"

"I will at some point. My dream isn’t to do admin work forever, you know? I don't want to fight you for the company, either. You deserve it."

My breathing became fast and shallow. The whistle blew in the game, the sound of the referee stopping it for some reason, but after a quick check to make sure Gabe hadn't gotten hurt, I continued studying my cousin.

I locked eyes with Lucía. "There are other roles. If my dad gives me his share, I can make it so you could take over your dad's position if you wanted. You'd have to go up in the ranks to gain experience, but I can help. I never meant to make it seem there was room for only one of us— We could be the Martínez girls, running the company."

She hooked an arm around mine and patted my forearm. "No. I don't want to stay. I don't see my future in the company. But give me a bit of time before you kick me out, okay?"

"I would never kick you out."

"Perfect, because I'm still figuring it out."

"Okay. Yeah. Wow." I took a deep breath. "I didn't expect that."

"Good." She smiled. "Feels good to know that you have everything in control, but I can still surprise you."

"I don't have everything in control," I confessed. I found Gabe in the game, and caught him running with the ball toward the goal posts. "I didn't plan to like Gabe so much, for instance."

"I think it's a good thing that you like your boyfriend."

I scoffed, because if that was true, it wasn't true of a fake relationship.

My eyes found Gabe again, and caught the moment he scored. I couldn't help it, I jumped to my feet and yelled, "You're a fucking rockstar, Gabe!"

He shook his head and laughed as his teammates slapped him on the back, and I sat down to a laughing Lucía.

"Fine, fine," my cousin said, mirth in her eyes and her smile. "I won't bug you about your choices. I know you're doing your best to set up your future, and if that means focusing on work, then so be it. It's not my business. But if I were you, I would want to know if I could make both things work. Because this?" She pointed between me and the field. "This is fun. And you look silly, and invested. You get to enjoy your life, too, you know?"

"I want to enjoy my life too."

I hadn't been planning to include a partner yet, but now that I’d had a bit of Gabe, I wanted more ofhim. I couldn't reconcile it all together; I knew I couldn't be with him until I had my work future secure, but maybe I could have him for ten days.

We lost. My team got eliminated from the tournament.

Disappointment coasted through me, yet it didn't feel as sharp as it usually did. I couldn't look at the other team jumping up and down in celebration but, overall, I was fine. Because as much as I'd grumble about losing in the semi-finals later, the kiss Lina had given me had risen to the forefront of my mind above anything else, even defeat.

"Let's go out for drinks," Mario said to my side.

I nodded but didn't look at him; I looked for Lina instead. "Where are we meeting?"

"Flannery's. You better come." Mario put a hand on my shoulder. "I'll personally kick you off of the team if you leave with your girlfriend. This is a mandated team-building, crying about our defeat into a beer event."

I chuckled. "Fine. I promise."

"You get to see your girlfriend every other day. Your team only loses the tournament one night a year." He pointed an accusatory finger at me. "Because we're not losing the Spring tournament."

"Fine! Now let me go. I'll be there."

As soon as Mario released me, I turned around and searched for Lina again. She took fast strides toward me; disappointment faded, replaced by sparkling hope. A grin stretched on my face, and I took my shirt off to dry my face and neck with it, my eyes fixed on hers as much as I could. The way her eyes checked me out, the curl of her lips, the anticipation in her features…

When we met, I was ready. Her arms came around me, mine around her, and I pulled her up and off her feet, our mouths together like I'd won the World Cup.