Page 96 of Yours, For Now

Because I couldn't regret having Gabe undo a knot with his teeth, on a ribbon around my wrists tying me to his bedrest.

"Why are you so hot, Gabriel?" I asked him, using the Spanish pronunciation like I liked to do sometimes. "Everything you do is hot."

He chuckled and helped me sit up in bed. We sat, naked, my arms around my raised legs. His feet on the floor and his torso leaning to me, he smiled.

His eyes roamed over my face, and his fingertips were warm and soft on my skin when he put a strand of hair behind my ear. "If we didn't have all our business demands hanging over our heads, do you think you'd want to try with me? Making this real."

I blinked a few times. Maybe he was in a haze of post-climax optimism, but his words hinted that maybe he was crossing lines, too.

It's not only attraction for me, Lina.

Mellow hope wanted to flutter up my chest, but I pushed it down. The odds were against me, that this meant the same to Gabe as it did to me. That he'd crossed a line from attraction to real friendship; that he was falling for me, too. And I couldn't risk the vulnerability of asking, not yet.

But I wanted to get there, be brave, and ask.

"You're the first person in a long time, that would make me actually consider it."

His smile turned into a grin. "Good to know."

"You don't have to look so damn pleased, you know?" I arched an eyebrow.

He laughed. "Why not? I liked hearing it."

I shook my head and changed the subject. "Should we go get ready? We should be leaving in an hour to make it in time to the barbeque."

"Or maybe we should be late, as a sign of rebellion to your family."

"That's tempting."

"If you really want to go for it, I used to have a lip ring. Something tells me they'd hate that."

"What?!" I laughed.

"It was just a lip cuff, but I think your family would flip out anyway."

"Oh god. Do you still have it?"

"I stopped using them when I had to represent the Sotomayor Group in business meetings, but I could get another one. Maybe even get you your own, make sure to add some precious stones to it." His smirk became wolfish. "Lip rings can be a lot of fun to play with."

"Precious stones, huh? This is the first time you try to flex your deep pockets with me."

He raised an eyebrow and leaned closer. "I can show off if you like. Next time we can go to the lake house by helicopter, or I can schedule the family plane to go to a remote, private, balmy island, where we don't have to wear many clothes, if any at all."

That he would like to do all of that with me filled me with two twin waves, each twisting and coiling with each other, right against my breast bone. One carried all my longing, and the other my rising affection for him. The tide reached my throat and threatened to become tears.

I liked Gabe. I liked him a lot. So much that I wanted to believe the vision he painted for me.

"I'd accept a piece of jewelry. I'd wear it proudly," I said. "If it came from you."

His eyes softened on me. "On it. Let's go shower now, shall we? We'll find something to scandalize your family with."

Meat cooked on the grill, tended to by a chef, and finger foods were being passed around by support staff my parents had hired. We were financially comfortable, nowhere near as rich as Gabe, his family, and his friends, but my family clearly had a different relationship to money. The Sotomayors didn't seem to notice or care. Gabe's parents, Vi, Enrique, and Tío Miguel sat at the outdoor table with my dad and Lucía; they all chatted happily, while my mom and Tía Soledad made sure everyone was comfortable. Things were going well.

Gabe and I sat on a bench near an old apple tree in the yard, his arm around me. I had a drink in my hand that was the perfect mix of boozy and refreshing, and I sighed.

Gabe's fingers played lazily on the skin of my shoulder. "It's weird to see Enrique outside of the tournament."

"It's weird to see our families mingling together like this."