Page 97 of Yours, For Now

"Even after the day in the Cabin?"

"Yeah, I guess even so. After the weekend, their differences are even more stark."

"At least we made it in time."

I chuckled. "Only because I stopped you from doing what you wanted to do in the shower."

"Mmh." He squeezed me against him, his eyes playful. "It's fine. I still plan to do it at some point."

"You're surprising, Gabriel Sotomayor. You have this gentle, soft energy… then you show me this other side. The thing you whispered to me in the shower? Wow. Somehow the tattoo and fake piercing are not nearly as shocking, for a guy who can be so sweet."

"I'll take that as a compliment." He kissed my cheek, gentle and purposeful, like he hadn't for a while. This time, I let myself believe it was real. "So tell me. How do you feel about tattoos? I want to get more, especially if you like them."

"I like them."

"Would you get one with me?"

"My parents would die… which could be enticing, in the right circumstances."

"They don't have to know… unless you want them to know. Then we'll come to visit, both of us wearing our lip cuffs, and see how they react. Yours will bling and sparkle, it'll be impossible to ignore."

I laughed, but I didn't get to respond. An approaching figure interrupted our conversation.

Enrique left his dad's side and came to us. "Hey. Weird to see you around like this, Gabe. Not at a game, but at my uncle's house."

Gabe and I chuckled.

"We were talking about it earlier," Gabe said. "I thought I'd see you at my family's lake house last week."

Enrique shrugged. "Yeah, I had a meeting with a potential employer, or I would have been there."

I perked up. "Oh, really? In your industry?"

"Yeah. It's in a small farm wanting to focus on ethical practices."

"I hope it went well." Gabe squeezed my shoulder in a way that seemed encouraging.

"I think it did," Enrique said. "I'm hopeful. It'd be awesome to go straight from graduation to a job like that in my field."

Tío Miguel appeared out of nowhere. "I don't know why you're bothering with that when you have a perfectly good job waiting for you with us."

"Dad…" Enrique warned, his voice firm.

Gabe and I stood in unison; I needed to be at eye level with my uncle.

"I'm serious, son. You know we want you to take over."

"I don't want to work there—" Enrique said.

At the same time, I spoke up. "I'mtrying to take over—"

"C'mon, Gabe." Tío Miguel ignored us both. "You're a smart man. You know what it takes to run a company. Tell my son here why he should come work for the company."

"With all due respect, but I won't." His voice matched the serious look of his face. "Lina is right here. It's disrespectful to say what you're saying, like she's not already doing the work you want your son to do."

The red undertone darkened in Tío Migue's face. "That's not how things work. Just because you're dating my niece—"

"It's not because I'm dating her. It's because she's good at what she does and she deserves to be recognized for it by everyone, especially her own family. You're the one making a mistake, and that's both my personal and professional opinion."