“Not for Michelle?” his mother asked, and this, Gabe knew, was going to hurt them more than the news about the gym, which they had no attachment to.
“Well, kind of. But not like that.”
He told them about the investment agreement and the expansion, about Fabian emailing Michelle, and Michelle insistingthat Gabe come stay with her to work on the project. That meant he also had to admit that he’d never intended to come to the Bronx and that he’d been staying next door, sneaking around for days, before getting caught.
His mother looked scandalized, but Gabe was pretty sure his dad’s sudden coughing fit hid laughter.
“You came to New York to work with Michelle?” his mother clarified.
“Sí.”
Norma threw up her hands in disbelief. “¡Pero los condoms!”
Gabe rubbed his eyes. “Mami, please don’t talk about those anymore.”
“Pero no entiendo. Why did you need those if you were just working?”
Esteban cleared his throat and muttered, “No creo que solo estuvieran trabajando.”
He was right, they hadn’t only been working, but Gabe was still reluctant to admit that to his parents.
“But youaredating Michelle,” his mother said, hope in her voice. “Right?”
“Ah...” How the hell did he answer that? “Not quite.”
“Not quite?” Norma repeated, her voice edging toward shrill. “¿Qué es eso? Something for los jovenes likehooking uporfriends con benefits?”
Gabe choked on his wine. “Mami!”
“You think I don’t know about this stuff? I have ScreenFlix and chill.”
“Oh my god,” Gabe muttered, unable to believe how comfortable his parents were discussing this with him. When he’dbeen a teenager, the only times they’d mentioned sex had been to warn “Don’t get her pregnant!” whenever he had a girlfriend.
And that, more than anything, showed Gabe how much his parents had changed. He didn’t know how it happened or why. Maybe it was because he’d left, maybe it was because they were older. Or maybe, without the stress of their jobs and their children, having finally achieved the American Dream comfort level they’d worked so hard for, they’d been able to chill the fuck out.
Either way,thesewere people he could be a family with.
“I didn’t go to New York to date Michelle,” Gabe finally said. “I went to work with her on the launch campaign for the new location. We... I don’t know what to call what we were doing. But when I saw you,” he addressed his dad, “I didn’t want to talk about the gym yet.”
“So you put the blame on her,” his father said, shaking his head. “You made her pretend that whole thing”—he waved a hand, encompassing the events that had transpired—“so you could avoid talking to us, tome, about why you were really there.”
“I...” Gabe opened his mouth to dispute it, but his dad was right. He’d dragged Michelle into this ruse with him, rather than acting like a fucking adult and facing his dad with the truth.
“Yeah,” he finished, because his dad had hit the nail on the head.
Except for one thing. They hadn’t actually been pretending.
Esteban looked sad, but he nodded. “Yo entiendo.”
“How do you feel about her?” Norma broke in. “Because I know you used to—”
“The same,” Gabe muttered. “I feel the same about Michelle as I did—”
He stopped, because no, that wasn’t right. However he’d felt about her in their teens was a pale shadow to what he felt now.
“No, actually. I feel... more. A lot more.”
“You should tell her,” his father said decisively. “Now go back to the part where you sold the gym.”
