She opened her mouth to ask what he meant by that, then thought better of it. “What did he do?”
“Hehuggedme.” Gabe sat up and rested his arms on his knees. “Like... what the fuck?”
Poor guy. After what he’d told her about his sister’s wedding, she could only imagine how confusing that must have been. Michelle placed a hand on his thigh, wishing she could find the right words to help him. “And then?”
“I told him we were together.”
She balked. “You—what?Weas inyou and me?”
“I’m sorry.” Gabe buried his face in his hands. “He was asking me all these questions, and I was still holding the condoms, and I didn’t want to tell him about the gym—you were honestly the first reason I could think of for why I’m here.”
It shouldn’t make her happy but... damn it, it did. “You told him we’re together in what sense?”
He raised his head and his expression was bleak. “We have to go over there for dinner tonight and pretend we’ve been secretly dating.”
Secretly dating, huh? That was certainly simpler than trying to explain their current situation, although it implied a greater level of commitment. Michelle tried to look on the bright side for his sake.
“That shouldn’t be too hard. We’re already secretly screwing, right?” Clearly it was the wrong thing to say, because Gabe groaned and covered his face again. “What’s wrong?”
“He also guilted me for sleeping with you in your parents’ house, and when I tried to put the condoms back, he lectured me about safe sex. So then Ihadto buy them.”
“Well, that’s good, right? At least we have condoms?” Again, finding the silver lining. Ava would be so proud.
“I don’t think I can ever have sex again after that conversation,” Gabe mumbled. Then he gave Michelle’s boobs a sidelong look. “Never mind. I take that back. Somehow I’ll find the fortitude.”
“I’m sure you will.” Michelle patted his back. While part of her felt bad for his obvious distress, another part of her perkedup in hope. If Gabe reconciled with his parents, maybe he’d visit more.
Or maybe he’d stay.
Above all, Michelle wanted Gabe to be happy, and she suspected that until he dealt with his feelings about his parents, he was always going to be running away from them in some sense. Maybe if he faced them, he could finally stop running.
“Okay, well, what’s done is done,” she said. “We still have work to do.”
“Work? How am I supposed to work when my life is imploding?”
“I want to show you my preliminary ideas. Did you buy the board?”
“Sorry, I forgot. When I saw my dad, I think my brain short-circuited. And then I had to stand on line with him to buy the condoms.”
“Oh my god. That’s terrible. I’m sorry, babe.”
“You have no idea.”
And then he wrapped his arms around her, pressing his face into her neck. “Mich, what do I do?”
She rubbed slow, comforting circles on his back. “We’ll go to dinner, and I’ll be right there with you. You’re not the boy you were when you left. What can they do to you now?”
He mumbled something, but all she heard was “doubt myself.” She squeezed him tight and let him hold on for as long as he needed.
IN THE KITCHEN,Michelle’s phone rang. At the sound of the ringer, she stilled.
“What’s wrong?” Gabe asked, lifting his head.
“That’s my mom.”
“Oh fuck.”
Fuck indeed. Gabe released her and she hurried to pick up the phone before it went to voicemail.
