“All right, look,” she began, and Gabe knew he was in for it. “I’ve known Michelle just as long as you have. Longer, even, if you consider that I’ve seen her plenty of times since you two started college, and you haven’t. I know both of our families very well. So believe me when I tell you, you better figure out what the hell you want before you drag her into this any further.”
Gabe scowled at his sister’s accusatory tone. “What are you talking about?”
“You have her working on this New York project—which, let’s be real, is clearly some sort of bid to get Dad’s attention—and now you’re prancing around with her like you’re the greatest love story of our generation. Wake up, Gabe. This isn’t going to turn out how you want.”
“I don’t even know what I want,” he shot back, and she raised her eyebrows.
“Therein lies your problem.”
Fuck, she’d talked him into a corner, just like she’d done countless times when they were kids. “Opening an Agility location here is part of the investment agreement. Fabian was supposed to handle it.”
“Yet here you are.”
Here he was. Mixed up with Michelle, and Powell, and their families—
Shit, Nikki was right. He had no idea what he wanted, from any of them.
Gabe set his beer on the patio table and dropped his head into his hands.
“What am I doing?” he moaned.
Nikki patted his shoulder. “You gotta be clear on what you want, Baby Gaby.”
“For god’s sake, Nik. Don’t call me that.”
She grinned wickedly at his response to the old nickname. “Then stop acting like a little kid. What do youwant?”
Gabe sat up and said with as much conviction as he could muster, “I want Agility to be a success.”
Nikki stared at him impassively for a long moment, then sipped her beer. Finally, she asked, “And what does that mean?”
“It means...” Shit, whatdidthat mean? Talking points swirled in his head, from the gym’s tagline to publicity buzz to what he’d told Michelle.
Agility can be yours!
#5 on Hollywood’s Hottest Celebrity Gyms List
To help people feel better in their bodies and achieve a full range of motion.
Was Agility’s success about fame? Money? Helping people?Or was it all about proving to his father that he hadn’t needed him after all?
The thought made Gabe’s head hurt.
Nikki cut into his conflicting thoughts. “Let me put it this way. Michelle is working for you on the New York campaign, which you don’t want to be doing, because you want to stay in Los Angeles. But while you’re here, she’s also pretending to be your—what, girlfriend? To save you from telling Dad about the gym. What happens when you go back to California?”
“It’s temporary. She knows I’m leaving soon.”
“Exceptshe will still be working for you.” Nikki enunciated each word as if to make sure he didn’t miss a single one.
Gabe began to sweat, and it wasn’t because of the August humidity. “Fabian’s going to take it over.”
Nikki raised her eyebrows. “Oh really? While he has two infants at home?”
Fuck. Everything was so tangled up now that he’d let all these people back into his life. Gabe had been ignoring reality for the past few days, telling himself it would be easy to pack up and leave again like he’d planned. But even when he returned to LA, things would be different. He and Michelle had told a giant lie, all so he could protect himself from facing his father’s judgment, and she was going to be left holding the bag, while still technically working for his business. Forhim.
Gabe let out a long sigh. “I should’ve never come back to New York.”
“But you did. And now you have to clean up the mess you’ve made.”
