Page 50 of Reeling in Love

“You and Gabriel been dating for long?”

“Not really. It’s quite new. Of course, we’ve been friends like forever. But the dating bit is new.”

“Yeah, must be. Weren’t both of you seeing other people barely a week ago or so?”

I don’t like her grandmothery, judgy tone.

“Kinda. But having known each other so long makes it seem quite easy and almost natural,” I reply, amazed at how easily the reasons come to mind.

“That was some kiss you both had going there,” she says and my heart pounds at the mere memory. “And Gabriel is, of course, a great kisser. Am I right?”

What? How does she know? Did Gabs kiss her during their dinner date? What the hell? Is the room spinning all around me or is it just me?

Just breathe. One breath at a time. Inhale. Exhale.

Why do I care if he kissed her? I’m not his real girlfriend, so why should I care? As far as I know, he had technically broken up with Paula when he met her and our fake dating hadn’t started. So, yeah. It’s all fine. Whatevs.

She’s still looking at me, and she has a silly smirk on her face. God! How I hate her. But I won’t let her win or at least give her the satisfaction of feeling that she won.

“Yeah, he’s also great in bed. Have you seen his…” I open my eyes wide. I know for a fact that he didn’t sleep with her because he came to pick me up after his date, so I can end up one-upping that.

She shrugs. “I’m sure I’ve seen better.”

I give out a tiny laugh. “I doubt it,” I say, giving her back the smirk and taking a quick winning selfie for my followers. Hashtag Owned! Hashtag Burned.

Yay! Nora one. Sophia zero. Though I know it’s fake, but so what? Everything here is fake and the lines between fake and real are blurring really fast.

Chapter 21

Gabriel: #NotForSale

Mom pulls me away from Nora and Sophia, and I reluctantly follow. My heart is still pulsating from that kiss and all I want right now is to take her upstairs to my room and do things to her that make her forget everything and everyone except us.

“So, you and Nora, huh?” Mom asks, stopping and facing me. “How did you two decide to, y’know, get together, after so many years of… well, being together? What changed?”

She’s smiling, but I can see it’s a fake smile. She’s trying to see if I’m serious about this, but this is a question I’m prepared for.

“Well, it was actually because of Paula.”

“Paula? The one you were with till… what…a day or was it hours, before you started supposedly seeing Nora?”

I sigh. The way she says it, it all sounds so frivolous. But it isn’t. In fact, what she’s planning is frivolous—trying to get me to marry a girl I barely know.

“When I broke up with Paula, and it was a long time coming, she asked me why I’ve never been in a long-term relationship. Why I never let a woman come close enough to me? You know what she said? She said it was because I love Nora. Because I’ve always loved her.”

Mom is shaking her head. She opens her mouth to say something, but I beat her to it.

“And you know what? She was right. That was probably the only sensible thing she said in our relationship. The one sentence that’ll hopefully be the turning point in my life.”

“Ah, I wouldn’t be so naïve as to believe it if I were you. If anything had to happen between the two of you, it would’ve happened long ago. This is probably a case of rebound for you both. But anyway, we’ll talk about it again in a couple of weeks. Now, Sophia, on the other hand, is more of wife material, I’d say, especially for you.”

“Please, Mom. Don’t.” I guess my expression shows the seriousness by which I mean the words because she stops. “And, why did you lie about Nora’s mom and sister not being able to make it? You know we’ll be meeting them too, right?”

“Well, it was the polite thing to say. Wouldn’t it have been rude to say I didn’t invite them?”

“Why didn’t you? You knew Nora was joining me. And they live right on the adjacent street.”

“Two streets down. But whatever. Look around you, Gabriel,” she says, as I follow her gaze across the room. “You think they would’ve fitted well here? Would they be comfortable?”

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