Page 144 of Gabriel's Album

“Are you fucking shitting me?” Elena explodes.

I don’t know what to say, because there are no words to make that information any more palatable. At least all of my dirty secrets are out there now.

Elena stands up from the sofa and walks over to the windows, where she stares out at Chicago. I don’t know whether I should say something or not, so I stay silent, just to be on the safe side.

“Do you love her?” Elena’s voice is cool and quiet.

I wince at her question and consider how to respond. There’s no way to get around the glaring truth.

“I’ll always love her.”

“What about me?” Elena asks in that same cool voice.

I’m not sure exactly what she’s asking. It's either whether I’m in love with Elena or whether I could always be in love with Elena. Either way, I don’t particularly want to answer.

When I don’t respond to her question, Elena spins to face me and asks, “What about me, Gabriel? Do you love me?”

“It’s not a fair comparison, Elena. Ari and I…” I trail off and rethink my words, trying to explain better. “We were together for longer than you and I have been.”

“So, that’s a no.”

“It doesn’t mean that I could never love you, just that I’m not there yet. We’ve only been seeing each other for three months, and I’ve spent a lot of that time performingHeart Wide Open. Without Ariana in my life and singing about her all the time, it’s entirely possible that I could get to that place with you,” I tell her.

Elena scoffs. “With her waiting in the wings? What happens if we get into an argument? Will you go running to her?”

“Of course not. I’m committed to being with you, Elena. If you want to be with me, of course. And I promise that I will never cheat on you.”

She sighs and looks me over, seeming to consider me for half a minute before she makes a decision.

“Fine. But if you cheat on me, I’ll give the tell-all interview to end all interviews,” she warns.

A smile comes to my face. “Think you could beat Stacey’s?”

“Yes,” Elena laughs. “Because I’ll actually have dirt to spill. I’ll tell them all aboutyoursmall cock for a start.”

My smile turns into a grin at her joke. I’m not completely certain that she wouldn’t do a tell-all interview about me, but I know that I won’t cheat on her, so it’s not a concern.

“So, you plan to lie in this interview?” I raise an eyebrow at her.

Elena pulls a thoughtful look and says, “Well, I guess I’ll have to if I want to tell them you’re not well-endowed, won’t I?”

“Warning heeded,” I tell her. “So, am I taking your luggage to my room, then?”

Elena hesitates for a second and then nods. “Sure. Go ahead.”

I go over to where I left her suitcase and wheel it into the closet in my room. I heave a deep sigh before I head back out to Elena. She’s sitting on the sofa again, one long leg crossed over the other, and she’s looking through her phone.

She looks up at me and sets her phone on the sofa next to her. “Well, come here, gorgeous. I didn’t exactly get a proper welcome when I arrived.”

I sit down next to her, and she slides over to me, putting her arms around my neck before kissing me. I pull her to me and return the kiss, forcing myself to push away thoughts of Ariana and instead focus on just being here with Elena.

“Are we still going to Club Delirium tonight?” she asks when our kiss ends.

I’m surprised, because I’d thought that my revelation would’ve put an end to that plan.

“We can if you want,” I say, and shrug my shoulders.

“Excellent, I’ve been looking forward to it.” She smiles at me.

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