Page 105 of Family Bonds- Garrett & Justine

He rolled his eyes when his parents laughed.

“We are both too young for that movie,” he said.

“Nope,” Gabriela said, laughing. “Not when Dad watches it over and over again. Hey, Mom, does Dad like to pretend he is Tom Cruise?”

“Enough, Gabriela,” his father said, smirking.

He couldn’t imagine his father doing anything like that, but it was as he’d told Justine the other day. You never know everything in your parents’ marriage. And he didn’t want to.

“I was on the deck minding my own business with the music on and chilling,” he said.

“And your cougar neighbor came over in some sexy bedroom wear wiggling her tits and ass in your face again?” Gabriela asked, roaring with laughter.

His mother snorted at how much Gabriela was laughing. “Close enough,” he said. “She was almost doing a Britney Spears high school impersonation.”

“Ewww,” Gabriela said. “That’s gross.”

“Yep,” he said. No reason to say Vanessa had the body to pull it off. It did not turn him on, but it was hard not to notice too.

“And Justine caught you two on the deck?”

“There was nothing to catch,” he argued.

“But she did,” his mother said. “Right?”

“Yeah,” he said, taking a healthy gulp of his beer. “Vanessa was stunned and introduced herself. I jumped up as if I was guilty even though I wasn’t and then overcompensated by pulling Justine close and kissing her.”

“I can almost see this playing out in my head,” his father said. “But it puts you in an awkward position.”

“No shit,” he said.

“I’m not sure why you haven’t told Vanessa you had a girlfriend,” Gabriela said. “Or that she hasn’t seen Justine at your place with as much as she stalks you and the house.”

Maybe deep down he was hoping the second had been the case.

“Guess she was out of town a lot. No clue. But she didn’t know. Vanessa left after dropping some hint that we were closer than we were.”

“I hope Justine didn’t believe that,” his mother said.

“What would you have done in her situation?” he asked. “We haven’t been dating long.”

“You would have explained it,” his father said. “It’s not like Vanessa is your type, but it’s hard to be an asshole too. She’s the type of woman that would badmouth you out in the public and you don’t want nor need that in your profession.”

“Thank you,” he said, throwing his hands in the air. “Someone else gets it.”

Gabriela waved her hand as if she was swatting a fly. “People don’t care about those things anymore. You’re old school. I put men in their place all the time.”

“And the worse that happens is someone says you’re a bitch. I’m sorry, Gabriela, it’s different for men.”

“I’m sorry that it is,” his mother said, “but you’re not wrong and also, you are who you are. You’re not a mean person and you’d never want your staff or patients to hear anything negative about you either.”

“That’s right,” he said. “It’s a small island. In Boston, maybe I wouldn’t have cared as much, but here I do.”

“So what happened?” Gabriela asked.

“I explained that I’m a big old wuss. That my sister said I need to grow a pair, showed her the text from the one day you saved me, and all but begged for her to believe me.”

His parents’ eyes were wide open; his sister was bent over laughing and holding her side. “No way.”

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