Chapter 12 Gabriel
GAbrIEL
Well, I’d messed that up quicker than I expected.
Even when he freaked out at my reaction, it was like I had forgotten how to speak English. I couldn’t put two words together and was powerless to stop him from driving away from me.
The worst part was that I wanted to say yes.
Aside from a thumbs up to my text letting him know I’d made it home safely, I hadn’t heard anything from Taylor since. When I’d texted him good morning, he’d left me on read.
I couldn’t get his face out of my head, the one he made when I’d called him baby.
It felt right to call him that. At the beginning of the night, it had made the corners of his eyes crinkle in surprise and delight.
But when he was running away at the end of the night, it was like the word cut him like a knife.
I was an asshole.
My hesitation didn’t have anything to do with Taylor.
He was the kind of man who deserved something real—even only having spent a few weeks with him, I knew that.
Everything he did was for the benefit of someone else.
He needed to be with someone who could take care of him for a change.
I wasn’t sure I could be that person—at least, no one seemed to think I could be that person.
I’d always told myself I’d never taken any of my past relationships seriously because I was waiting for the spark. That magic that would reveal my perfect person and somehow keep me safe from rejection.
I couldn’t deny that I felt sparks with Taylor, more than I had with anyone else, but I couldn’t be what he needed. Now that I finally felt the magic I’d been waiting for, the risk felt that much greater.
I was terrified.
The low soundtrack of Mamá’s telenovelas filtered from the kitchen to where I was seated at my parents’ dining table, sorting the mail to ensure no essential bills had been missed.
I had a long list of projects to handle, and I’d told my dad I’d help him assemble a storage rack he’d bought for the garage.
I was sure I’d need to make at least one or two customer service calls to the cable company or cell-phone provider.
On the upside, time passed quickly while I bounced from project to project. Plus, it gave me an excuse to avoid my mother’s questions and think about Taylor. On the downside, dinner was approaching, and I’d have to make eye contact with my parents without any distractions.
Mamá made my favorite, enchiladas de carnitas, which she always did when I came home.
I set the table while she brought the serving dishes out of the kitchen, and Papá made his way in from the garage to wash his hands, kicking off his work boots.
I was about to sit down when there was a knock at the door.
“Set out a few more plates, mijo,” Mamá said as she rushed to the door.
I looked at Papá in confusion, but he gave a guilty sideways glance and a shrug.
“You know what your mother is like,” he said as he seated himself at the head of the table. “She loves having guests.”
I heard voices in the front room, then Mamá reappeared with three strangers trailing behind her. “Gabriel, you remember me telling you about the Lopez family. This is their daughter, Daniela.”
Oh no. While I’d been distracted from flirting with Taylor on the 5, I’d somehow agreed to a blind date. My mouth hung open.
Daniela reached across the table to shake my hand. “Nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard so many stories.”
“That sounds ominous.” I chuckled. “Excuse me, I have to go grab a few extra plates for the table.”
I rushed into the kitchen, and even though everything in my mother’s kitchen was exactly where it always was, I fumbled around in the cabinets to buy myself a few moments. Mamá had made comments about setting me up, but I didn’t actually think she was serious. Turns out I underestimated her.
“I take it you didn’t know you were having dinner with the matchmakers tonight,” Daniela murmured from behind me.
She really was pretty, with long black hair and dark pink lips, but all I could think about was how she wasn’t Taylor and how wrong it felt not to have him here with me.
“Sorry, no. I’m sure you’re lovely, but…” I struggled. “I’m kind of seeing someone. It’s pretty new.”
Daniela smiled. “Honestly, it’s fine. I’m moving out of state in a month and don’t want to start anything before I go. I’m only here because my parents wouldn’t stop talking about how wonderful your mother’s cooking is.”
If we’d met somewhere else, we might have become friends.
“It really is the best.” I smiled back, thankful to have an ally at the table tonight.
“So, your mom sent me in here for the limonada. Shall we head back out before they start to assume you’re in here defiling me?”
We laughed together and walked out with the lemonade and extra place settings.
“It’s so lovely to have the whole family together,” Mamá said as I finally sat down. “I wish you would come home more often, mijo.”
I just hummed. “How do you all know each other?”
“We met at church,” Sra. Lopez answered with a kind smile. I could see the apple didn’t fall far from the tree; she and Daniela had the same eyes. “Your mother and I signed up to do a reading for the same Sunday Mass, and the rest is history.”
As soon as it was polite, I escaped back into the kitchen with a stack of dirty plates. I got started on the cleanup; I wasn’t leaving Mamá with a messy kitchen.
This time, the soft footsteps following me were my mother’s. “Mijo, are you going to call Daniela?”
“She’s very sweet, but I’m not interested.” I continued loading the dishwasher with my back to her.
Mamá wrung her hands. “We just want what’s best for you.”
“I’m happy with my life, Mamá, and I want you to be happy for me.”
When she remained silent, I closed the dishwasher and left the kitchen. I knew Mamá would think it was rude of me to walk out without saying goodbye to our guests, but I couldn’t be bothered.
Eventually, my parents would either come to terms with how I lived or they wouldn’t. Since I was never going to live up to their expectations, I might as well stop trying. I grabbed my car keys and headed out the door. For now, I knew where I needed to be, and it was with my boyfriend.
If he’d still have me.
“Kai speaking.” It took some wheeling and dealing, but I was able to get Kai’s number from Brian.
“It’s Gabriel.”
A beat of silence passed, and I almost thought he’d hung up on me.
“Forgive me for not being thrilled to hear from you,” Kai finally said.
“I get it. I want to fix this, but Taylor’s not picking up my calls. Just tell me where to find him so I can apologize.”
Another agonizing stretch of silence while I waited for his verdict. I stared down the grocery store display of flowers, bouncing from foot to foot.
“I like you for him,” Kai said. “Don’t fuck this up.”
I wasn’t intending to—at least any more than I had already.
I grabbed the biggest bouquet I could find and a pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream.
I didn’t know Taylor’s favorites yet, but he’d told me a story about tubing on the lake in Wisconsin with his grandparents as a kid and how he and Margo had eaten their body weight in mint chocolate chip.
So, I was confident he wouldn’t hate it.
I texted Kai to let him know I was at the apartment, and he replied that he’d stepped out to run some errands and give us privacy. I was going to have to get him an apology gift, too.
My palms were sweaty as I stood in front of Taylor’s apartment. I lifted my hand three times and put it back down without knocking.
Could I be a boyfriend?
I’d tried and given up on so many things in my life. I’m an experiential learner, and I don’t think I would have found the right career or a hobby I loved—small business, I corrected myself internally—had I not tried a bunch of things.
And yeah, maybe this wouldn’t be my one great love story, but I’d never find it if I didn’t even let myself try. Maybe I’d discover that I couldn’t be serious after all, but I wasn’t even giving myself the chance.
Before I could talk myself out of it again, I knocked.
“Did you forget your key, or what…” Taylor trailed off as he opened the door and processed me standing there.
“Hi,” I said, holding out the grocery store bouquet. Next time, I would do it right and get a fancy arrangement from a florist.
Taylor looked down at the flowers in my hand before tentatively taking them from me. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to apologize to my boyfriend,” I murmured. “If he’ll let me.”
Taylor looked at me for a long moment, head cocked as if trying to decide what he was going to do with me. You and me both, baby. Finally, he stepped aside and let me into the apartment. He mumbled something under his breath that sounded a lot like, “fucking Kai.”
“I brought ice cream.” I held up the reusable grocery store bag.
His eyes softened, and he lunged at me, wrapping me in a hug. My chest hit his chest, and I let out a soft oomph.
“I’m sorry for freaking out at you,” I said, muffled into his neck. “Nobody’s ever wanted to date me before, so it caught me off guard.”
“No one?” Shock laced Taylor’s voice. “Impossible.”
“Possible. So possible. The one time I asked someone to be my girlfriend, she laughed at me.”
“She didn’t know how good she had it.”
“Turns out she was seeing someone else at the same time. Married him, and now she’s got three kids.” My face was still buried against Taylor’s throat. “What do I have?”
“Do you even want kids?” His chest rumbled against mine with a chuckle.
“No,” I whined.
“Then it’s all for the better that she found someone else, and I get to have you.” The gentleness in his voice made me lift my head and meet his eyes.
Taylor made a self-deprecating huff and squeezed me tighter. “I’m sorry, too. I should have let you talk instead of running away like a baby.”
“You’re my baby.” I risked the word again, and even though I could tell he was holding in a smile, his eyes were crinkled around the edges again.
“It’s not fair,” he grumbled. “I turn to goo when you call me that.”
“I promise to only use my powers for good,”
I leaned up and kissed him. It was tender, tentative, and in a way, it felt like the first time I’d been kissed.
“I’ve never been a boyfriend before,” I whispered. “I hope I’m not bad at it.”
“I don’t have a lot of experience at this either.” Taylor pulled back, tucking a curl behind my ear. “We don’t have to use the word boyfriends if you don’t want to. I just really like kissing you, and I’d like to be the only one who gets to, for now.”
“Exclusive make-out buddies, huh?” I should have been thrilled at his willingness to keep things casual—it was what I’d always claimed to want from past relationships—but I couldn’t help the sting of disappointment at his words. “I dunno, I like boyfriends.”
Taylor assessed my face, and I could see the conflict in his eyes. “You scared me.”
“I’m sorry.”
I didn’t like the distance Taylor was putting between us; it hadn’t been there before. It was my fault, though, and I was determined to fix it. I’d show him I could be the best boyfriend he’d ever had.
“Ok,” Taylor whispered, and I let out the breath I’d been holding.
“So, ice cream?” I asked, and he laughed, stepping back.
I missed having his body against mine immediately, but he put his hand on my lower back and ushered me to the kitchen.
“Let’s put that in the freezer for a few minutes. There’s something else I want to do before Kai gets home and interrupts us.” His mouth was on my neck, and I shivered as his hand slipped around my waist and down the front of my pants. My cock thickened under his attention.
“Yes, yeah, ice cream can wait.” I pushed forward into his hand, and he chuckled.
“Hey, weren’t you supposed to be in Santa Ana at your parents’ this weekend?”
I blinked at the change in subject, trying to redirect some of my blood back to my brain. “Dude, do not talk about my parents with your hand on my dick.”
“Sorry, sorry.” Taylor smiled as he grabbed my hand and pulled me to his bedroom.
We were a flurry of hands and clothes and kisses as we tumbled onto the bed together.
I lay on my back and maneuvered him over me so we could sixty-nine.
When his lips closed around my cock for the first time, I couldn’t help but arch my back and moan.
He lapped around the crown, his tongue toying gently with my foreskin, and held me in his mouth with the perfect amount of suction.
My moans made precum leak from his dick, dripping toward my face—holy shit, that was hot.
I licked him clean. He was salty and tangy and perfect.
When I took him into my mouth, he thrust to the back of my throat.
I loved having my face fucked, but tonight I wanted something different.
I released his erection from my mouth and licked my hand before gripping and stroking him.
Then I kissed back toward his balls, giving each one some attention with my tongue.
It was hard to focus while getting the best head of my life, but the way he made me feel spurred me on.
I wanted him to lose his mind like I was losing mine.
Using my hands to spread his cheeks apart so I could get at what I really wanted, I licked up his taint and right over his hole.
He released me with a gasp. “Holy fuck.”
“Is this ok, baby?”
I knew not everyone liked being eaten out, but I’d be disappointed if he stopped me.
“You better not stop,” he hissed, licking up my cock and making it twitch.
I teased around his rim with my tongue.
“God, Gabriel, that feels so good.”
Satisfied with the green light, I dove back into my boyfriend’s ass with enthusiasm.