‘Why are you so secretive?’ I asked.
He crossed his arms. ‘I’m not secretive.’
‘You didn’t tell me you had a boyfriend until I made an ass of myself and kissed you. You didn’t tell me Natalie was your aunt until I showed up to your house and she was here. What else aren’t you telling me?’
‘Maybe I didn’t want to tell you because I knew this is how you’d react.’
He clearly meant about Natalie, but I didn’t know if he meant that about Vic, too. Did he not tell me about Vic because he thought I’d back off and he didn’t want me to? At least Ishouldhave backed off. But I was still here.
Gabe shrugged. ‘I just … I know how she can be, and I knew she had to be evenworseat work. So I asked her not to tell anyone I was her nephew. And honestly, I think she was happy about that.’
‘Because she had a spy.’
His eyes clouded, and he actually seemed pissed. ‘You don’t really believe that, do you?’
‘I don’t know what I’m supposed to believe. This is bad. You said it yourself: youknowhow she is. She could put me on weekend-only shifts. She could ice me out completely from the kitchen when I turn eighteen. She could watch me every second of our shifts until I mess up one thing and fire me.’
‘Sure, let’s make it all about you.’
‘Oh, okay, so what would she do to you?’
He didn’t bother to answer and jumped on my last point instead. ‘She can’t fire you for being my friend. She’d have to fire half the staff.’
‘Half the staff aren’tgay. You said your family wasn’t cool with you being gay, and I’m assuming she’s part of that?’
He didn’t answer, which I took to mean yes.
‘So, yeah, if she thinks we’re in here hooking up, she might see that as a good reason to find an excuse to fire me.’
‘She wouldn’t do that.’ Judging by his voice, he didn’t seem so sure. Which made it all feel much worse. I thought about my dad’s chef’s coat at home. His name stitched onto it.
I thought about how if I didn’t get into La Mère, that would be the only version of that coat I’d have.
‘I should go,’ I said.
‘You don’t have to.’
‘I know, but I should.’ I didn’t want my car to still be here when Natalie finally did leave.
‘This is going to be a weird thing between us now, isn’t it?’
‘I don’t know.’ It didn’t need to be. I needed to see how she treated me after this. ‘Maybe not. But just – don’t bring me up to her. And please downplay our friendship if she asks you anything.’
He smirked at me, and goddamn him for flashing those dimples. ‘Oh, so it’s okay foryouto hide our relationship from other people, but when I do it to you—’
‘You admit it! Youwerehiding it!’
He laughed with me. Was I overreacting to him hiding that Natalie was his aunt? I was still uncomfortable, so I didn’t think so. But maybe it all stemmed from the way he hid Vic, too. Doing it once, I could make an excuse for him. He was newly out and nervous about telling people who he was seeing. Fine.
But we were supposed to be closer than that. He should have been able to tell me by now that we worked with his aunt.
I don’t know if I would still react the same way if he had been the one to tell me or not. Probably I would.
I said goodbye, my supplemental video – the one that was supposed to be a backup plan if Natalie refused to write my letter – the last thing on my mind. Even someone like Brad was more forthcoming with his life. There had been a few times when we were in our cool-down phase and just talking before going our separate ways, and he always seemed fairly open.
Yes, he was hidingmefrom his life. But he never hid his life from me. With Gabe, it seemed like he was going out of his way to hide his life from me.
And me from his life.
