Gaming for Love (14 page)

“We? You’re going
to stay in the hotel with me?” I ask before Gary can respond.

“I’ve woken up with
you in my arms every morning for the last two weeks and it’s
fucking awesome. I don’t plan to stop doing that anytime soon.”

“Scott! You parents
are here. Oh my God, did you have to say that?” Now, I am beyond
mortified and can’t look anywhere but down.

“I hate to break it
you, Yas, but my parents have four kids and none of us were the
product of an Immaculate Conception. So, I don’t think the fact
that we are having sex is going to shock them.” He laughs as he
pulls me onto his lap and kisses me passionately.

I break away as soon as
I can, which admittedly takes longer than it should. Having his mouth
on me makes me lose my mind a little. Okay, a lot. I turn to look
back at everyone else so that I can apologize. I find them all
looking at me with wonder and happiness in their eyes.

“The W it is,” Gary
says with a twinkle in his eyes. “I’ll tell them one bed is all
you need.”

“Th-thanks,” I say
as I bury my head into Scott’s shoulder. He’s shaking with
laughter again and plants kisses all over my bent head.

As we get ready to say
our goodbyes later, Maggie asks if she can speak to me privately. “Of
course,” I tell her. We head into the house while Scott stays
behind with his brothers. Gary and Alex had abandoned us earlier for
a long standing chess game.

* * *

Scott

“Okay, spill,” Owen
says to me with a smirk as I watch Yas head inside with my mom.

“Spill what?” I try
for an innocent look.

“You know what,
asshole,” Luke chimes in. “You and Yasmin. Have you really spent
every night with her for the last two weeks?”

I look around at my
three brothers and know from the looks that they are giving me that I
am going to have to tell them something. I won’t tell them
everything, though. Some things are just between Yas and me. I won’t
cheapen what we have by talking about her that way. “Yes, I’ve
been with her for a little over two weeks and I am happier than I’ve
ever been in my life.” There, I said it.

“Over two weeks?
Wait, is she the one you were with when I caught you doing the walk
of shame that morning?” Owen asks with a smile.

“Yes, she is who I
was with. But, there was no shame. I’m not ashamed of being with
her.”

“Are you sure about
that, bro?” Ryan says and the look in his eyes is skeptical as he
continues. “You haven’t mentioned her once in the last two weeks,
you didn’t greet her when she got here and you sat as far away from
her as possible during dinner. If she hadn’t jumped out of her
chair to comfort you, none of us would have known that the two of you
are together. That doesn’t seem like you not being ashamed of her.”

Fuck! I should have
known that Ryan would pick up on all of that. “I am definitely not
ashamed of her. But, you’re right, I didn’t want any of you to
know about us. I-I just didn’t want anyone to think that I was
getting involved with someone again too fast or worrying about what
she could want from us. I also didn’t want you guys to pretend to
like someone just for me again,” I admit with a sigh.

“Dude, really?”
Luke says. “Are you fucking serious? Yasmin is nothing like Amber.
She’s great and no one is pretending to like her. We all
do
like her. She’s helped Alex and apparently you so much in such a
short time. There is nothing fake about her at all. And, she’s
smoking
hot.”

“Don’t talk about
her like that!” I growl as I move towards him.

“Calm down, man,”
Owen says, stepping in front of me. “We’re not blind and you have
to know how hot Yasmin is. He didn’t mean to be disrespectful, he
was just being honest. I think he even meant it as a compliment to
her.”

“I did, Scott, I mean
it. I wouldn’t disrespect her, even if she wasn’t with you. I
told you that we like her.” Luke looks remorseful now.

“She’s awesome and
I’m happy for you, Scott. You deserve someone like her. I can’t
believe she puts up with your shit and was fine with hiding things
from all of us, though,” Ryan tells me, a question in his eyes.

I sigh again and admit
the truth about the situation. “She wasn’t fine with it and I’m
pretty sure that it hurt her to do it. I told her about Amber and
explained to her the same reasons I just told you guys. She agreed to
give me time, but I know that it has been hard for her. She’s-she’s
amazing and I don’t know how I got lucky enough to have her in my
life, but I’m not going to let her go. I’ve never felt this way
about anyone, even Amber. I know it’s fast, but I am pretty sure
that I’m in love with her.” I drop my head and wait for the
ribbing to begin.

It doesn’t come. I
look up and see that I have shocked my brothers into silence. Owen is
the first one to recover. “Have you told her that?” When I shake
my head, he continues. “Well, you should. After what you just said
about her being hurt and upset, I think she needs to hear it.” I
know he’s right but I’m not sure if I’m ready yet.

My mom and Yas come
back outside a few minutes later. They’re both smiling, which makes
me smile, too. I walk over and take Yas’ hand. “You ready to go?”

“Yeah, I am. It was
great seeing all of you.” She hugs my mom and brothers goodbye then
we head inside and say goodbye to my dad and Alex too. We decide to
take my car and pick up hers in the morning.

I notice that something
is wrong as soon as we get in the car. Yas lets me take her hand but
she looks out the window instead of at me. I want to ask her what is
wrong, but traffic is a little rough so I decide that I’ll wait
until we get home. I mean her house. It’s not my home. But as I
think that, I realize that I feel like it
is
my home.

I barely stop the car
in her driveway before she opens her door and says, “I’m so
sorry.” Then she is out and running up her steps. I catch up to her
as she’s fumbling for the right key to her front door.

“Baby, what are you
sorry for?” She doesn’t turn around so I keep trying. “Yas, I
need you to tell me what’s wrong. What do you think you need to
apologize for?”

She turns then, tears
glistening in her eyes. “You didn’t want anyone to know about us
and I screwed that up.”

Shit. I thought about
how I hurt her by keeping our relationship from my family. But, I
never imagined that she would think that I was mad at her for
comforting me in front of them. The proof of just how big an asshole
I am just keeps adding up. There is no way that I am going to allow
her to think that she did something wrong.

“You saw me start to
fall apart and you came to me. You comforted me. Don’t ever be
sorry for that. If anyone should apologize, it’s me. I shouldn’t
have asked you to keep us a secret. I should have known that my
family loves you and would be happy for us. I know that I hurt you
and I am glad that everyone knows now.”

“Your mom asked me if
I was serious about you and told me to not break your heart. I told
her that I was more serious about you than I have ever been with
anyone in my life and that the last thing I would ever do is break
your heart.” I can’t say those three words yet, but I want her to
know how I feel so I take her inside and spend the rest of the night
showing her.

Yas

If the two weeks with
Scott before his family knew about us were great, these past two have
been even better. We have dinner with his parents a few times a week.
The whole family has been great and I know that they really like me.
I feel like I’m becoming a member of their family and although I
will never forget my parents, it is nice to have a sense of family
again.

The store is still
struggling and Erika keeps bugging me about the software. I let her
set up meetings with the local banks as well as some private
investors for the end of next week. I’m heading to Chicago with
Scott tonight. He’s become tenser and more stressed out in the last
couple of days. I don’t blame him
at
all
. Even though I can’t really afford the extra
payroll, I asked Erika, Danny and Sam to cover for me while I am
gone. They were more than happy for the hours, although Erika teased
me about the fact that she has never met Scott. He never seems to
come by when she’s there. I promised her that she could meet him
soon, as long as it’s on a double date with her and Sean.

I’m talking with Sam
at the cash wrap while I wait for Scott when she says, “I hate to
bring this up, Yasmin, but is the store going to make it?”

I sigh heavily as I
tell her honestly, “I don’t know, Sam. I am trying to keep it
going and Erika has this idea for some miracle software, but I can’t
promise you anything. If you need to start looking for something
else, I understand.”

“I am not at that
point yet. I have some savings just in case you need to cut my hours.
I love it here and I’ll stay on as long as you can keep me,” she
tells me, then pulls me in for a hug.

“Thanks, Sam,” I
say, hugging her back.

“Do I get a hug too?”
I hear Scott ask from behind me. I turn from Sam and walk over to
give him a hug
and
a
kiss.

“Are you ready to
go?” he asks when I pull away.

“Yep. Let me grab my
bag.” I turn toward my office.

“Hey Sam, how are
you?” I hear him ask as I open the office door. He really is a nice
guy. I come back out and he takes the suitcase from me.

“I’ll see you
Friday, Sam. Thanks for helping cover the store.”

“No problem, Yasmin.
Have fun.” My friends think that this is an all pleasure trip.
Scott’s story is not mine to tell and I won’t betray his trust.

“We will,” he
answers before I have a chance to. We head out the door to the
waiting car.

* * *

Scott

I can tell Yas is a
little freaked out by the jet. I’m used to traveling this way, but
I know that most people aren’t. We get settled into the leather
seats and Velvet brings us some drinks. She has been part of the
flight crew for years and I ask about her family before we take off.

“That was really nice
of you to ask about her kids,” Yasmin says to me after Velvet goes
up front to take her seat.

“She’s been with us
since
I
was a kid. I
used to be scared to fly and she would sit next to me and tell me
jokes while we took off.”

“Aww, that’s sweet.
Your family is really nice to everyone who works for you. At least
from what I can see. And you all do your own dishes and stuff.”

“Yeah. We didn’t
always have a ton of money. My dad always believed in his company and
my mom always believed in him. But, we had some lean years. My mom
never let us forget that or think that we were better than anyone
else.”

“Things got better,
though.”

“Yeah. Like I told
you, Dave’s investment helped us. About three years ago, it was
almost not enough. One of my dad’s competitors was wooing away our
best architect. Ryan was working under him, learning the ropes,
because that’s what he was studying in college, architecture. Ryan
knew that he was about to leave us and it would have crippled the
company since he was designing a new building that we had already won
the bid for. At the last minute, the competitor withdrew their offer
and we kept the architect. My family was really scared, though. Our
reputation had been on the line and it would have been really bad.”

“Wow. Well, I am glad
that it worked out.”

“Me too. Now, let’s
talk about our plans for tomorrow. Is there anything else you would
like to see besides the Art Institute?”

“About that. Are you
really sure that you are okay with going out with me tomorrow? I
mean, I know how hard this trip is going to be for you. If you want
to prepare or stay in bed all day or whatever, it’s fine.” I see
that she is sincere and would do whatever I asked.

I reach up and caress
her cheek as I tell her, “Yes. I’m sure. As much as I would love
to stay in bed all day
with you
,
I want to have some fun with you in my hometown. So, tell me what you
would like to do.”

“Can we go to Navy
Pier? It looks like fun.” I nod and she continues. “I would love
to have some pizza and then just see the city. Wherever you would
like to take me. I can’t wait to meet Zane, too.”

“We can go to the Art
Institute in the morning and then head over to the Pier. We can have
pizza for lunch and have some fun. After that, I would love to show
you the neighborhoods that I grew up in, if you want. Then, we will
pick a good restaurant for dinner and after we eat, we can go see
Zane.”

“That sounds
perfect.” She’s right. It does sound perfect. I can’t wait to
show her my city.

* * *

Yas

The hotel is in a cool
older building with arches and luxurious furniture. Our suite is
black, purple, gold and white with modern art on the walls. The
bathroom has a sunken tub with a separate, glassed in shower. I
haven’t experienced this kind of luxury since I was a little girl.

“Do you like the
room, Yas?” Scott asks me.

“Yes, I do,” I tell
him and then decide that I want to share
my
story with him, the way he has shared his with me. “When
I was younger, my family was pretty wealthy. Not as well off as your
family but we had a nice life. We went on trips and stayed in hotels
like this. About 9 years ago, our store’s business started to slow
down and we had to cut back. I haven’t been in a hotel this
beautiful in a long time. It’s beautiful.”

He moves to me and
takes me in his arms. “I’m glad that I get to be the one to share
this with you.” Then he turns serious and pulls back to look at me.
“Is everything alright with the store? I know that you have alluded
to it being slow and how you can’t take off or go in too late. Is
there anything that I can do to help? I want to be there for you,
Yas.”