Just Go With It

Chapter 2

Just Go With It

Chapter 2

I wasn't going to tell anyone about my run-in with Miles, mostly to avoid reliving that moment, but also to avoid the teasing and incredulity that would follow that revelation. Unfortunately, my family religiously watched all of my news stories, so there was no hiding it from them.

I was bombarded with questions as soon as I walked into my childhood home. Even if I'd wanted to answer them, I couldn't, because they came all at once, particularly from my mom and little sister. My older sister, Natalia, even chimed in via FaceTime, all the way from Hawaii on her honeymoon.

Didn't she have better things to do, like oh, I don't know, relax on the beach, go swimming, finally bang her new husband? They'd decided to wait until marriage to have sex, so I was sure that had to be a top honeymoon priority for them.

Instead, Nat joined in on the badgering. They all wanted to know how Miles had ended up being a part of my story, who that girl was, why I hadn't tried to rekindle the flame, if I thought he still had feelings for me, if I still had feelings for him, if this was why I was still single.

The sound of the doorbell ringing saved me from going down that rabbit hole. Fridays were pizza night in this house, a longstanding tradition no one dared break, even with two of the three Vega girls all grown up. I jumped up from my seat before anyone else could. "I'll get it." I breathed out a small sigh of relief as I walked to the door, grateful for the interruption, grabbing the pizza money on the counter on my way.

My new city was only an hour away from my hometown, so I tried to visit as often as my work would allow. Friday nights were usually hard to swing, but I'd requested this one off from the bar I worked at part-time with my roommate/best friend. Zoey had graciously agreed to work in my place and keep the college students who frequented the place drunk and happy.

I regretted my decision about 45 minutes into my visit, after the pizza was long-gone and could no longer serve as a distraction. The dialogue had once again shifted from Miles to my current love life, or lack thereof, and suddenly, being asked to pour shots into a drunk frat guy's mouth sounded a lot more appealing than the intervention my visit was turning into.

"You know, when I was at Zumba the other day, one of the girls was telling me about her son," my mom said, her voice a little too nonchalant. "He's single. And he's about to graduate from law school."

"Mom," I said. The word came out as a warning.

"She showed me a picture on her phone. He's cute, too," she went on, as if I hadn't said anything. "And his mom says you're just his type."

"Alessia is someone's type?" Gabby interjected from her seat in the living room, without looking up from the iPad that was monopolizing her attention, the way most 11-year-olds seemed to spend their time nowadays.

"Very funny, Gabriella." I said her name pointedly.

She didn't answer, instead making a vomiting sound at my use of her full name, still not bothering to look up from whatever it was that she was doing on her tablet. Probably drawing or watching TikToks or making her Pocket Camp villagers cry.

"Nat was telling me one of Elijah's coworkers is single, too," my mom went on, still doing her best to sound casual. "One of his doctor coworkers."

I looked to my dad for help, but he just shrugged. "I'll, uh, be over there, if you need me." He nodded towards the recliner and made his escape, pretending my look hadn't been a cry for help.

"She said she could set something up for you guys after she gets back from Hawaii," my mom continued as I watched my traitorous father settle into his chair for a nap. He'd be out like a light in less than 30 seconds. How he could sleep, knowing he'd left me with the wolves was beyond me. "She'll be back next week."