She stared at me with wide eyes. “Your father approves of me?”
“My father is in love with you. If he could, he would marry you.”
The smile that sprouted on her lips … it was the brightest thing I had ever seen. “That’s so sweet.”
“That’s gross. But, well, it’s better than your parents and their opinion about me.”
She lost her pretty smile. “I know you think they hate you, but they don’t.”
“Right.”
“I’m serious. I think they don’t like the situation, that I decided to move away, that it was so sudden, but they certainly don’t hate you.”
“Next,” I said, my voice harsh.
She pressed her lips into a thin line as she scanned her phone’s screen. “Hm, does your spouse drink coffee in the morning?”
“No, she drinks mate,” I answered. “Then, she drinks a cup of milk with a little coffee, and she eats some bread like thing, like bagels or biscuits or donuts. Whatever is handy.”
One corner of her lips tugged up. “It seems you’ve been paying more attention to me than I thought.”
I shrugged. “I’m observant.” I leaned forward and crossed my arms over the table. “Now you. Tell me something you noticed about me or something I usually do.”
She tapped her finger onto her chin, considering. “You run your hand through your hair a lot when you’re stressed.”
I frowned. “I do?” She nodded. “Well, it seems you’ve been paying attention too.”
She shrugged then she scanned the list again. She chuckled. “There are some questions in here …”
“Like?”
“Like, what size is your bed? How many windows are there in your bedroom? What color are your spouse’s pajamas? Who sleeps on each side of the bed? What form of contraception do you use?” Her cheeks gained a red tint. “When was your wife’s last menstrual per—” She cut herself off and cleared her throat. “Yeah, those are quite embarrassing. Oh, oh, but this one: Have you ever had an argument that resulted in one of you sleeping in another room? Who, and which room?” She chuckled. “Like, every night?”
“We can’t tell them that, though.”
“I know, I’m just …” She dropped the phone and took another spoonful of negrinho.
“And what about past relationships? Are there questions about that?”
She glanced at her phone’s screen. “Doesn’t look like it. This isn’t a full list, though. We should check some others. However, I don’t see why they would ask us about past relationships. It has nothing to do with our relationship now. Don’t you think?”
I clenched my hands into fists. “It might, when someone’s ex keeps sending messages or calling, even though the girl already made it clear she moved on.” Her eyes went wide. “Someday he might even show up here.”
“How do you know …?”
“You tell Bia, Bia tells Garrett, and Garrett tells me.” I had known for a while, but after meeting the ass in Brazil, I felt like he didn’t deserve Gabi at all.
She swallowed hard. “Don’t worry. I won’t let him ruin our deal.”
“Hm, so, that means what? You want to get back with him, but now you can’t?”
“That’s not it!” Her cheeks reddened. “I broke up with him over eighteen months ago, and I haven’t really considered making up. I wouldn’t, even if we didn’t have a deal.”
“Right,” I said, my chest suddenly tight with jealousy. Which was ridiculous. Like she said, she didn’t plan on going back to him, and this was a fake marriage.
I had to repeat that in my head: fake marriage.
There. Maybe now it would stick.
“What about you?” she asked, her eyes narrowed. “Any exes I should worry about?”
I almost spat out the wine I was drinking. “To be honest, no, I don’t think so. I haven’t been in a serious relationship in so long.” I stared at my glass. “I didn’t have time to pay attention to anyone while I was trying to work my ass off to pay for my father’s medical bills.”
“Sorry I asked,” she whispered, her shoulder drooping.
“Gabi, no, look …” I let out a long sigh and finally said what I should have many days ago. “I’m sorry about what I said before. I don’t want you getting deeply involved in my problems not because of you, but because you don’t deserve to carry their weight. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, and what you still do for me. Really.” I paused and she slowly lifted those blue eyes until they met mine. “Thank you, and I’m sorry.”
She stared at me in silence for a full minute. I thought she would either throw her wine in my face or simply shoot up and walk away, but she surprised me by nodded, one corner of her lips tugging up.
“It’s okay,” she said. “I understand why you were on the defensive. I guess in your shoes, I would be too.” Smile gone, she pointed a finger at me. “Just don’t be such a jerk, or I’ll start kicking your ass.”
I chuckled. “That’s a deal.” I sipped from my wine and waved a hand at the list. “Go on. What else should we know?”
She cleared her throat and stared at the list. “Hm, let’s see …”
We continued studying for a few more minutes, until most of the questions led to more information and conversation, and we simply gave up on them. In the end, we put on a random movie and watched it together.
Almost like a real couple.
39
Gabi
The days were ticking by and it was making me frustrated. I hadn’t heard from the immigration lawyer about my green card process, though she had sent me an email telling me sometimes these things can take months. And I was going nowhere with my dream of playing polo professionally.
In need of burning off pent-up energy, I decided to accept the guys’ invitation to practice with them.
“I didn’t think you would show up,” my brother said, sliding out of his Jeep.
I crossed my arms and leaned against my car. “Why not?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Too early?”
“It’s almost nine in the morning. What do I think I do all day?”
“Sleep?” he teased.
I smacked his shoulder and walked to the back of my car. Gui picked up his bag from the Jeep’s backseat, while I opened the trunk of my SUV and grabbed my bag.
“Thanks for inviting me,” I said.
“My pleasure.”
Together, we walked from the club’s parking lot to the training field in the back. There, tio João Pedro looked over his tablet while Leo and Ri finished lacing up their shoes.
“Oh, look who is here,” Leo said with a smile. “Came to get your ass kicked?”
I snorted. “I want to see you try.”
I set my bag on the bench behind him and changed from my boots to my tennis shoes. First, we stretched then exercised. Only after one or two hours of intense exercise, did we pull out the horses and practice.
“I’m here, I’m here,” Pedro shouted as he ran down the path to where we were grouped.
“And why are you late?” tio João Pedro asked.
Pedro dropped his bag and looked up at his father. “I overslept, sorry.”
“And I even knocked on your door before leaving and you told me you were up, idiota,” Gui said.
“Yeah, I lied. Desculpa.” Pedro quickly slipped his sneakers on. “But I’m ready now.”
Ri, Pedro, Leo, Gui, and I stood side by side facing tio João Pedro. “Okay, guris, I want you to be careful with Gabi.”
“Hey,” I protested. “I can keep up with them.”
“I know you can. If you were a boy, I confess I would have considered adding you as a fifth to our team and rotate you all between games.” That was actually a nice thing to hear—if I could get over the if-you-were-a-boy part. “But os guris can be tough when playing and I don’t want to see you hurt.”
I shook my head. “And I don’t want to be treated differently because I’m a girl.” I looked to my brother
and cousins. “Let them come. I’ll give it as tough as they come.”
Gui grinned at me. “That’s my girl.”
“I’m not your girl,” I muttered.
He winked at me. “You kinda are.”
I blew a raspberry at him.
“Okay, stop playing around,” tio João Pedro said loud and clear. “Let’s start. Five laps around the field. Go.”
We set off running. The guys started nicely, maintaining a good pace, until the last lap. Then, they sprinted down the course.
“Filho duma …” I pressed my mouth shut and pushed my feet, running after them. Oh, I wouldn’t stay behind. Grinding my teeth, I pushed my legs as I never had before and, halfway through the last lap, I caught up with Pedro.
“Hey!” he complained, as if I wasn’t allowed to be a fast runner too.
But that wasn’t the end of it.
The muscles in my legs burned, but I pushed even harder and soon passed Pedro and Ri. There was only Gui and Leo in front of me. I could barely breathe as I pumped my arms and pushed my legs. Faster, faster, faster.
Gui crossed the pretend finish line first, by a couple of paces, then Leo was next, and I was third—just two paces behind Leo. Ri and Pedro caught up with us only three seconds later.
“Wow,” Pedro said, breathing hard. “I had forgotten how fast you can run.”
I chuckled, but had to stop to breathe. My lungs were killing me too. “I haven’t trained with you guys in what? A couple of months? Prepare to be amazed!”
Next, tio João Pedro walked us through a long series of stretches, and then we did some cardio and strengthening workouts. Jump rope, jumps, and run practice on the agility ladder, a series of push-ups, sit-ups, and jumping jacks, touch-sprints, and a lot of squats and lunges. I noticed the guys kept tabs on me, to make sure if I was doing everything right, if I could keep up, or if I could do better it than them, I didn’t know. However, I was determined to prove to them that I was as good as they all were.
We had a ten-minute break while the horses were brought out to the field.
Typically, in polo, a team went through a lot of horses during practice and games because the animals got too hot and tired too fast. The guys had twenty horses—one for each chukka per player, and four extra just in case. During practice, they rotated the order of the horses so they all would get the same amount of training.
This time, I would use the extra set of four horses.
“I’ll go with her,” Gui said, mounting his first horse.
“But that’s still three against two,” Ri said. “Call Malcolm or Thomas or anyone from the Knight House. See if one of them is holed up here at the club and wants to lend us a hand.”
“That’s a good idea,” Leo said, picking up his phone. “Except the guy wouldn’t have stretched and be ready to play.”
“Then we give him fifteen minutes to stretch while we play the field,” Pedro said. “Call them.”
In the end, Leo called Malcolm, while Ri called Thomas, Pedro called Reese, and Gui called Justin. To our surprise, Malcolm was at the club and Justin had just arrived. Their own practice started in a couple of hours, but for some reason, these two decided to come over early.
“Malcolm offered to help,” Leo said.
“Justin too,” Gui said.
“Bom, we can use both, if they want, just not at the same time,” Pedro suggested.
“Fine by me,” Ri said.
While waiting for Malcolm and Justin to get to the field, the guys and I took the horses for an easy gallop around the field—we didn’t want to tire them before the game even started. When we saw them both nearing the field, we took the horses back to where tio João Pedro was perched with his tablet.
“So, what are we doing exactly?” Malcolm asked.
“We’re gonna divide into two teams of three and play,” Leo said.
“And you guys can take turns,” Ri explained.
“And who is that?” Justin asked, gesturing to me. “I don’t think we’ve got to meet another Fernandes wonder. How many polo guys did your family produce?” He chuckled at his amusing joke.
Then, I unstrapped my helmet and took off my goggles. My braid, which had been strapped to the helmet, fell over my shoulder.
“How about a polo girl?” I asked, defying them with my high chin.
Malcolm’s jaw hit the ground. “Gabriela?”
“You guys want to play with a girl?” Justin asked, his tone a little elevated.
“Hey, this is my sister, you idiot,” Gui snapped.
Justin narrowed his eyes. “I know she’s your sister, but you want us to play with her?”
Tio João Pedro stepped forward and looked up at the guys from the other team. “If you have a problem with that, then leave right now. Just be warned, I bet she can kick both of your asses.” He turned around and walked to the bench at the edge of the field as if nothing had happened.
Justin raised his hands. “Sorry, but I’m out.” He walked away.
“Malcolm?” Gui asked.
Malcolm snapped his jaw shut. “I’m a little shocked, but, hm, hey, why not? Give me a few minutes to change and stretch.”
The guys agreed, and he left the field in the direction of the lockers.
Gui glanced at me. “Are you okay?”
I nodded, though my insides were seething. “I’ll be okay.”
Not ten minutes later, Malcolm was mounted on his first horse, and with his mallet in hand. He steered his horse to stand beside Gui and me.
“This won’t be easy,” he said. “Leo is the best and—”
“I’m the second best,” Gui added.
“I know, but all of your family is good.”
Gui jerked his chin to me. “She is too.”
“Relax,” I said. “This is just a fun practice, nothing more.”
He took a deep breath. “All right. Here goes nothing.”
The game started and as Malcolm predicted, it wasn’t easy. But it was so much fun. We played two entire chukkas, scoring no goals whatsoever. The game was too equally matched.
On the interval between the third and fourth chukkas, Gui pulled his horse to my side. “Have you noticed the crowd?”
I tried not glancing around again. “It’s not a crowd.”
“It’s at least twenty people. And I see more coming.”
“All club workers, probably.”
“Not all, but I do see the secretary of the polo manager.”
I straightened my back and widened my eyes at him. “You’re kidding?”
“Why would I kid?” He smiled at me. “Come on, mana, let’s show them how a girl plays.”
I smiled back at him. “Hy-ah!” I yelled to my horse.
I kept my horse close to Leo, pushing him, and making him irritated. It didn’t take long for him to make a tiny mistake. When he was passing the ball to Pedro, I brought my horse across Leo’s and I stole the ball. I maneuvered around him and raced to the end of the court.
And scored a goal!
“Gol!” I yelled.
“And she wins!” tio João Pedro shouted from the sideline.
Gui rode to me. “Beautiful game, mana.”
I smiled. “Thanks.”
“Wow,” Leo said, approaching. “You really turned into a great player these past three years. Keep training and you’ll soon take my ranking.”
I rolled my eyes at him.
We brought the horses back to where the staff was waiting to take them away, and dismounted.
“I have to apologize,” Justin said, walking up to us. “I wasn’t going to watch the game, but as I was walking by, you guys caught my attention and then I couldn’t stop looking. Gabriela, I’m sorry for what I said earlier. You play as well as any of these guys. Congratulations.”
My smile only widened. “Thanks.”
“That really was a great game,” a woman said. Beside me, Gui stiffened. The woman extended her hand to me. “Hi, I’m Brittany Morrow, the polo manager�
��s secretary.”
I shook her hand. “Hi. I’m—”
“Gabriela Fernandes,” she finished for me. “One more Fernandes playing polo, and to my surprise, it’s a she, not a he.”
I sighed. “Yes, I get that a lot.”
She crossed her arms. “So, what do you do? Just play for fun?”
Gui gently elbowed my back. “Actually, I want to play professionally, like my brother and my cousins.”
“Women’s polo isn’t as popular as men’s.” She narrowed her eyes. “But, if we could get some other girls who could play as well as you do …”
My heart skipped a beat. “What are you saying?”
“I can’t speak for my boss, but if I were him, I would be interested in putting together a women’s team, starting with you.” Meu Deus. She pulled out a card from her purse. “Here. Give me a call. Mr. Helms is out of town this week, but we can try to schedule a meeting with him soon and talk about this. What do you think?”
“What do I think?” I chuckled. Then, I cleared my throat and said, “Actually, I already went to his office and spoke to another woman, a receptionist, I think.” This felt redundant, but she had to know about it. “I have an appointment scheduled with Mr. Helms in a few days.”
Brittany frowned as she pulled out her phone and checked on something. “You must have spoken with Ellen. Between us, she’s new and bossy. And she must have done something wrong because there’s no appointment with your name on it.”
My stomach dropped. “W-what?”
“It’s okay,” Brittany said, her composure intact. “Even if your appointment was canceled by mistake, I’ll find a way to squeeze you in his schedule. Is that okay?”
I swallowed, getting excited again. “It’s more than okay. It’s a great idea.”
She smiled. “Great. I look forward to hearing from you.” She waved before turning and walking away.
“Meu Deus,” I said once she was gone.
Gui pulled me into a big hug, and the guys all cheered and patted my back and kissed my cheek.
They let me go when tio João Pedro stepped in the circle and grinned at me. “I’m proud of you, guria. You’ll do great.” He patted my cheek.
Breaking Down (The Breaking Series Book 4) Page 21