“You just kissed Gabriel Lewis, Aunt Zoey.”
I bit back a chuckle as Zoey flushed.
“We’re kind of dating,” she admitted, then elbowed him in the side when he exclaimed, “No shit?”
“Language,” she chastised, which I thought was cute.
“Sorry,” Chris replied automatically, obviously not sorry at all. “This is beyond cool. I can’t wait to tell everyone.”
“No, Chris, don’t go telling everyone. If they find out, they find out, but just let this play out naturally, okay?”
Chris looked like he wanted to argue, but nodded his agreement before turning to me and muttering, “She’s always so worried about privacy. I just don’t get it. I always tell all my friends that my aunt is the Zoey Zahn, and she just gets embarrassed. Now I can say that not only is my aunt the Zoey Zahn, but she’s dating Gabriel Lewis … I’d be the king of school.” Then he shook his head and sighed, “What a waste.”
Zoey had grown pale while Christopher ranted, but he didn’t notice; he was too caught up in the unfairness of it all.
“Although, I hate to say, Aunt Z, I did tell some of the kids on the bus who you were.” He shrugged. “It just came up … Anyway, they want to meet you. Maybe take a picture or get your autograph. I hope that’s okay.”
At his hopeful look, Zoey nodded, but her eyes were on me.
Everything was clicking into place. The fact that she was a writer, that she’d never told me her full name, and that she so easily understood my reasons for keeping who I was a secret.
She’d been doing the same thing.
By the look on her face, I could tell she expected me to be upset, maybe even angry, but I wasn’t. How could I be? If anyone would understand her reasons, it would be me … which was the only thing that I found annoying.
Why didn’t she fess up when I did?
Why hold on to the secret?
I heard Reardon give the five-minute warning and knew I had to go and get ready for the opening ceremonies, so rather than give away what I was feeling, I kept my face blank and said to Zoey, “We’ll talk later.”
She just nodded, and I could see she was worried, but I figured it served her right to let her sweat a little bit.
Chapter Twenty-Two ~ Zoey
I watched Gabe walk away, chewing my lower lip as I fretted.
I hadn’t known him long enough to know all of his facial expressions or emotions yet. Was he mad at me? Disappointed? I just couldn’t tell, and I knew I’d worry about it until we were able to speak again.
“Aunt Z…” I don’t know how long Chris had been trying to get my attention, but he’d resorted to poking me in the arm, which probably meant for a while.
“Yeah?” I asked, distracted.
“I cannot believe that you are hooking up with Gabriel freaking Lewis!” I finally turned to focus on my nephew, who was looking like he was about to implode. “I mean, he’s only the best football player ever, and, like, the coolest guy. Did you see his commercial for Nike? Total bad-ass!”
“Language,” I muttered automatically, knowing how my sister, Chloe, felt about her son swearing.
Used to my response, Chris just rolled his eyes and kept on rambling.
“I’ve seen every game he’s ever played, watched every commercial, read every article. Did you totally lose your mind when you met him?”
I shook my head, my mind still full of worry.
“No, I didn’t even know who he was until I’d already known him a few days, and then, only because he told me.”
I could read my nephew’s face, which was currently filled with disbelief.
“How’s that possible? You’ve been at the house, like, a million times. I have a poster of him in my room.”