Page 2 of Game Changer (Hidden Attractions #2)

Maya

Five months earlier

“Mamí, Papí, I have to tell you something.”

My dad’s forehead wrinkles in confusion. “?Qué pasa?”

I’ve been sitting on this news for a week, and as nervous as I am, I have to tell them at some point. Ethan isn’t just another guy to me. He’s someone I want to get serious with, and in order for that to happen, I need to tell my parents.

“I’m seeing someone,” I admit. “And it’s going really well.”

Two dates in, and I’m the happiest I’ve been in years. Ethan treats me like I’m a freaking princess, so all I can hope is that once my parents hear this, they’ll want to meet him too.

Mamí’s face brightens. Even after working herself to the bone with three jobs, she remains youthful. Everyone says I resemble her, and I’ve always considered that a compliment. If I can age like her and still not look a day over thirty? I’ll take it.

“What’s his name?” she asks in her thick accent.

“Well, actually . . .” I wring my hands together. Here goes nothing. “It’s Ethan. You know, Maddie’s brother?”

My heart falters at the disappointment that falls over her face, replacing her smile.

My parents have made it clear they’d prefer me to end up with a man with a stable career.

One who would be able to support our future family without having to go through the hardships they went through to make it all these years in America.

A doctor, lawyer, veterinarian. Anything that pays six figures a year.

And it’s not that they’re gold diggers or anything, but they’ve made me understand how much sacrifice it took to provide me with the life I have. The last thing they want is for me to have the same experience. It’s why they came here in the first place, so I don’t take any of it for granted.

“No,” my father says. “The boy who is friends with Cameron Holden?”

Okay, granted, Ethan doesn’t have the greatest track record regarding his friend circle, but in his defense, he’s been friends with Cameron since they were kids. Ethan didn’t know he’d turn into a girl-obsessed player when they got to high school.

“There’s more to him than that,” I plead. “He treats me well, and—”

My father, the complete opposite of my mother, displays the hard work he’s done for years on his face.

It’s wrinkled and worn from days spent laboring in the sun, and he looks tired, with heavy bags lining his eyes and gray strands peppering his cropped black hair.

It makes me feel guilty for preventing him from going to bed by having this conversation, but this is important to me, and if I don’t do it now, I’m afraid I’ll never get the courage to bring this up again.

“If he wanted to treat you well, he’d do steps to take care of you.

Not mess with girls all day. He was smoking that night we picked you up, right?

” It’s take steps, but my parents’ English is subpar at best. They can have a basic conversation, but I grew up having to translate for them for any major document signings or visits to the bank.

Now that I’m transferring to a four-year college, they’re taking classes to become more fluent since I won’t be around as much to help them.

Everything isn’t about money to me. I’ve seen people live happily without a six-figure paycheck, but saying this to my parents never does any good.

How could it when they’ve struggled for so many years?

I can understand why it’d be a factor. My wants and needs have never seemed important when I’ve watched them run themselves into the ground to ensure we can pay our electricity bill and have food in the house.

Even now, asking their permission to date a man I know they won’t approve of makes me feel selfish.

And Ethan was smoking a blunt that night when my parents picked me up my freshman year after a sleepover with Maddie.

He was around the side of the house attempting to hide it from his parents, and it didn’t help that he put it out as soon as he noticed my parents’ car.

The image was embedded in their heads, and they automatically labeled him another party boy, like Cameron.

What could I say in his defense? At the time, he was with a different girl every week, and he was smoking. But they don’t know him like I do. If they just met him and gave him a chance, they’d realize he’s not the same as Cameron. He’s far from it.

But it doesn’t matter if Ethan isn’t the guy he seemed.

Explaining this to my parents would be fruitless when, at the end of the day, he still doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life.

If he can’t prove to my parents that he’ll be able to take care of me emotionally and physically, my parents will never approve.

“ Bambina .” My mother’s use of my childhood nickname brings tears to my eyes. Her eyes soften in a way that lets me know that no matter how hard I try, they aren’t going to budge on this. “We want the best for you. Do you understand?”

But what if he is the best for me?

It’s on the tip of my tongue, but I swallow the words and give a curt nod instead.

I was raised to respect my parents. Whatever they say goes, so it’s useless to try and fight them regarding something they’ll never change their minds about.

I’ll always be the obedient daughter. It’s why I’m going to college for a degree I don’t even want.

It’s why I’m allowing them to dictate my future now, despite every ounce of my being wanting to scream at them and fight for this.

They took themselves away from their families, away from a community they loved profoundly, and everything they’ve ever known to give me a better life than theirs.

And while being with Ethan would make me happy, I can’t sit here and promise that he’d never betray me and fall back into his partying habits.

People make mistakes. It’s bound to happen in any relationship.

But my parents want someone perfect, with no flaws, and I don’t know if they understand that perfection is impossible to come across.

“So, you’re saying no?” I whisper through my tears. “You don’t approve of him?”

My mother leans over to pat my hand, but a hint of regret shines in her eyes. “You will see when you have kids one day.”

Papí nods in agreement. “ Te amo, princesa , but no. We want the world for you, and Ethan isn’t grown up enough to give you it.”

~

“So, let me get this straight. You guys weren’t dating?”

Propping my phone against the tiny desk beside my bed, I spread my makeup across it and sigh excessively at Maddie’s endless questions.

I love my best friend, I do, but the last thing I want to discuss is my hookup with her brother , and the way her eyes are sending me pity looks through the screen makes me want to end this topic of conversation as quickly as humanly possible.

“We hooked up, went on a few dates, and then I called it quits. You know how I am, Maddie. Long-term relationships aren’t my thing.” The lie rolls smoothly off my tongue, but my stomach sours all the same.

Ethan was more than just a hookup.

“Oh, come on,” she deadpans. “You expect me to believe that? We’ve known each other since the eighth grade. You tried to hit on him by asking him about sailing this past spring break! I’ve never seen you try so hard with anyone.”

She’s right. I’ve never had to put in an effort for any man, and I’m not trying to be a cocky bitch by saying that.

It’s just the truth. Men have always done the work for me, but Ethan needed convincing.

Maybe that’s why I felt such a connection to him in the first place.

He’s the first guy I had to work for. The first guy not to comment on how hot I was within the first ten minutes of meeting me. It was refreshing.

Then, this past spring break, I made a move on him and sealed the deal, but sleeping with Ethan wasn’t what I was expecting. His touch felt like heaven. His lips on my skin felt like he was kissing me not for my body, but for my soul, and when we locked eyes . . .

It was too much.

Too real.

Too terrifying.

“It doesn’t matter why I ended things.” I clear my throat and twist the cap off my mascara, but her unnerving gaze practically burns a hole in the side of my head as I face the compact mirror to apply it. “What?”

“Nothing.” She moves her phone back and lies down on the comforter of her tiny twin bed.

She’s doing big things in Connecticut, studying at Briarwood to become a doctor, and although we still have weekly FaceTime sessions, they’re not the same as seeing her in person.

After running into Ethan for the first time since everything happened, I holed up in my dorm room for two days out of fear of bumping into him again.

It would be nice to have her here to binge Ben & Jerry’s and watch Lifetime movies with to fill the gaping hole in my heart.

“So, how’s university life?” she asks, thankfully changing the subject. “Are you handling being away from your parents okay?”

That could be another reason I’m in a slump.

In all my twenty years, I’ve never spent this much time away from my parents.

The plan was to graduate from cosmetology school and work at a salon close to home, but my parents refused.

They said having a proper education was important.

After all, what would be the point in them going through so much just for me to become a cosmetologist?

It hurt when they were disappointed about my passion, but I understood it.

They worked three jobs and we could barely scrape by, so if I have to get a bachelor’s degree to make them proud, then so be it.