Page 32 of Finding Wonderland

“But you don’t have…”

Cameron widened her eyes, as if trying to convey something to Vera. It took Vera a moment to realize that Cameron was letting Vera go alone with Isla and Mason to dinner.

Damn, she’s smooth.

“Oh, right,” Vera nervously laughed. “But I can still get dinner with you two.”

“Perfect.” The bemused look on Isla’s face told her she was onto Cameron’s game, but Vera didn’t care.

After making plans to meet at Pizza Parlour in an hour, Isla walked them to the front door. She waved goodbye to Cameron before taking a minute a quiet moment with Vera. They embraced, and Isla was reminded how safe she felt in Vera’s arm.

“Thank you so much for this.”

“You’re welcome.” Vera kissed the top of her head. “And my offer is good if you want to bring Mason over for a sleepover tonight.”

Biting her lip, Isla looked at Vera as she continued.

“I’m not expecting anything to happen. I have an extra bedroom that’s already made up for guests. You and Mason can sleep in there and then come back here tomorrow. Well,” she smirked, “after I made you both breakfast.”

“Sounds like a dream.”

“So, what do you say?” Vera’s eyes were pleading with her to say yes. “Pack your things for the night and bring them to dinner. You can follow me home after.”

“Are you sure?”

“Maybe this will tell you.”

Leaning in, Vera kissed her long and hard. There was so much passion behind it that Isla knew if she said yes to the invite, they’d have to keep their distance. Because her mind and body were in desperate need of more from Vera.

“That helped.”

“Good,” Vera smirked. “I’ll see you soon.”

Chapter 12

Vera

Vera was suddenly overthinking everything.

She had been invited to dinner with Isla and Mason innocently enough and thought she was doing the neighborly, friendly thing by inviting them to spend the night in lieu of inhaling paint fumes. But the more Vera thought about it, the more she hoped Isla didn’t think she wanted an adult sleepover.

No, Vera would be opposed to that. Her feelings for Isla were developing faster than she ever knew was possible. However, she knew it was too soon to be crossing over from friends to something more. Heck, they hadn’t even had an official date yet.

It would happen soon; Vera was going to make sure of it. But in the meantime, she had to make it clear to Isla that she wasn’t expecting anything out of their night together. And she knew exactly the person who could help her with that.

Parking the vehicle at her mother’s house, Vera hurried up the driveway and rang the doorbell.

Bellamy Forsyth wasn’t the type of mother that would like her children barging into her house, even if it was the house where they grew up. In fact, Vera didn’t even have her own key anymore. Neither did her younger sister, Lena. And especially not the youngest, Walker, who eagerly opened the door.

“Hi,” Walker giggled as she hugged Vera.

“Hey, sis.”

At seven, Walker was young enough to be Vera’s daughter. And in a way, that dynamic fit them better than sisters. They hadn’t grown up together as Vera was already out of the house by the time Walker was born. But Vera made it a point to hang out with Walker as much as she could. Which, she could admit, had been less over the last few weeks as her focus had been on Isla.

Vera pushed the guilt back down and smiled at Walker.

“Are you ready for pizza?”

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