Page 97 of Keepsake

Dash chuckled, rolling his eyes at me. For the first time, he was… messing with me. His eyes were light and not full of daggers. My heart squeezed and it took all in me not to jump on him and hang from his neck. He was a teenager, and I couldn’t mess with our relationship that quickly.

Dash took Vienna, and I moved to Lachlan, but he was heavy too and I almost didn’t make it up the stairs.

“Don’t stay up too late,” I whispered, tucking Lachlan in. Dash had made his way to their room after dropping off Vienna.

He shrugged. “I’ll read a little first. Is Tío back?”

I shook my head. I knew our run-in with David messed with Alvaro’s head. I could see the guilt consuming him every second and not even Willa’s guarantee that he had no claim over the kids helped with his mood.

I wanted to push and make him talk, but at the same time… I was afraid to open my mouth. Afraid he’d say our time was up.

It was time to make that room for Dash. Time for Alvaro to go back to his own apartment. We never put a timeline on this little cohabitation game, but it felt like the end. The kids were fine with me. We found a rhythm. Dash was opening up, Vienna was adapting, and Lachlan was talking more and more at each session with Dr. Maya, who started seeing Vienna, too.

Our lives were clicking together. Didn’t that mean that it was time for Alvaro to move on with his life?

Sure, he was still the kids’ uncle. He’d still see them, but it was going to be different.

I wouldn’t see him every day. Not hanging out on the couch, not sharing my biggest fears after dinner.

And… there would be no kissing anymore. I knew Alvaro and I were complicated. More than that, we were impossible. With the kids, and his mother hating me…

Being together was a bad idea.

He was their uncle. And if something went wrong between us?

I couldn’t afford to feel awkward around the only person in their family within driving distance.

“Goodnight, Dash.” I smiled tightly.

“Goodnight,” he replied, already opening a book.

He was good. They were all good kids. I breathed in and out. David couldn’t take them from me. Nothing could take them from me, Willa guaranteed. All I had done since they arrived in my home was give them the best I could.

Their teachers only had praises to sing. They were eating better, their behavior improved. I nodded to myself.Nothing could destroy this.

I tiptoed downstairs, the house dark and my heart lurched, feeling his absence above all else.

It was ridiculous to miss him. He lived here. I saw him this morning. Still, the man I saw wasn’t Alvaro. There was no spark in his eyes, no smirk over his lips. He was a shell, and I was standing there watching as the waves took him away.

Deciding it was a great time to drink, I reached above my fridge, where I kept a cupboard with a small selection of bottles. I poured my favorite Cabernet Sauvignon in a glass and took a sip, releasing a satisfying hum when the sharpness reached the back of my jaw.

Swallowing slowly, my fingers danced over the glass as I heard the hopeful ping of the elevator.

I glanced down at my watch, just shy of eleven at night. Not bad. He didn’t owe me anything. He could come and go anytime. It was me who was addicted to his presence.

Sipping again from the wine, my eyes fixed on nothing as I leaned over the counter and counted his steps in my mind.

Instead of going upstairs, I heard the approach, my hand shaking a little when he came closer until I could hear him in the kitchen. I didn’t turn to see him coming through the door. My eyes were still cast down on the wine.

“The kids?” he asked low.

“Sleeping.”

He came closer, the heat from his body took over, his scent making me drunker than the wine as he leaned over me. My knees wanted to buckle, to give in quickly when I felt his chest brushing my back.

“I love you in that skirt,” he whispered in my ear.

I trembled, looking down at the silk black mid-skirt I paired with a simple sweater and the boots I took off the second I arrived home.

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