Page 58 of Keepsake

“Vienna asked me for a kiss,” I whispered.

He arched an eyebrow. “That’s good.”

I flickered my eyes from Lachlan to him. “It never occurred to me. I thought about the proper time for them to go to sleep and what they should be eating. I never thought she might just want a kiss.” I took a deep breath. “You think that’s what your mother was afraid of?”

His eyes were somber, his shoulders stiff. Shaking his head like he couldn’t believe me, he said, “Come on, lay down.”

Doing exactly the opposite, my spine went straight, ready to bolt a moment’s notice.

“Why?” I narrowed my eyes.

“Because you’re talking crazy now.” He nodded to the pillow. “Come on.”

Lachlan was right in the middle. Slowly, I laid my head on the pillow. A second later, Alvaro followed.

Even if the bed was big, his shoulder hung out of it when he laid facing the ceiling, an arm under his head.

“My mother doesn’t think you’re unloving.”

I tucked my hands under my chin, looking at him on my side. I watched as his chest moved, his Adam’s apple bobbing when he explained. “She was just scared of losing the kids. Of you showing them something she couldn’t provide.”

I nodded. “You think that was why she never liked my friendship with Sofia?”

“Yeah,” he croaked. “Mamá is proud. My parents are good people, but they like to do things their own way.”

I wasn’t one to pry, but I couldn’t stop the words from falling off my lips. “That’s why you came here for MMA?”

He never glanced my way, just nodded to the ceiling. “They didn’t agree with me.”

“Well, you showed them.”

That made him turn, his arm falling. “You think?”

“Don’t you?” I asked, surprised.

“I never went big or anything like that. I never was someone people knew by name.”

“But you did it. You were a professional athlete. I don’t understand why that’s not a victory.”

It was like I caught him. His eyebrows furrowed, his eyes focusing somewhere else. I kept going.

“It’s hard for people to understand other people’s professions. They don’t know what milestone and goals—”

“Anyone can see you’re successful,” he interrupted me.

“Mmm,” I hummed. “Sure. Because of money. But success isn’t always measured by money or fame. You got to do what you loved, right?”

He grunted.

“Don’t be like that,” I actually scolded. “I watched a lot of your fights growing up, Alvaro. I know you’re good.”

He looked me right in the eyes. “What do you do you know about MMA, Jefa?”

I bit my cheeks not to smile at him. “I know you’re the big dude who won the fight.”

He tsked. “They are all big dudes.”

“You were the biggest. Is that what you wanted me to say?”

---