Page 119 of Better Late Than Never

I chuckled and drew back. “Always at the worst possible time, isn’t it?”

“Always.” He kissed me, then turned off the water.

Houses in this country heated water using butane—which was butano in Spanish—and the tanks had to be changed out whenever they were empty. Of course, they always ran out right in the middle of a blissfully hot shower, either on my own or with this sexy man.

“I’ll swap out the tank before I make dinner,” he said. “Then we’ll have plenty of hot water for later.”

I grinned. “Sounds like a deal.”

For now, we dried off, left our towels in the bathroom, and retreated to the bed we’d thoroughly rumpled earlier. It was too hot to even pull a sheet up over us if we were touching each other, but that was fine by me; I’d take tangling up with Connor over pulling up the covers any day.

Just like in the shower, we were lazy and affectionate. Touching, kissing, holding on, but not winding each other up. Such a far cry from men I’d been with whose interest in me wilted along with their hard-ons after sex. Even after we’d stopped making out, he still stayed close, running his hand up down my arm as we lay in comfortable silence.

After a while, he spoke. “You said something the other night that I’m curious about.”

“I did?” I racked my brain, trying to think what I could’ve said. “What was it?”

“About your family.” He furrowed his brow. “You never talk about them. I don’t even know how many siblings you have.”

“Oh. I guess… I guess I haven’t told you much about them.”

He studied me curiously.

I cleared my throat. “I have a brother and a sister. They’re three and six years older.”

“Are you close to them?”

“Not really. My brother and I keep in touch off and on.” I laughed almost soundlessly. “I don’t count on him visiting me overseas any time soon. Not with six kids.”

“Six?” Connor whistled. “Holy shit. I was overwhelmed with two.”

“I know, right?” I chuckled. “But he had two with his first wife, and his current wife already had two, and then they decided to have two together. It’s, um… crowded.”

“I can imagine.” He held my gaze. “And the rest of your family—your parents—they haven’t been out here? The whole time you’ve been in Spain?”

I broke eye contact and swallowed. “No. They didn’t come to Japan either. They can afford it—I know they can—but there was always a reason why they couldn’t. Then with as excited as my mom was when I got the orders here, I thought for sure they’d visit, but…” I shook my head.

“Really?” When I met his gaze, I could see the confusion. The downright bewilderment. “You’ve been here for, what, two years?”

“Almost three,” I whispered.

He stared at me in horror.

“They love me,” I insisted. “I know they do. But even when I was in CONUS, they’ve… never exactly put a lot of effort into seeing me.”

“Because you’re so far away?”

I sighed. “My sister did an exchange program in college. Spent a year in London. My parents took my brother and me to see her, and we traveled around the UK a bit.” I shrugged. “I don’t know if they just aren’t into long-distance traveling anymore, or…”

Or if seeing me just isn’t high enough on their list.

I didn’t say that out loud. It hurt enough to think it. Especially the part where they’d barely put in the effort for semi-regular FaceTime calls.

Clearing my throat, I shifted a little on the mattress. “I sometimes think they might put more effort in if I had a partner, and especially if I had kids.”

Connor made a face. “They should want to come seeyou.”

I half-shrugged. What could I say?

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