Page 123 of Deep In Love
He’s stuck with me now, so I can admit the one thing I haven’t said out loud, not even to Amy, and barely allowed myself to ponder since we met—in fear I would never stop thinking about it. “I thought you werehot as fuck.”
He laughs, a confident smirk taking over his features. Can’t have him get a big head, though, so I add, “And then I wanted to melt you with my laser eyes.”
Mateo drags me back into him, his chest rumbling with laughter as he locks me in a tight embrace.
“Forever,” he says with unquestionable conviction. “You can disintegrate me with your lasers forever, as long as I’m the only one being melted.”
“How romantic,” I tease, but the truth of it is, I couldn’t imagine looking at anyone else.
And now I’ll never be able to.
He’s the one thing I never expected to uncover, but he’ll forever be my greatest discovery.
Chapter 35
Mateo
“Do you have everything?” I ask, doing one last check of the closet and bathroom of the cabin we called home for the last three weeks.
Charlie gingerly places Charles Darwin on the top of her duffel bag before protecting him with clothing. She woke up like she does most mornings—quietly. But it’s a different quiet. Not a silence required to fully wake from a deep slumber, but a silence created from heavy noise inside her head.
Three weeks flew by, and for Charlie, it’s a hard goodbye—to the people she met and grew to love and to the woman she was believed to be when she embarked on the vessel.
She’s blossomed in this environment, one full of friendship and new memories, which makes it hard to leave.
I would be remiss to say I want to leave this small bubble, where she belongs to me alone. But this isn’t reality, and as much as I’ve cherished every memory made, there are millions more to be made off the boat.
“Bruja?” I place a hand on her shoulder, which shakes beneath my palm.
She makes no protest when I spin her around to find her silently crying, her lip quivering and tears staining her cheeks.
“I don’t want to leave,” she admits, her voice shaky as she drops against my chest, digging her fingers into my shirt.
“I know.” It’s safe here, in this small cabin, and I understand her hesitance, but there’s beauty in the unknown. “But the world is waiting.”
Charlie sniffles a few times before retreating and wiping the tears from her cheeks. She finishes packing her bag, paying special attention to her bobbles, and takes a deep breath before moving to the door.
I hike her duffel bag over my shoulder before she can protest, then take in one last look at the room that changed my life.
The bathroom where Charlie confessed her feelings. The bed we slept in every night. Laughter and tears, heart-wrenching confessions and whispered secrets.
It all started right here.
The click of the lock feels like the end of a chapter.
Charlie’s hand snakes down my arm from where she’s holding my bicep to interlace our fingers. I give her palm a squeeze—are assuring gesture as we walk to the galley for the last breakfast before disembarking.
“I’m sad,” she says as we move through the ship, “but grateful for all of it. For you, and Jett, and Sofía and Vivian.” She stops and nibbles on her lip before she timidly adds, “I’ll never forget this trip, because I got to fall in love with you.”
Warmth flares across my body, and I steal another kiss—her lips plush against mine.
“I love sappy Charlie,” I joke, kissing the frown that forms. “But it’s the same for me, bruja.”
“You’ll never meet her again,” she grumbles.
“Love you,” I whisper, saying it simply because I can.
It willnever grow old.
