“Then…what?” I frowned at him, utterly perplexed.
“Does she seem like she wants to settle down, bro?” Enzo shook his head sadly.
Oh.
Vanessa had no shortage of male attention and never had. But she hadn’t ever brought a guy home as her other half or anything.
Huh, weird.
“Here she is,” Enzo declared with a wide smile, and I turned to see Lila striding towards us in a pastel pink dress, her lips painted in the same shade. I was so lost in her beauty I didn't even greet her.
“Hey, Enzo.” Lila’s gaze moved to me, and she arched a perfectly made eyebrow. “Are you just going to stare at me, Rossi?”
“Yes ma’am,” I said, trying to hide my laughter.
“Ma’am, hmm? That wasn’t what you were calling me last night.”
Enzo nearly choked on his beer, and I shook my head, unable to believe this woman wasmyother half. Not officially, not yet at least, but in every other way.
“I’m going in the kitchen, or the bathroom, anywhere that isn’t here.” Enzo headed in the direction my sister had gone, and Lila slid her arm around my waist.
“I love summer,” she commented, watching Enzo make a sharp exit.
“I love you.” I tipped her chin back and gazed at her, unable to believe I had another chance with this fucking incredible woman. Everything seemed to have slid into place; I had a truck, I could drive, and Lila had even started her own interior design business. She worked from home which gave her loads of time with Zara.
Oh yeah, I’d won with that name. Except now Lila wants all our kids to have names that begin with Z, like my mom did with me and my sister. All I heard was ‘all our kids’ and I was done. Like where did I fucking sign? But I didn’t care if we didn’t manage to get pregnant again; we were getting older every day after all. Plus, we had Zara.
I’m a lucky bastard, and I know it.
But there wasn’t a day that went by where I let it slide for a second. We still attended therapy every six months, and I replayed the video of Lila with Graham in my mind at least once a day. I couldn’t ever watch it again, as part of our therapy had been deleting all the videos of us with other people. It wasn’t who we were anymore.
My mom had forgiven me and was now obsessed with Zara Rossi.
An angel with dark curls and eyes of the prettiest blur of brown, green, and even gold. Cinnamon hazel, Lila called it, but she seemed to love labelling things like cans of paint now.
“You better do because this baby will be here before you know it.”
I nodded then did a double take.
“What did you say?”
Lila grinned and held up a little white stick, waving it around so I couldn’t even see the result; but I didn’t need to.
“Baby, seriously? Fuck yes!”
I picked her up and swung her around, kissing her deeply as my mom shouted from the pool.
“Did you finally tell him?”
“You told my mom first?” I gaped at my mom and then Lila, who shrugged.
“We’re super close now, sorry.”
Lila’s mom stepped out of the kitchen and pursed her lips when she saw us, not that I could blame her either. Christ, I had some enemies.
“Zara, do you want a snack, baby?” she called out, carrying a tub of treats for Zara. Probably watermelon. Her favourite.
“I don’t care, baby, I’m so fucking happy I could die.” I kissed her again, and she squealed against me.
