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Nico drops his forehead to my shoulder. “Is it too soon or too much to tell you I’m falling hard for you?” After a second in which I try to absorb that, he adds, “No, wait. That’s not true. I’ve already fallen for you.”
“Let me up.”
He withdraws from me and helps me to stand.
I turn to face him, wrapping my arms around his neck and pressing my naked body to his. “I’ve fallen for you, too.”
The smile that lights up his sinfully handsome face is the first one I’ve seen from him since we heard his brother had been shot. “I want you guys to officially move in here with us.”
I’m shaking my head before he finishes the sentence. “I don’t want to do that.”
His smile fades that quickly. “Why not?”
I reach around him for the robe I hung on a hook on the back of the door. After I tie it around my waist, Nico gathers my hair from inside the robe and lets it slide between his fingers. “I want to try to explain this in a way that makes sense.”
He pulls his shorts up, zips them, but leaves the button undone as he follows me into the bedroom and sits next to me on the bed.
I appreciate that he gives me a second to get my thoughts together and isn’t immediately trying to talk me into going along with what he wants. “It took me a long time to work up the courage and to save the money to leave Joaquín. I know our apartment doesn’t look like much when you live in a house like this one, but it’s the first real home I’ve ever had, and I’m not ready to leave it yet.”
“I understand that. I just want us to be together all the time now.”
“We can be, but I’m not moving.”
“What about the safety issue? Joaquín and Diego are locked up for now, but we were having problems with his friends and family even when he was in jail. That threat won’t go away. If anything, it’s apt to be worse now that they’re facing even more serious charges.”
“I know, and it is important to me that Mateo and I are safe. We feel safe here, and he’s addicted to your pool.”
“My pool is his pool no matter where you call home.”
“Thank you. I’ll never forget your kindness to us or your family’s kindness. It’s meant everything to me.”
“You say that like this is some temporary infatuation or something.”
I’m sure the look I give him is full of world-weary reality. “You and I live in the real world, Nico. Things like this fall apart all the time, regardless of how much we might wish otherwise. I can’t rebuild my entire life a second time. The first time almost killed me.”
“I know you’ve been through some difficult stuff and that my life has been abundantly blessed by comparison. I heard my Nona tell someone once that most of the luck you get in life comes from being born into a good family. If that’s true, then I was one hundred percent lucky from the day I was born.”
“I’m glad you see that.”
“I do. The older I get and the more people I meet, the more I see how very lucky I am. Nearly losing my brother is a reminder to be thankful for everything I have. And more than anything, I want you and Mateo in my life. I want you living here where we can be together as much as possible. I want to make your life easier, more comfortable, safer. But I respect that you’re not ready for that stuff. Just know it’s on the table indefinitely.”
“What does that mean? ‘On the table’?”
He kisses me softly on the lips. “It means my home is your home forever even if you keep your place, too. No expiration date.”
“That’s very generous of you, but you should probably talk to Milo about that. This is his home, too, and he might not want us here after what happened to him because of me.”
“I can speak for him without hesitation. He’d want you guys here and would never blame you for what someone else did.”
“Still, you should ask him.”
He kisses me again. “I will, but right now, I need to go cut Mr. Miller’s grass.”
“You have to do that today when you haven’t had any sleep?”
“Milo does it every Sunday after brunch. So yeah, I have to do it. I’ll catch a nap before work.”
“It’s good of you to do that.”
“Milo is the good one. I’m just filling in for him.”
I grab his hand before he can escape. “You’re a good one, too.”
“I’m not good like him.”
“You’re good like you, and that’s more than enough for me.”
He gazes at me for a long moment. “That might be the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”
