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I pull my hands back, dropping them onto my lap and staring down at them. “I won’t let the pack down.”
And again, Mom doesn’t miss a thing. Catching onto the way I phrased that, she adds, “Don’t letmedown.”
I flicker my gaze up to meet her eyes, finding them full of steely determination.
My Adam’s apple bobs with a hard swallow, and I wet my lips with my tongue before replying, “Have I ever?”
27
Cabin twelve feels eerily empty without Javi here. I try not to think about the ghost stories my friends and I passed around about this place as teenagers while I set the table, but each creak of the floorboards underfoot sends my heart racing, every rustle of the tree branches against the roof making me flinch.
I know it’s silly. We’ve been coming here for weeks, so if there truly was a ghost, surely he would’ve made himself known by now. Still, I can’t help but feel a little jumpy as I arrange the plastic silverware just so, wanting everything about tonight to be nothing short of perfect.
I start humming the tune of ‘I Will Wait’by Mumford & Sons- my song of the day from Javi- to distract myself from thoughts of ghouls lurking in the shadows, and it actually works, to some extent. The trouble is, it only opens me up to thinking about other things, like the potential ghosts of Javi’s own past.
I’ve thought a lot about how to approach this. I’ve turned over different scenarios in my mind, considering how each could play out. And in the end, knowing what’s coming, I decide to give myself one more night. Just one more night to be happy and in love, even if it all does turn out to be a pretty lie come morning.
It doesn’t escape me how ridiculous this game of make-believe is. I’m like a sixties housewife, sweeping the floors and setting the table with care as I wait for my man to get home. We’ll both sneak out after this to return to our respective lives, but that inevitability doesn’t diminish how special each moment feels when we’re together. I’ve been living in a dream since Javi and I crossed paths beneath the full moon and I’m not ready to wake up.
Not yet.
Just one more night.
I hum to myself as I plate up the food from Bella Vita, the little Italian restaurant in Goldenleaf, and I don’t let myself think about how come tomorrow, this will all be over. The wine has been poured; the king-sized bed has fresh sheets. The candle on the table is lit, casting its soft ambient glow over the beautiful meal spread out upon it. All that’s missing is my man.My mate.
I must tune out the sounds around me a littletoowell while humming the melody of the song, because I don’t even hear his truck pull up the gravel drive. The movement of the door swinging open catches my eye in my peripheral vision, and I glance that way with a start right as Javi steps over the threshold, my heart skipping a beat.
He’s so devastatingly handsome that I’m struck with awe every time I lay eyes upon him. His thick, black hair is styled in aperfectly messy fauxhawk, a rugged shadow of stubble covering his square jaw. The dark t-shirt he wears clings to his muscular form beneath, accentuating the bulging musculature of his broad shoulders and chest, and his faded blue jeans hug his thighs. Javier Cruz is freakinggorgeous, there’s no doubt about it. And the fact that he wantsme, that he lovesme, is something that I still struggle to wrap my head around every time I look at him.
Our eyes lock, his lips spreading into a grin as he kicks the door closed behind him, and he wastes no time in rushing over to me, eating up the distance between us in long strides. I follow the tug of the bond in my chest until we’re crashing together, wrapping our arms around one another as our lips collide.
Our ‘hello’ kisses are my favorite. They’re always fueled by passion, each of us frantic in our desperation to get our hands on the other once more. Javi lifts me up into his arms, and the hem of my little blue dress bunches up around my hips as I wrap my legs around his waist, his palms cupping my ass. Our tongues glide together, mouths fused, hearts pounding.
This is what I’ve looked forward to all day. I push my fingers into his hair, drawing him closer, needing more. We kiss like we’re starved for it, as if it’s a drug and we’re both dying for another hit. I’m addicted to the way he tastes; to the way his lips feel against mine and the way his big hands grab onto me possessively, like he never wants to let me go.
He finally does, though. We’re both breathless as he sets me back on my feet, and Javi hits me with a heart-stopping smile as he pulls back to look at me, molten gold swirling in his irises. “You look beautiful,mi amor,” he croons, his hands lingering on my waist.
I smile back at him, cocking my head to the side. “How do you say I love you in Spanish?”
He leans down, resting his forehead against mine and staring into my eyes. “Te amo.”
“Te amo,” I repeat, lifting my chin to press another quick kiss to his lips. A growl rumbles in his chest as I pull away, sliding my palm down his arm to take his hand in mine.
I smirk back at him devilishly as I move toward the table, tugging on his hand to urge him along with me.
“Italian?” he asks, glancing at the food spread upon it.
I nod, allowing him to pull out a chair for me and taking a seat. “Just like our first date. Though I got it from a local place instead this time.”
“It’s perfect.” He takes his own seat at the table, surveying the spread with appreciation.
“The food might not be as good, but I guarantee the wine’s better,” I tease, remembering the bitter screw-top cabernet we choked down that first night.
His mouth falls agape as he feigns offense. “What? You said you liked it!”
“I was just trying to be nice,” I giggle. “I mean, you put all that effort in, I wasn’t about to criticize.”
Javi arches a dark brow. “And now?”
