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I laugh, and his dark gaze traces the curve of my face.
“Asking for help doesn’t make you a burden or less than.” I swipe some of the burn cream over his red skin. “So stop telling yourself that.”
His body ripples with tension until I finish treating his burn.
“There.” I give his wrist a squeeze before taking a step back.
He latches on to mine and holds me in place. “Thank you.”
“Thank me by channeling your inner Picasso during Pictionary.”
He laughs. “Deal.”
Turns out losingwithJulian is far better than winning against him.
And I can’t wait to do it again next week.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Dahlia
“Iwant to take you somewhere.” Julian tugs on my hand.
“Now?” I check the empty living room. Josefina, Rafa, and Nico headed out ten minutes ago to see a movie together, while Lily and my mom are busy finding a way to fit all the Thanksgiving leftovers in the fridge.
“Yes.”
I must not answer fast enough because he rushes to say, “I have a surprise.”
“What kind of surprise?”
“Telling you would defeat calling it one.” He leads me toward the front door, but before he opens it, he grabs my winter coat off the rack and helps me into it.
It’s the smallest gestures that send my heart into overdrive, like the way he wraps a scarf around my neck and fixes my hair without me asking.
He’s perfect.
Which makes him that much more dangerous. The more he takes care of me, the less confident I feel about our arrangement.
I peek into the empty living room. “But my mom—”
“Has plans to spend the rest of the night catching up on a telenovela with your sister.”
“If you’re trying to convince me to leave, you’re doing a terrible job.”
“It’ll be worth the sacrifice. I swear.”
“That’s a big promise.”
His smile says he plans on delivering.
“Tonight was…nice,” I say after the first song finishes playing.
Julian turns down the volume. “I thought so, although your turkey was a little dry.”
I slap his shoulder. “Jerk! You’re the one who told me to keep it in the oven longer.”
“I only said that so you had to keep bending over to check on it.”
