Page 45 of Yours, Forever

Yes, yes. Except… that napkin. Except all the castillos en el aire that kept trying to lay foundations among the clouds.

"In any case," Javier added, "I told your dad you were happy. But if he asked me, I think it's fair to say he's asking other people as well."

"Crap." Eva's eyes zeroed in on me. "Good thing we're so good at faking married couple vibes."

After I promised to ask around about my dad's moves and we had all gone through our bedtime routines, I stared at the folded piece of paper again. Eventually my eyes blurred and I couldn'tmake out the words anymore. I put it back in my wedding suit for safekeeping, until I could find a more suitable place for it.

Chapter 14

Max

I couldn't sleep. Thecouch was shorter than the bed, and my feet rested on top of the side arm. I'd taken out the sofa's back cushions to have more room and it helped, but I couldn't fall into a deep rest.

I sighed and pushed back the covers; I needed to cool down. I also needed to stop thinking about the damn napkin and what it meant.

It meant we had been drunk and seeing things with rose-colored glasses, that's what. If things were easy with Eva it was because she was practical and, once our agreement had been re-asserted while sober, she'd settled into it with no effort. She didn't mind my exuberance too much and I didn't mind her…anything, really. It was easy because I had been preparing for this for years. That's all.

Eva's bedroom door opened and my heart leapt into a race. I wouldn't have heard it if I had been sleeping, but I had been awake, and the sound drew my attention and lassoed it to her. She didn't go to the washroom or the kitchen like I expected; she stood by the corner to her room and stared in my direction.

"Are you checking to see if I'm awake?" The sound of my voice carried softly through the room.

She released a breath and approached the sofa. "Yeah. Make room for me."

I sat and soon we shared the sofa, lights off. Despite only seeing in shades of gray, details were not lost. She wore pajama shorts this time and a homey cardigan, but I slept in my underwear and I wore nothing else. Our thighs almost touched, and I stared at the space between our skin.

"Do you want me to find my robe?" I made as if to get up, but waited.

"What? Why?"

Because it would be better to keep some semblance of decorum; an attempt at keeping things cool and collected.

Fuck it, I'd never been a shy guy. Making fun of everything and teasing her could achieve the same results; humor was a wonderful mask.

"So you want me half naked?" I joked.

"Oh, shush." She chuckled. "I don't care either way."

Ah, yes. Her chuckles were much better.

"That's wounding, darling. You must know I take care of my appearance."

"Yeah, I've noticed, but it doesn't matter what I like or don't. We're roommates who happen to be married. We'll come across each other unexpectedly over the next few years— be better if we learn to be neutral, right?"

"You're not neutral right now? Is that something you need to learn?"

She cut me a glance. Maybe there were some risks to teasing, after all. No point in pushing her out of her comfort zone, or inundating her with my big personality.

"Okay— I'm sorry," I said. "I'll pull back. What's on your mind? Did you want to talk?"

"It's four fifty. Since I couldn't sleep, I decided to start my day. I didn't want to wake you."

"That's earlier than usual. Everything okay?"

"Aside from the fact that your bed is short for you and I didn't know? Or the fact that you want to move out?"

I cringed. "I haven't been very good at making myself small, have I?"

"Did I ask you to make yourself small?" She arched an eyebrow.