Page 113 of Crash & Burn

And I’ll make it to the office this time.

I hope.

I’ll keep trying until I don’t have to be someone that needs someone holding them together because I refuse to be a burden.

The night after our second movie marathon was also when we decided that it was time to tell Mateo about us. She told me she was like me, all in.

The fact that Mia doesn’t see us with an expiration date turned out to be enough to convince me.

It was also enough to convince me that the time to heal is now.

It isn’t too late.

Not if I wanted to put the pieces of me back together, so I could show Mia that I don’t need her putting me back together.

I would be whole enough for her.

And I couldn’t help but kiss her all over, telling her I would never stop proving to her she didn’t make a mistake giving me a chance, until I made her come on my face.

Twice.

Butsoonactually didn’t end up being that soon because of how damn busy the man is.

I see Mateo at home on the off-chance we are there at the same time, and I see him at our band practices, but other than that, he is severely preoccupied.

I can’t help but feel a little relieved every time he is too busy to hang out with all of us or declines Mia’s invitations for lunch or coffee.

There is no telling how Mateo will react, and the last thing I want to do is have to choose between him and Mia.

Tonight, we have a show downtown, and Drew, Emmett, Annie, and Luke are coming. It’s our first show in about a month, having no shows in June, except for the one at Lenny’s, or July because of so much recording in the studio.

It is the first weekend in August, and we’re meeting up after the show to grab some drinks near the venue. Theo and Silas will most likely bow out for an offer that will end in sex, but there is a fifty-fifty shot on whether or not Mateo will come, possibly having plans with the girl he pretends to not be spending all his free time with.

I hate that I’m hopeful that he does have plans because it means I get more of Mia to myself.

We let our guards down more when Mateo isn’t around.

Mateo and I head to the venue, driving in comfortable silence, until he asks, “Are you seeing someone?”

I turn from where I am sitting in the passenger seat to look at him. “What?”

Does heknow?

“You seem busier than usual.”

Between balancing my time at home with Daisy, bartending, band practices, and Mia, I’m so tired at the end of the day that I am passed out by the time my head hits the pillow.

Mateo was a little on the fence about Daisy at first, but over these past few weeks, he has warmed up to her. She is the calmest dog I ever met, super smart too. She was potty-trained in less than two days, and she switches between sleeping in her bed in my bedroom and her bed in Mateo’s.

I haven’t had a chance to invite Mia over to meet Daisy yet, whether it is because one of us is busy or Mateo is home, but I can’t wait to have my two girls together.

“No, I’m not seeing anyone.” The lie feels sour on my lips. I change the subject. “Are you?”

Mateo nods his head, and he has a boyish grin. “Yeah, it’s new. I’m waiting to introduce her to everyone. Don’t tell Mia, okay?”

“Secrets safe with me,” I manage to say. Keeping secrets with the Lane siblings is apparently my favorite pastime.

We fall back into silence, only this time it isn’t comfortable for me.

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