Page 19 of In the Lonely Hour

At his seat, Andres blessed the food, before they began to eat.

Conversation flowed effortlessly between them during dinner. When it was over, they all had a piece of cake before Dior returned to her room. Since Andres didn’t have any other plans for the evening, he stayed a little longer to help Layla start the process of cleaning her greenhouse. Honestly, even if he did have something else planned, he would have canceled. Andres enjoyed the time he spent with both Layla and Dior. There wasn’t pressure or force with either of them. The vibe was always genuine.

“This feels like the start of a new beginning,” Layla randomly acknowledged, dumping one of the plants into the large bin Andres had pulled to the backyard.

“Yeah?”

She nodded with a comfortable smile settled on her lips. “I’m anxious to see what I will nurture and see grow in here, but I’m also in no rush because I want to enjoy the process. Same with… real life.” Layla chuckled softly. “Ending things with him and seeing this new beginning for Dior.”

“I really think she’s going to be able to live on her own after college. You’ve done a great job with her development. She’s smart as hell, and she’s wise enough to not do things that aren’t comfortable for her. That’s a trait that a lot of people don’t have. If we can keep her from melting down when she’s in those situations, baby girl will be golden.”

“I knoooow,” Layla stressed before pouting. “I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do with myself. She asked me to tell her about dating and college life the other day and had the nerve to ask me if she was going to be able to stay on campus.”

They both chuckled even though Layla frowned.

“You wouldn’t want her to?”

Her head shook. “I don’t think so. I know I have to prepare to let her go, though. It would really just depend on how well she does in high school. I feel like my baby is growing up by the years every day. That’s scary, Dre.”

“She’s going to be okay, Layla. I promise. I’m not going to allow you to put her in a position that I don’t think she’s capable of handling. You trust that, right?”

Their eyes locked briefly before she picked up the next dead plant.

“I do. Honestly.”

“Good. The biggest thing is making sure she doesn’t get overwhelmed easily and that she learns how to self-manage and soothe. We have four years to do that. Dior is smart as hell and she understands what makes her different. Most importantly, she wants to learn how to engage with people without changing who she is at her core. She has you to thank for that.”

He’d made it a habit to compliment Layla in some way every time he did Dior, and it seemed to help keep her from feeling too bad about whatever she was anxious about in that moment.

“You plan to be around for the next four years?”

Andres hadn’t realized what he’d said until she repeated it. He ran his tongue across his cheek before bobbing his head.

“Yeah. Is that cool with you?”

Layla tugged her bottom lip between her teeth as she smiled and nodded. “Yes. I would like that.”

Their eyes remained locked for a few seconds before they returned to a comfortable silence as they continued to clean. By the time they were done, the sun had set completely. After they shared a CBD joint since Layla didn’t smoke weed, Layla and Dior painted a canvas while Andres watched a movie, and after that, Dior politely put Layla out so she could be alone before going to bed.

“I should probably head out,” Andres decided. He didn’t want to leave, but the longer he stayed, the harder it would be for him to want to go.

“Okay,” Layla agreed softly, taking his hand into hers.

Andres closed the space between them, pushing her thick hair out of her face and off her shoulders to her back.

“Why do you always do that when you get close to me?” Layla wondered.

“You have a beautiful face. I like to see it all.”

Her head hung briefly, bashfully. “Simple enough. You have a beautiful face too. I have to keep myself from kissing your freckles every time I see you.”

“You don’t have to. You can kiss every part of me that you want.”

A few seconds passed, as if she was thinking it over, before Layla removed his glasses and placed kisses from his nose and eyes to his cheeks and lips. By the time she was done, his breathing had grown ragged as he gripped her ass to keep her close.

“Andres,” she almost whispered.

“Yes,” he granted, more than replied. Because at this point it didn’t matter what she was going to ask… Andres would give. With no hesitation.

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