Page 62 of Resilient Love

“Just watching a game, going to get ready for bed soon. What’s up with you? You sound…different?” he says, phrasing it as more of a question than a statement.

“Yeah,” I say, chuckling, “I guess I have been a little different recently.”

He takes a long pause, processing my words, but when he speaks, I swear I can practically see the wide grin stretch across his tan face.

“Uy! It’s a woman! You’re dating someone!” he practically shouts into my ear.

“We aren’t dating, but?—”

“Butyou want to be!” he says, cutting me off.

“Yeah, I think I do,” I admit, suddenly feeling sheepish.

He practically begs me to tell him every single detail about her and how we met, and by the time I get through it all, it’s nearly two in the morning for me.

“She sounds great, Rafa.” His voice is gentle in the way it always is when he’s about to spill some sort of truth serum all over my head. “I think you’ve got to just tell her you want more so neither of you end up getting hurt in the end. Okay?”

“Yeah, okay,” I grumble, and while my words don’t sound convincing because truthfully, I’m nervous as hell with everything that’s at stake here, Iamconfident in this. Because he’s right. If I don’t admit that I want to get to know her beyond “casual sex and occasional companionship” now, and she decides she wants more with someone else, it’ll crush me. I’ve never felt like this with anyone else, and I don’t plan to take that for granted.

“Good, because you’re worthy of love,hermanito,” he says and releases a long yawn. “I’ve gotta head to bed, but I love you, and I’m proud of you. Make sure to keep me updated on your relationship because youknowI live for a good telenovela, and this sounds just like one,” he says, tired excitement evident in his quiet, muffled tone.

“Que descanses,Carlito. Yo también te quiero.”

When I hang up, I find myself opening my message thread between me and Elise, and a big, goofy grin tugs at my lips.

I’m down so bad for this woman.

I shoot her a text, knowing she won’t get it until she wakes up, but hoping it makes her smile when she does.

Goodnight, mi vida. I hope you sleep well.

I roll over, ready to put my phone on the charger and try my hand at sleeping again, but my phone pings.

My brow furrows as I see the message from Elise waiting for me.

Sunshine

Goodnight <3

Can’t sleep?

Sunshine

It seems you’ve broken me. I haven’t been able to sleep without you since that first night at the hotel.

The truth?

Me neither.

Sunshine

So, what do we do about that?

Instead of texting her back, I call her, plugging my phone in and setting it on my nightstand beside my head.

“Hi, baby.”

“Hi,” she says, her voice groggy, making me picture her fluttering lashes as she fights sleep, her dark strands piled high in a knot on her head. I imagine her arm resting between her breasts because she has a terrible habit of sleeping like a T-rex,and it’s absolutely going to cause carpal tunnel one day, but it’s too cute to tell her to stop.

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