Page 104 of Love Off Course

“I thought Damian liked boys andCuervowas her lover.”

“Men,” Damian says sleepily. “Not boys, men, Eduardo.”

I pop my eyes open, aware of the fact that several people are in the room with us. My eyes first find Estefania’s smiling face. Kyle has an arm around her and is wearing an easy grin. Rosita and Eduardo seem amused.

And then there’s Camilo.

I don’t know what to expect, and his normally expressive face is anything but.

Sitting up, I glower at each one of them. “It’s called privacy. Learn to knock.”

“And miss this?” Camilo says, a smirk forming on his face and making my heart skitter in my chest. “Not a chance.”

“It’s not what you think,” Damian says to him dramatically. “I only have eyes for you, boyfriend.”

Camilo chuckles. “Scared me there for a minute, pal.”

“What are you all doing in here anyway?” I demand, searching for my inner fire. “It’s too early for this.”

“We were inviting you to breakfast,” Rosita says. “Among other things.”

Camilo’s grandmother comes waddling in, muttering in Spanish. Eduardo shakes his head at her, rattling something back to her that I can’t understand.

Damian yawns and stretches. “Camilo, baby doll, can you take your shirt off? Snuggle bear here has been squirming so much she gave a gay man a chub. I’d rather not taint my morning wood with the reminder she has a vag and is one hundred percent not my type. Show me some abs and erase this horrible memory from my mind.” He sits up on one elbow and waves a hand at Camilo. “Oh, maybe a happy trail. Yummy.”

Camilo grabs Damian’s arm and pulls him out of the bed. Damian squeals with laughter. “Sorry, Dame, but I only have eyes for one girl.”

Damian sighs dreamily and winks at me. “Whatever. I can still enjoy the scenery.”

“You’re beautiful first thing in the morning,” Camilo says, stepping to the edge of the bed. “I like you best when you’re messy and frazzled.”

“Gee, thanks,” I grumble, sitting up and letting my legs dangle off the edge of the bed.

“I also like it when you’re in boss babe mode and telling everyone what to do. When you wear your fancy as fuck clothes and wear your bitchy attitude like it’s a name brand that everyone who’s anyone should be wearing.”

I flip him off. “Dive bombing, bird boy. Really fast.”

He sinks to the floor, his hands on my knees. “See,abejita, that’s the thing. I thought I liked flying. I do. I really do. But I love crashing with you. Into you. Because of you.”

“So romantic,” Estefania says, practically swooning.

“We’re still mad at him,” Damian hisses. “Hold it together, woman.”

Camilo grins. “You changed me is the point. For the better. It came on quick and out of nowhere, but it felt right. Too good to be true. I pushed you away once, but I’m never letting you go.”

“You left last night,” I tell him with a frown.

“Because I needed to get something. Eduardo had to take me all the way into town.”

I glance over at Eduardo and he puffs out his chest. Pride ripples from him. I can’t help but smile knowing how much it meant for Camilo to include Eduardo on a task. He adores Camilo. I’ve learned a lot about Eduardo since coming to live here and he sees Rosita’s son as his own.

“What did you get?”

Rosita pulls out a camera, grinning. She looks just like Camilo when she lets her guard down. I’m transfixed by her smile when I realize she has a camera. Why does she have a camera?

“Camilo,” I demand, turning to glower at him. “What’s going on?”

He grabs my hand and draws it to his lips before kissing the top of it. “Little bee, I want to keep you. Both you and our little one. I want to make a life with you. For once, I want to coast rather than soar. I want to live in the moment with you and stop chasing stars I’ll never catch. What’s life without love? I don’t want to find out.”

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