Page 52 of Deliah
“Good. I’m moving to Marbella next week. The lads landed an office out there.”
“Marbella,” I echoed, like I hadn’t already imagined myself there in three different bikinis. “Must be nice.”
“You’d like it.”
“Oh yeah?” I raised a brow. “Planning a travel vlog together now?”
He didn’t miss a beat. “Come with me.”
I blinked. “What?”
“Come to Marbella,” he said, like he was asking me to pass the salt. “With me.”
I laughed, full-body this time. “Right. Let me just pack up my life and hop on a plane with the man who ghosted me.”
“You’re not packing up. You’re just having a break.”
“And doing what exactly when I get there? Sunning myself into a new identity?”
He didn’t flinch. “You’ll figure it out when you’re there. If it helps, I’ll take care of things for a bit.”
I stared at him, really stared. “What does that mean?”
“It means you won’t need to worry about anything.”
That stopped me. I leaned back.
“No money? No job? No plan? You’re just… offering to sort me out?”
His eyes didn’t waver. “Yes.”
It made something in my mind buzz—because it was tempting. The freedom. The ease. The idea that maybe, just maybe, I didn’thave to fight for once. But also—what was I even going to do? I couldn’t just play house and sip cocktails while my bank account slowly depleted. And I wasn’t the type to sit around and be looked after, even if every part of me craved the break.
“And where exactly would I be staying?” I asked, guarded.
“With me.”
“Of course.”
“You’d have your own room,” he added. “If you wanted it.”
“And if I didn’t?”
His gaze sharpened. “Then we’d figure that out, too.”
I rolled my eyes, trying not to smile. “You’re ridiculous.”
But my mind was already spiralling—visions of sun-warmed skin, long days, no Jay, no clock-in shifts or crying on bathroom floors. Just space. And maybe softness.
“I’m not a girl you can just fly around like some... convenience,” I warned.
“You’re not a convenience,” he said. “You’re trouble. The kind that I like.”
I looked away, swallowing a smile I didn’t want to give him. “You think I need saving.”
“No,” he said. “I think you’ve done enough surviving. Maybe you deserve to rest.”
I blinked hard. That one nearly broke me.
