Page 89 of Not For Keeps
I nod once, emotion pressing hot behind my eyes. “Exactly.”
His brows knit, confused.
“You’re leaving. Because that’s what you do, Nico. You don’t show up for people, you just show up when it’s convenient. This was never about Maya. It was about me. About getting me back. And now that you see you can’t, now that you realize I’m not yours anymore, you’re running. Again.”
I shake my head, fury giving way to heartbreak. “It was never about her. Not really. If it was, you’d stay. You’d try. You’d fight. But you’re not. You’re walking away. Again.”
He doesn’t deny it. Doesn’t say a word. Just stares at me like he’s seeing the truth for the first time and hates it. I don’t say goodbye. I don’t need to.
I walk back inside, the door clicking shut behind me.
The second the door closes behind me, the noise of the house rushes back in—Maya’s laughter from down the hall, the low hum of music still playing, the buzz of conversation. But it all feels distant, muffled. Like I’m underwater.
Mateo is waiting in the kitchen, leaning against the counter with his arms crossed, eyes fixed on the door like he was willing it to open the whole time I was gone.
When he sees me, he straightens immediately. “You okay?”
I nod. Then shake my head. Then shrug, because I don’t know which one is true. He doesn’t press. Just opens his arms, and that’s all it takes. I fall into his chest like I’m collapsing. The second he wraps his arms around me, the tears come. Big, silent ones that soak into his shirt. My shoulders shake. My knees buckle. And he just holds me.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper.
“Don’t be,” he murmurs into my hair. “Let it out.”
I don’t know how long I cry. But when I finally pull back, my voice is barely there. “He’s leaving town.”
Mateo’s jaw clenches, but he doesn’t say anything. Just waits.
“And he never…he never wanted her. He didn’t come back for Maya. He came back for me. And now that he knows he can’t have me…” I wipe my face with the back of my hand, breath catching. “He’s just going. Like she’s nothing.”
Mateo’s eyes soften, heartbreak and fury mixing behind them. “I’m so sorry, baby.”
I nod, swallowing hard. “It just…it breaks my heart. For her. For what she deserved and never got. For what she still won’t get.”
His thumb brushes my cheek, catching another tear. “He doesn’t get to come back into her life and choose again. Not like that.”
I blink up at him, searching his face. “You’ve always been there. Always. Since the beginning. When itwasn’t your job. When it would’ve been easier not to. You’ve shown up every single time.”
He leans in and presses a soft kiss to my forehead, lingering there. I take a step back, exhaling shakily.
“Well,” I say, managing a wobbly smile, “I guess since he’s gone now…we can break up.”
Mateo jerks his head back. “What?”
I gesture to the air between us, voice barely holding together. “You were only with me to protect us, right? To be there for me like you always are. To help me while he was around. That was the deal.”
The words taste like ash even as they leave my mouth. I don’t even know what I’m saying, but I can’t seem to stop. Part of me wants to snatch them back, to throw myself into his arms and beg him not to let me go. But the other part—the broken, frightened part—pushes harder, determined to ruin this before I get the chance to lose him for real.
He stares at me, stunned. “Lyse?—”
I smile again. Small. Sad. “It’s okay. You did your job.”
Then I walk past him, leaving him speechless in the kitchen, heart pounding in my ears.
Chapter Twenty-Five
MATEO
Istep into the living room as Analyse disappears upstairs with Maya. Her arm was around her daughter, voice soft, careful, nurturing, but I saw the way her shoulders trembled as they climbed the stairs. Whatever happened out on that porch, it fucked with her head. I know it.
