“Shit,” Alba muttered. “I know you told me, but it didn’t click. Good for Javier. My dad is the best.”
“Hmm.” I wiggled my brows. “You can always stop by your dad’s job and say hi.”
“Me and a football player? Never.”
“I mean.” I hugged myself against the chill. “Asher and Javi aren’t twins, but that’s as close as you’ll get.”
“You’re weird.” Alba rested her head on my shoulder. “I love you.”
Images of our empty apartment flashed in my mind. I swallowed the tears I didn’t want her to see. “I love you too, Albita.”
***
Asher opened the door in black sweats, hair damp from a shower. “Pasa, peque.” The smell oflatortilladrifted from the kitchen, flooding my chest with tenderness.
I kicked off my shoes and dropped my bag in the foyer. “Ready for the trip?”
“Ready to race.” He cupped my face, kissing me slow. “Not ready to leave you. Want anything to eat or drink?”
“Tea,” I said, following him to the kitchen. “Andla tortilla.”
He chuckled, the sound deep and warm. I was going to miss it—miss him.
“I was right to make some for you, then.” He nodded toward the high stool at the breakfast bar. “Sit.”
Minutes later, I chewed thetortillawhile watching the ripple of his muscles as he fixed my tea. The workouts his fitness coach put him through made him sharper, more defined. Lucky me.
He set a steaming mug by my plate and sat across from me, watching me eat with a soft smile.
“What?” I asked, swallowing the last bite.
“Remembering the first time I cooked for you.” He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Fuck, it sucks to leave you. I’ll be back in less than a week, but after that my schedule’s packed. We’ll hardly see each other.”
I curled my hands around the mug as what I’d eaten churned in my stomach. “Alba’s leaving too.”
“Leaving? Where?”
“Madrid,” I said. “As soon as her classes end in May. Javi’s team offered her dad a job.”
Asher’s gaze softened. “How do you feel about it?”
A sigh escaped my chest. “Like crap, but I won’t hold her back. Her dad isn’t mine. He really cares about her. He’d stay here, but she thinks it’d be unfair.”
Asher slid off the stool and came around to me. “She’s not wrong. He’d make way more with the SUM. Come here.”
I turned to him, and he stepped between my knees, wrapping me in a warm hug. I pressed my cheek to his bare chest, breathing in the scent of his body wash. Tension slipped from my muscles as he rubbed my back. “What about your apartment?” he asked quietly.
“Alba says I can stay there, and I don’t need to pay.”
Asher brushed the back of his hand over my cheek. “Is that what you want?”
I lifted my chin. Our eyes met, his gaze both tender and fierce. He reached into his pocket. “Give me your palm.”
I held it out. He set a small box in the center.
Mypulse sped. “Ash?”
“Open.”
