The thanatophobia I suffer from will only get worse and worse.
I pull away from him and slump against the seat again.
I desperately try to come up with something believable to tell my parents. Over the past three months, they’ve been so busy with Augusto and Yuki I’ve managed to put a lot of distance between us.
Would they fall for it if I lie and tell them I’ve been secretly seeing Christiano and fallen in love with him all over again?
Probably.
But there’s no way they’ll believe my fear has magically disappeared.
What else can I say?
Shit.
Christiano’s hand covers both of mine, and when he squeezes hard, I realize I’m twisting my fingers together.
“I’ll handle everything,” he says. “You just have to do a convincing job of looking happy.”
I glance at him again and see the pain I’m still causing him pooling in his eyes.
It’s just for one day.
Tonight, when I’m alone, I can fall apart, but for the next few hours, I’m going to try my best to put my issues aside.
As I exhale a deep breath, I allow my love for Christiano to resurface, and turning my right hand, I weave my fingers with his.
Maybe I can find little pockets of happiness with him between all the fear. When he learns the truth, at least I’ll have some good memories to relive when I lose him.
I lean into him, and as I reach for his jaw with my left hand, he lowers his head, and the moment our mouths meet, the relentless worry eases a little.
Christiano keeps the kiss tender instead of letting it spiral into a heated frenzy, and when he pulls back, his eyes search mine. “What was that for?”
“It’s me waving a white flag for today.”
The corner of his mouth lifts. “I’ll take it.”
When Nico steers the SUV up the driveway of my family home, I suck in a deep breath and send up a silent prayer.
I should’ve sent Mom a text to warn her, but as Nico opens the back door, and I climb out, it’s way too late.
Christiano’s phone rings. “Give me a second.”
Taking my chance, I hurry into the house. “Mom? Dad?”
“Kitchen.”
I rush through the foyer, and when I burst into the kitchen, I see they’ve just finished having dinner.
“This is a surprise!” Mom stands up and comes to hug me. “It feels like we’ve been seeing less and less of you the past few weeks.”
“Listen,” I glance over my shoulder, and not seeing Christiano, I blurt the news out, “I’m engaged to Christiano.”
“What the fuck?” Dad snaps, shooting up from the stool he's sitting on.
Oh dear God.
I gesture with my hands for Dad to stay calm, but Mom grabs my left one and gasps when she sees the ring.
