If he remembers.
Hopefully, he will.
“Give him some space,” the for-sure-can’t-be-his-girlfriend says.
I wish I could ask her name, but that’s probably the sort of information boyfriends know already.
Florian’s mother and father loosen their grip on me.
“You could have told us,” Florian’s father tells him.
“We did wonder,” Florian’s sister—I think—says.
“The important thing is that Mateo loves you,” Florian’s mother adds. “I want my baby to be loved.”
Florian stiffens.
Maybe he’s thinking about the fact that at no time in the hospital did I tell him I loved him.
In fact, I did my best to tell him that we weren’t a couple.
His face reddens, and he takes a shallow breath, as if a deeper one would be too much work, and I hate it.
“Of course, I love him,” I say quickly.
Florian looks delighted. “I love you too.”
I shake my head and press my lips together to hide my smile.
That knock on his head was definitely super strong. I say a quick prayer for forgiveness from future Florian.
I ruffle Florian’s hair, and he purrs and pushes his head against my fingers.
“You are adorable,” his mother says.
“I am happy for you,” his father says.
I turn to his sister. Her look is odd. “Florian only joined the Blizzardssix weeks ago.”
“Time works differently when you know,” I hear myself say.
Florian’s mother clasps her hands to her chest, so maybe it’s fine.
His sister doesn’t move at all.
CHAPTER
SEVEN
Florian
Annika is staring at Mateo. Does she not like him? Does she not like that I am with a man?
My parents are fine—thank goodness. Not that I thought they wouldn’t be, but I’d braced myself too many times for the soft inhalation, the exchanged glances, the wary response.
“I fell hard,” Mateo says. “It’s not difficult to love Florian.”
No one has said that to me.
