“She isn’t! Wasn’t? I don’t know anymore. She apologized and said she wants to be a part of my life.”
Valeria freezes, mouth open in surprise. “And her way of telling you that was by setting you up?”
“Apparently.”
“Wow. How do you feel about that?”
Camila shrugs. “I have no idea. I’ve been spiraling since it happened. Not quite sure how to feel or what I feel. I thought this day would never come, and now that it’s here ... I don’t know, it doesn’t feel monumental enough.”
“Maybe it’s shock,” Valeria offers.
“Probably, or maybe I don’t fully believe it. I’m waiting for her to take it back, because that’s the only way all the pain she caused makes sense.”
“It’s probably all of it, honestly. When my dad finally came around to my sexuality, it took monthsfor me to trust it. Sometimes, when he refuses to call Brooke my girlfriend, I think he might break into a lecture on how it isn’t right.” Valeria wraps her arms around herself. “Though, I guess it won’t be a problem anymore.”
Camila frowns. “You sure you don’t want to talk about it?”
Valeria shakes her head. “It’s all I’ve done these past few days. I’ve been commandeering the pull-out couch at Alejandra and Clara’s for days now. The thought of going home is just so sad. It wasn’t evenours.She just slept over a lot, but the thought of being there without her makes going home all that much sadder.”
“I completely understand. I did the same thing when Eileen and I broke up. My best friend’s couch hated to see me coming. I think I slept on that thing for at least a month.” Camila rolls her shoulders, remembering the back pain. “If you ever need to get away or want to be near the water, my house has more rooms than I know what to do with. You are welcome to stay there as long as you need.”
“Once the girls kick me out, I’ll probably take you up on it.” Valeria smiles. “In the meantime, tell me about this woman your mom has found for you.”
Camila doesn’t hesitate. Is she interested in dating Zoe? No, but the attention feels good. “Her name is Zoe, super attractive, and kind of an ego boost that my mom thought I’d ever be able to pull someone like her.”
“Oh, hush, you know you’re attractive, and you’re incredibly kind. Zoe could only dream of someone like you.”
A small swell of emotion rises within Camila, and she forces it down. Valeria is a friend—a friend who is recently out of a seriously toxic relationship. But more importantly—and something Camila would do well to remember—is thatValeria is calling her attractive the way so many of her other friends have, platonically.
“Thanks,” Camila says, her cheeks warming a bit.
“Are you going to see her? Did you get her number?”
“I am, and I did! She asked me to dinner. I don’t know when, but I’m excited. I haven’t been on a date in—” Camila taps her chin, trying to figure out when the last time she went out on a date was, but her mind is blank. “I actually have no idea,” she says, surprised.
“A crime, truly.” Her eyes dip briefly before returning to Camila’s face. “But I’m excited for you. I’ll want to know all about it when it happens. Since I’m probably done dating for the rest of my life.”
Camila knows the feeling, knows Valeria means it now, but that the feeling will trickle away. However, telling Valeria she’ll change her mind in the future is the wrong thing to say, no matter how much Camila believes it.
So instead she says, “If she ever calls, I promise to give you all the juicy details.”
“It’s a deal then.” Valeria nods, and they clink their glasses.
Still, the thought of someone breaking Valeria’s belief in love also shatters something in Camila. Her chest tightens with the memory of how it feels to lose faith in something you once trusted with your whole body, your whole soul.
A pain she knows too well, and she wishes—fiercely, uselessly—that she could take it from her.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
VALERIA
After drinks with Camila, Valeria stops by her apartment to grab a couple of clean uniforms, trying to kill some time before heading to Clara and Alejandra’s. Coming here wasn’t exactly her first choice, but Clara and Alejandra are at bingo with Lala, and Lily and Isabella are at an art gallery in Seattle. She tried to hold Camila up as long as she could, but eventually she had to head home to feed Miso.
So here she is.
Even pulling into her complex feels overwhelming. When she parks in her usual spot, she sits in the car, engine ticking softly, gathering herself for the simple, impossible act of going inside. She takes a few steadying breaths, lingering in the hallway before forcing herself to walk up to her door.
She lives on the first floor, so the walk should be short, but every step drags, and the walk feels longer than it should. When she reaches her door, Valeria is digging through her bag for her house keys—she really needs toattach them to her car keys. Finally, she fishes the keys out, but as she’s about to slide one into the lock, she freezes.
