“I’m watering them,” Valeria says, her cheeks going red.
Camila laughs. “I figured. I do the same thing,” she says as she takes a seat on the closed-lidded toilet, still holding on to Valeria’s hand as she sits on the counter.
“You want a drink?”
Camila shakes her head. “I don’t think I’ll have alcohol ever again, thanks to Clara,” she laughs. She hadn’t drunk nearly as much as everyone else had seemed to, but it was still enough to leave her bones aching this morning.
“Oh, I know. She’s such an instigator.” Valeria shakes her head as she turns toward the floating shelf where she keeps her makeup.
As she begins applying her foundation, Valeria tells her how much worse Clara used to be when they were younger. Camila hums in response, trying to follow the story, but her focus keeps slipping. She can’t help but get a little lost in watching every single one of Valeria’s movements, happy with the excuse to stare at her.
Valeria reaches for a liquid eyeliner and turns to Camila, her mouth curving into a shy smile. “Will you do it for me? I always mess it up.”
Camila nods and stands.
Valeria turns on the counter, legs in front of her. Camila stands opposite her, reaching for the pen, glad Valeria’s knees are adding distance between them because her heart is already beating hard.
“Hold still,” Camila murmurs as she uncaps the penand takes a deep breath, struggling to focus with Valeria’s eyes trained on her.
“Would it help if you were closer?” Valeria asks.
The question alone feels like a hand on Camila’s spine. Valeria’s legs part slowly, and Camila’s gaze drops despite herself, and her entire body grows feverish. It takes everything she has not to make a sound—not to show how sharply the moment affects her or how badly she wants to reach out and learn the softness of Valeria’s skin.
“Um ... yeah,” Camila manages, the word barely steady.
She steps forward, only halfway, not daring to go any further. Valeria closes the distance for her. Her hands settle on Camila’s waist, drawing her in until there’s no space left, and Camila’s chest is pressed against Valeria’s.
Camila’s breath hitches, and a small gasp escapes before she can stop it. Her lips part, tongue flicking out to wet her lips subconsciously as heat coils low in her body. A flush crawls up Camila’s neck, her skin buzzing where Valeria touches her, every nerve suddenly awake.
When she looks up, Valeria is watching her—eyes dark, focus unwavering, her breath no longer even. Valeria’s gaze snaps down to Camila’s lips; that alone makes her stomach flip.
It’s only day one, and slow already feels impossible.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
VALERIA
For the first time in years, Valeria is feeling something she honestly forgot she could feel—a want so deep her bones ache.
Sex with Brooke had always been good, but it had never been out of desire—they’d never reached for each other in the dark, desperate for the other’s touch. It was always something they did to prove devotion, to smooth over an argument by marking themselves as belonging to one another. When Valeria thinks about it now, she realizes that sex had always been her way of proving love to Brooke—because sometimes it was the only way she’d would understand it.
It was never passion, and it was definitely never anything like what she feels for Camila right now, which is the wildest thing to admit. How can this moment completely overshadow the six years she shared with Brooke?
Valeria yearned for and lusted over Brooke, sure, but it pales in comparison with what she feels right now for Camila. She feels it so deeply that it’s overwhelming, and if she lets it, it could consume her. But it’s not entirelylust—though that’s very present right now. Valeria craves closeness, touch, connection, and intimacy, but more than anything, there’s a desperate hunger to know and be known completely by her in every way a person can know another.
“Valeria,” Camila whispers, her breath tickling Valeria’s cheek.
Valeria wants to pull her in then, to satisfy the need for Camila’s lips on hers. It takes every single ounce of restraint, but she doesn’t. Instead, Valeria clears her throat.
“I’m sorry,” she breathes, her chest rising and falling rapidly. “This isn’t very ‘let’s go slow’ of me.”
Camila laughs, a breathy one that makes Valeria’s bones ache even more.
“I’m glad one of us has self-control,” she breathes out as she steps back, capping the eyeliner and handing it back to Valeria. “But now my hands are shaking, and I’ll definitely mess up your makeup.”
Valeria laughs and lifts her hand to eye level, seeing the slight tremor in hers, too.
Camila shakes her head and smiles. “I guess no eyeliner for you then.”
