Page 95 of Dream Chaser

“He doesn’t want it.” My mother snorted. “The poor boy just doesn’t know how to make you come back home. He’s desperate to win you back.”

“He’s not a poor boy. He’s a grown man. Maybe if people would stop coddling him, he’d grow up and act like one. And I’m not going anywhere Preston and Donna will be, no matter the holiday.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Dead serious.” I swallowed past the knot in my throat. I was so done with her caring about everyone but her daughter. “It’s my soon-to-be-ex-husband or me, so make a choice, Mom. You can’t have both.”

“You can’t put me in this position.”

“Just like you can’t expect me to sit at the same table with the man making my existence hell. So choose.”

It was an easy choice. Pick your child and let Donna worry about hers. But silence stretched. Heavy. Disappointing.

Telling.

I cut the call and shoved the phone into my purse. Inhaled. Exhaled. Pretended my last hope of my mother putting me first didn’t just die. The calm sea in front of me blurred. I blinked until the dark water came into focus.

Just in time to hear soft footsteps approaching.

“Here you are,” Alejandro said, coming to stand beside me. “Is everything all right?”

I took him in. White shirt. Black blazer. Sharp. Professional.

Another image appeared in my mind—magenta hue of the pool lights highlighting the muscled expanse of his chest. Droplets racing down his body. His hands on my waist. I still felt their heat when I closed my eyes and surrendered to the memories.

And now he was looking at me like he was remembering too.

“Yeah.” I swallowed. “You can go back.”

He shook his head. “Not until you tell me what happened. Was it Preston again?”

What was the point in lying? He’d overheard me once. My strained relationship with my mother was old news. “Close. My mother invited my ex and his mother to Thanksgiving.”

Alejandro stepped closer. Then he wrapped his arms around me, and I leaned my head on his shoulder, soaking in his warmth.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered against my forehead. “Are you still going home?”

I used the holiday as an excuse to justify not going to his friend’s engagement, but I couldn’t lie now—couldn’t let him lose respect for me. There were only so many times I could let my mother hurt me. “No. I’ll just stay here until the award ceremony.”

“Come with me to Manu’s.”

My heart skipped a beat at the words. I stepped back slowly, putting distance between us.

Alejandro kept his hands on my waist, anchoring me. “You’ll see the mountains. We’ll have fun.”

“What happened to you being my boss? At the pool, you said—”

“I know what I said, Nova.” He cupped my cheek, tracing the bone with his thumb. “And I’m still your boss. Nobody will make you uncomfortable. We’ll just go there together as friends. We worked hard. We both need a break.”

Friends didn’t dream about each other. They didn’t imagine how kissing each other would feel. But it was the mountains with Alejandro or spending Thanksgiving alone, stewing in my mother’s betrayal and wondering why she loved Preston more than she loved me.

The choice was easy.

“Okay,” I said.

He nodded. Traced my jaw again, then dropped his hand. “Awesome. Let’s head back. Rys said something about a special cake. I wouldn’t want you to miss it.”

With his hand on my lower back, he guided me toward the lit hotel, his touch grounding me.