69

“It’s nothing, really,” I said, trying to figure out how much I could tell him. I didn’t want to get into too many details and potentially reveal Gina as the woman I was seeing.

“If it’s nothing, why did you call her your girlfriend? Who is she?”

“She’s just someone I met. It’s still too new to tell you much, but I like her.”

Mateo chuckled and took a sip of his beer. “So, there is something to tell then.”

“Not really.” I listened as the band finished their first song before moving on to the next. “We’re just talking right now. I don’t know if it will go anywhere right now, so it didn’t seem worth mentioning.”

Mateo smirked and drummed his fingers on the table. “If you say so. You can sit here, dreaming about this mystery woman, but I will find a woman to take home for the night.”

He slid out of his seat, taking his beer with him as he entered the crowd. I shook my head and sat in the darkness, watching through the dim lights as Gina danced with Amalia.

It’s going to be a long night; I thought as I watched men approach Gina only to be turned down—a very long night.

I got home a few hours after Gina and Amalia left the bar. I didn’t want it to look like I was following them all night, even if I was. It would have only pissed both of them off.

When I walked inside, I had every intention of heading straight up the stairs to my bedroom. But instead, I thought I would sleep off the beers and wake up in the morning, wondering what to tell Amalia if she asked about the bar.

Instead, I headed for the kitchen, where I heard Amalia and Gina laughing. I kept walking through the house to join them, even as the little voice screamed at me to keep my distance.

“You know, I thought about becoming a musician in high school,” Amalia said as she carried a tray of cookies to the oven. “But then I realized that it’s a toxic industry.”

Gina laughed, stumbling as she rolled her hips and raised her hands above her head. “I thought I would be one of those girls in music videos when I was sixteen, but then I realized that I can’t dance for shit. Plus, I wanted my own business.”

Amalia wrinkled her nose as I perched myself on the counter’s edge. I grabbed the spoon from the bowl and pulled a chunk of cookie dough.

“What are you doing home so early? I thought that you would go out and have some fun. Maybe finally find yourself a girlfriend.”

I nearly choked on the cookie dough as Gina’s gaze flitted to mine. She winked at me behind Amalia’s back as her hips continued to move to the beat of the music.

“You would be fine with me starting to date again?” I asked as Amalia danced her way back to Gina.

Amalia shrugged. “I don’t know. You’re lonely, and don’t try to tell me you’re not. People should not be alone forever.”

Gina spun Amalia around, laughing as the pair bumped into one of the counters. I rolled my eyes as I watched them, but there was something nice about seeing the carefree side of Gina.

“Maybe one of these days I’ll start dating again. But, first, I have to find the right woman.”

I didn’t miss the blush on Gina’s cheeks as she looked at me over Amalia’s shoulder. She gave me a slight shake of her head, a sly smile, when Amalia stumbled away to turn up the music.

“How much did the two of you have to drink tonight?” I asked as Amalia nearly fell over.

Gina shrugged. “One drink for me. Amalia, however, drank like a fish.”

Amalia glared at her friend. “Don’t rat me out to my dad. That’s so lame. I’m not a teenager anymore.”

I laughed and shook my head. “Amalia, I can see you stumbling around. It’s not like being a teenager stopped you from drinking, either. I know you watered down my alcohol.”

Amalia’s eyes widened as she shook her head. “Couldn’t have been me. It must have been your other child.”

I laughed. “I don’t have another child. You’re it.”

The timer went off in the oven. Gina dodged Amalia’s grasping hands and slid on an oven mitt before pulling out the cookies. My mouth watered as the delicious scent wafted toward me.

“You’re not going to stay and eat all our cookies, are you?” Gina asked, her tone low and teasing as Amalia screeched along with the lyrics of a song I didn’t know.

“I just might.”

“You know, hanging around me like this is a bad idea. We’re supposed to be keeping it quiet.”

“I will keep it quiet. I want some cookies.” I looked down at her with a smile. “There’s a carnival in town next weekend. Go with me.”

Gina looked over her shoulder at Amalia, making she didn’t hear me. She looked back up at me with a slight grin as she nodded.

“Alright. I’ll go with you.”

I grabbed a couple of cookies off the tray, hissing as they burned my fingertips. Amalia laughed and scrambled over to take a cookie from the tray.

“Have a good night, ladies,” I said before heading to my room.

If I thought it would be a long night earlier, it would be an impossibly long night now.

Gina was only going to be a few feet away from me in a bedroom down the hall. She would be wearing one of those little short sets she loved, curled against a pillow.

It wasn’t that long ago that she was wearing one of those little sets and cuddling me instead of a pillow.

A part of me considered sending her a message and telling her to sneak into my room after Amalia slept.

The better man inside me told me to go to bed.

I listened to the better man for the first time since I met Gina.