Love Like Her (Against All Odds #3) - Claudia Y. Burgoa Page 0,45

do every time we see each other. We absorb as much as we can from the other person and we move on. If only I could convince Liv to come with me. This isn’t the first time that I’m dreading the moment when we have to go our separate ways.

There’s nothing I can do or say that will change the outcome. This is probably the way our relationship works. She says that there’s always a reason why you meet someone. Maybe we met so when we face our worst storms, we’ll have each other to hold on to. In this moment I could tell her, “Every time you fall asleep, you’ll find me in your dreams.”

It’s sweet, corny, but unrealistic. We’re too old to believe in pipe dreams.

Maybe all I wish is that she wouldn’t look at me the way she does all the time, like she could love me.

Or it’s probably a reflection of what my heart is trying to avoid, falling for the impossible.

There’s a saying, do as I say, not as I do. So I move on top of her, pushing her legs open, and drive inside her. “We promised not to talk about it until Sunday night. I’ll talk to Persy tomorrow to see if she knows a good counselor for your mom.”

She bites her lip and nods. Does she feel the same as I do? Not that it matters. There’s nothing we can do. Only a lot of shit unsaid between us that feels like it’s eating me alive.

Persy would have a field day if I ever tell her about Liv. Not that I can explain my situation. What can I tell her? See, there’s this girl—now woman—I met long ago. She’s fantastic. Things between us are great when we’re together. She’ll glare at me. I’ll say something like, “No, listen. We live in some dimension where we can coexist as one.”

She’ll definitely snort when I end with, “The issue is when the real world calls us. We have to go our separate ways.”

Persy would dedicate a few podcasts to discussing the insanity that’s Liv and me. She might even get a book deal out of my pathetic life.

Sometimes I wonder what would happen if I say, “Fine. If you don’t want to come with me, I’m staying.”

Not that I can stay. I live part-time in Colorado. The other part I travel, finding new suppliers, or working at the farm in Costa Rica.

“You’re the one thinking now.” She lifts her hand and smooths my forehead.

“I wish I could stay longer,” I confess.

“In another life,” she says, like always.

It sucks that in this life we are just two strangers who happen to come across each other when the wind blows the right way. It’s useless to wonder which reality I should be in when I already know where I belong.

“Who is this friend?” Persy inquires.

“Obviously, you don’t know her,” I answer. “As I explained, she lives in Boston.”

“I can send you a couple of names,” she sighs. “They work like me, virtually. It won’t matter where she lives.”

“Thank you. I owe you one.”

“When are you coming home?” she asks.

“Why?”

“Everyone is out of town. Ford and I need a date night. I’d love it if you could babysit Leah.”

“I should be back next week. Where’s Nyx?”

“She’s going to be in Seattle until my birthday,” she answers. “Ford sent our parents to South Asia—all expenses paid. They won’t be back until mid-October.”

“How are they doing?”

My parents are struggling just as we are. They lost their baby. The kid who never accepted them. It’s to no one’s surprise that they feel as if they’ve failed Callie.

“Better,” she whispers. “It still feels unreal. One moment we had hopes that things would turn around between us. The next we received the call—Callie is gone. As a parent, you’re not supposed to bury your child. I think we’re all doing the best we can to grieve, to come to terms with how things ended between us, and most importantly to understand that none of this was our fault.”

I close my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose. It feels as if we lost her twice. The first time was when she moved away because she couldn’t live with us. The second was when she died. We can’t get real closure. I understand that we were a lot different, but how the fuck did we end up like the bad guys in her story?

“The hardest part is moving on without blaming myself for