Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CLARA
Aknock comes through my hotel room.
I pause the episode of Dateline playing on the hotel TV and open the door, expecting Isabella and Lily, but instead, Alejandra is standing at my doorway, along with a sea of bags.
“Hey,” she says, voice small, and her eyes don’t meet mine.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, a little surprised, a little excited, but mostly confused.
“Isabella told me she and Lily were coming down to talk to you and check in, and I thought maybe it should be me. There’s a lot I haven’t said that I should have.”
“Come in.” I step to the side to let her in and then help her move the mountain of things Diana made her travel with. She’s always been an over-packer, but this is on another level.
“Thanks,” Alejandra says as I bring in the last set of bags from the hotel corridor.
I sit at the end of the bed and watch her pace back and forth, giving her time to gather her thoughts and say what she came here to say.
Her fingers fidget at her sides, eyes darting to the floor, the ceiling, everywhere but me.
“What’s up?” I ask, unable to take it anymore.
She slips off her leather jacket before taking a deep breath, and that makes me even more nervous.
“I thought after we talked about the move, after we told each other we loved each other, that things would settle. That we’d be okay,” she says, her voice tight.
Her hands are flexing at her sides like she doesn’t know what to do with them.
“Even when you asked for space, we still felt . . . solid. Like we were going to find our way back, and this was just nothing more than a rough patch.” She stops suddenly, turning to face me.
“But now? You barely talk to me when we’re home.
It feels like I’m constantly tiptoeing around you, like I’m waiting for something to snap. And I hate that.”
My heart clenches into a painful knot, but I don’t say anything. I listen as Alejandra continues.
“If you don’t want to keep exploring this pull, this thing that’s been growing, that’s okay.
Really. But you have to tell me, because right now, something feels off.
This is a version of us that doesn’t make sense.
” She says it in a rush, barely stopping to breathe, and by the end, her voice cracks.
Tears gather at the corners of her eyes, and although she blinks furiously, they don’t disappear.
I stand and reach for her hand, pulling her closer. I hold her tightly, hoping it’ll make everything feel safe again. The last thing I want is for her to feel distant or unsure.
“That’s not what I want at all,” I say through kisses on Alejandra’s head.
“It isn’t?” she asks, her voice small but surprised.
“No,” I reply quickly. I take a breath, trying to put tangled feelings into words. “I just . . . I thought we both needed space. I needed space. To think about New York, about us. I was trying to figure things out. But I swear, letting things between us fall apart was never part of the plan.”
“You promise?”
A breath of laughter escapes me. “I promise,” I say, taking a slow step toward her. “In that time apart, I realized that I’d follow you anywhere.” The words come out so easily, I know I made the right choice.
A soft gasp slips from her lips. I reach up and tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear, my hand lingering on the curve.
“I want you to chase every dream, no matter where it leads you. I want you to grow, stretch, and shine, with or without me. But if you’ll let me, I want to be beside you.
Not because I have to. Because I want to.
Because it’s you, and the thought of not celebrating every milestone alongside you makes my very soul break. ”
Her eyes fill with tears again, but this time, they’re softer, almost relieved.
“I just want you.” I rub my nose against hers.
“And I want you.” Alejandra lifts her hand to my cheek, her thumb grazing the edge of my jaw, her touch grounding me the way only she can.
“New York isn’t a dream to me. I thought it was, but then I realized that what we have, what you mean to me, and the life we have built here, that’s my true dream, and I’m not letting go of it,” she says as tears start to spill over.
I cup her cheek, and I lean in, my lips barely brushing hers at first, but the moment she melts into me, it’s like coming home, like a promise. Like a beginning.
My hand moves slowly up to the nape of her neck, pulling her closer, craving her warmth, every inch of her drawing me in.
She trembles beneath my touch, and the ache of missing her shifts into hunger.
When her fingers work their way into my hair, I shiver, utterly undone.
My arms wrap around her waist, and in that moment, everything in me—my mind, body, heart, soul—snaps into place.
As if I’ve been out of sync my whole life, and only just now finally aligned.
Alejandra presses her body flush against mine, and the rhythm of her heartbeat syncs to mine.
Her hands slide beneath the hem of my shirt, fingertips grazing my lower back.
Goosebumps skitter across my skin, and I gasp softly into her mouth.
She uses that moment to deepen the kiss.
Her tongue brushes against mine slowly, while her fingers roam my body as she presses closer, like she needs to feel me everywhere at once, claiming every part of me she touches.
When she pulls back, it’s only far enough to breathe. Our foreheads rest together, our lips still brushing, our breaths warm and uneven. Her eyes find mine, dark and dilated, filled with so much desire it’s dizzying.
“Tell me you want me,” she whispers, her voice rough, almost trembling.
“I want you,” I breathe, voice breaking with how much I mean it. “I want you so fucking bad.”
I pick Alejandra up and walk her backward, her legs wrapping around my waist. I pin her body between me and the door, itching to be closer, even though there’s already no space, but after the distance I’ve felt between us the past few days, no amount of closeness will be enough.
Alejandra gasps as her back hits the door, the sound sharp and breathless.
I lean in to kiss her again, harder this time, while her hands are everywhere—waist, ribs, neck—as if she can’t decide what part of me she wants more.
I gasp softly into her mouth, caught off guard by the urgency. My hands find her back, her hips, holding on to any part of her I can to keep myself grounded as everything else starts to slip.
“Take off your dress,” I whisper against her neck as I bury my hand in her hair, tugging just hard enough to expose her neck. Alejandra leans in further, giving me complete access. I kiss and bite my way from behind her ear down to her collarbone.
“Why don’t you take it off me?” she says in a sultry voice that’s pushing me dangerously close to losing control.
Alejandra turns toward the wall and brushes her hair over her shoulder. The back of her dress dips down slightly, revealing the curve of her spine and the smoothness of her skin.
I pause, fingers lingering above the zipper, and I release a nervous laugh. A younger version of myself—a twentysomething Clara—flashes through my mind. If she knew I was about to do what she’d only dreamed of back then, she’d lose her mind.
My heart tries to burst out of my chest as my fingers find the zipper, and I slowly pull it down. I trace along the straps, gently easing the fabric off her shoulders until it slips down her body and pools at her feet.
Alejandra steps out of her dress and faces me. I wet my lips as a dizzying want takes over. One that makes everything from the tip of my head down to my toes tingle. She’s so fucking perfect.
My breath comes in shallower than before as my eyes trace every curve of her body, making sure I memorize every inch, every mole. Alejandra smirks, a teasing fire in her eyes, before brushing her lips over mine, soft and coaxing.
She parts my lips, her tongue sliding in to meet mine. A slow burn ignites in my chest, and my lips tingle from the way she moves. The kiss is soft and deep, like she’s savoring it and wants me to feel every second of it. And I do, along with something molten that pools low in my belly.
Alejandra takes off my sweater, letting it fall to the floor as her fingers untuck my shirt from the waistline of my jeans. The second her fingertips make contact with my skin, I let out a throaty moan I don’t think I’ve ever heard from myself.
I pull Alejandra close, our bodies pressed tight, and guide us toward the bed. She lets out a startled yelp as the backs of her knees bump the mattress, and she tumbles onto it, landing on her back with a soft thud and a giggle.
I stare at her, her hair splayed out and a soft smile on her lips, and can’t help but feel like the luckiest person alive. Seeing Alejandra like this is everything.
Our lips meet, and the kiss is immediately charged. She lets out a moan, soft and low, as my knee presses against her. Even through the fabric between us, I feel the heat of her— how ready she is, how much she wants this, wants me.
Her hips lift, chasing friction as she arches beneath me. I kiss her deeper, harder, one hand buried in her hair, pulling lightly, the other bracing myself above her. She moans again, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard something sexier.
I pull back enough to look at her. Her eyes are half-lidded, cheeks flushed, lips swollen.
“You’re unreal,” I whisper, breathless.
She smiles, a slow, wicked thing, and pulls me closer again. Before I can react, Alejandra has turned us and is straddling my hips, looking down at me, pleased with herself.
I laugh, wildly turned on but even more impressed. She hasn’t set foot in a gym, well, ever, so the fact that she pulled that off is, honestly, incredibly hot.
“You liked that, huh?” she asks smugly.
“Absolutely,” I say with a silly grin plastered on my face, so wide it’s borderline embarrassing.