Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Eva
The airport terminal buzzes around us, but in our little group, things feel oddly peaceful, like we’ve formed a bubble no one else can pop.
Josy bounces Everly gently in the carrier strapped to her chest while Violet rubs baby Ethan’s back in slow circles.
Adrian has his earbuds in, leaning against a nearby pillar, probably pretending not to know any of us.
Esteban, Noah, and Austin are huddled near the window, deep in what looks like a serious conversation. Noah keeps making hand gestures, Austin nods along, and Esteban grins like he’s saying something he knows is going to get him punched. Typical.
The last few days have been hard.
Ever since that non-date with Esteban where we danced and kissed like we were something more—I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him.
It’s like he’s lodged somewhere deep inside me, impossible to shake.
I fall asleep imagining what could’ve happened if I’d just been a little braver.
If I had kissed him again. If I had told him how I really feel.
And then there’s the flip side, the part that’s driving me insane.
Every time I catch myself smiling at the memory of Esteban, Brandon texts me.
Like clockwork. Like he can feel it when I start to move on.
I finally blocked his number, but of course, he found a way to slither back in.
He started messaging me through social media.
DMs, comments, even tagging me in old pictures, like that would make me come back to him.
So I blocked him there, too. Every. Single. Account.
But he’s so fucking persistent, it’s like he’s made it his mission to haunt me.
I can’t even post a picture or a story without wondering if one of those hateful comments came from him hiding behind a fake name.
Honestly, I’d bet money that at least one of the ugly remarks on Esteban’s last video came from Brandon.
It’s exhausting. It’s infuriating.
And it makes me want to scream.
The whole time we were together, he never gave a shit about my social media. Barely even liked my posts. Now he’s suddenly watching everything I do like a hawk, showing up like a digital ghost in every corner of my life.
Taking a deep breath, I shake my head, forcing his name and his toxicity out of my mind.
He doesn’t get to live in my head rent-free anymore.
I glance toward the guys, needing something—someone—real to focus on. And there he is.
I try not to stare too long in his direction, but it’s basically a losing battle.
He’s laughing now, head tilted back just slightly, and damnit, he looks so handsome when he laughs.
His beard is trimmed short, neat, like everything about him, and I suddenly want to step in front of him and kiss those tempting lips just to see if he tastes as good as I remember.
My fake fiancé. Right. Fake. God, I really need to get it together before one of the girls catches me openly drooling like a lovesick idiot.
“So…” I say, turning to Josy and Violet, forcing my attention back to the people I should be focused on. “Esteban told me you like to read books?” I look at Violet.
Her face lights up like I just offered her a surprise book haul. “Oh yes. I love reading romance. Give me a broody hero, a sassy heroine, and a happily ever after and I’m set for life.”
I laugh. “Same. I’ll read pretty much anything as long as there’s kissing involved.”
Josy groans playfully. “Ugh, I wish I had more time to read as much as Violet does. Between the coffee shop, Everly, and your brother…” she pauses, then adds with a smirk, “there’s not a lot of free time left. I’m lucky if I can squeeze in a chapter from an audiobook while folding laundry.”
We all laugh, and Violet leans closer. “It’s true. She used to fall asleep reading. Now she falls asleep just thinking about reading.”
“Hey!” Josy nudges her with her elbow, careful not to wake Everly. “That’s not true. Sometimes I make it two chapters in.”
Their laughter is warm and contagious, and for a moment, I feel completely at ease. Like I’ve always belonged here. Like I’m not secretly losing my mind over a certain Puerto Rican heartthrob who keeps catching my eye from across the terminal.
I glance over again just for a second and catch Esteban already looking at me. He smiles. Not a big, teasing one, but something small, softer. My breath catches, and I quickly turn back to the girls, praying neither of them notices how red my face is right now.
They don’t say anything. But Josy’s eyes glint with quiet amusement.
Crap. I think she noticed.
I look down when my phone buzzes in my hand.
A text from Esteban lights up the screen.
I glance up instinctively and yep, there he is, smirking at me like he already knows exactly what he just did to my heart rate.
He’s standing with Noah and Austin, pretending to be engaged in their conversation, but he’s totally waiting for me to read it.
Esteban: Why are you blushing? Did I make you blush?
My cheeks heat all over again, traitors. I bite my lip, unsure how to play this. Should I call his bluff or act innocent?
Me: What are you talking about?
I hit send, then peek at him from the corner of my eye. He glances at his phone, reads my message, and his mouth twitches into a full-blown grin. A second later, the typing bubbles appear.
Esteban: And here I thought me looking at you made you blush.
Me: I’m not that easy.
Esteban: I never said you were. But don’t worry... I plan on making you blush this weekend, so be prepared.
My breath catches. He’s not playing fair.
Me: Oh really? And how exactly do you plan on doing that?
He doesn’t reply right away. He just lifts his gaze, catches mine across the seating area, and raises one eyebrow in a way that makes my stomach flip. I quickly look away before I combust right there in front of Violet and Josy.
We’re finally on the plane, and I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding when I see where we’re all seated.
Noah, Josy, and Everly are in the back. Austin, Violet, and Adrian are two rows ahead of us.
And me? I’m smack in the middle of the row with Esteban beside me on the aisle and a sleeping woman already leaning against the window seat.
Thank God.
Two hours of uninterrupted time with Esteban and no Noah hovering? That’s a blessing.
I lean toward him, keeping my voice low so the woman beside me doesn’t overhear. “Are you nervous?”
He tilts his head, looking down at me. “A little. I don’t want to fuck it up. And you, are you ready to be the best fake fiancé this world has ever seen?”
I grin, my voice a quiet whisper near his ear. “I’m so ready. I’m invested now. I want you guys to win the McNeals over and land this deal. I know how important it is for you and my brother.”
He gives me a bright smile and my heart skips.
He’s so close I can see the crinkles at the corners of his eyes, the tiny yellow flecks in the green, like little suns trapped in moss.
His cologne wraps around me clean, woodsy, and so him that I have to fight the urge to lean in and sniff his neck like a weirdo.
I blink hard and sit back before I do something embarrassing.
“The flight’s short,” he says, nudging my arm with his elbow. “Want to talk about something? Anything we haven’t covered on our previous dates?”
“Fake dates,” I correct, raising a brow at him.
He smirks. “Sure. Fake dates.”
I think for a moment, then glance at him. “Does anyone else know about this whole fake engagement thing?”
“Nope,” he says, popping the p. “Just your friends and mine. Why?”
“I was just wondering. I haven’t told Julia or my mom. I can already imagine how my sister would take it, probably blasting it on Facebook before the plane even lands.”
He chuckles, shaking his head. “Yeah, Julia’s not exactly subtle. And your mom? She’d probably be thrilled. My mom would lose her mind with excitement if she knew I had a girlfriend—that I’m finally settling down.”
That makes me smile. “So why haven’t you?”
He leans back in his seat and turns his head to look at me fully. “What, you mean why is a charming, hardworking, devastatingly handsome, almost thirty-six-year-old guy still single?”
I roll my eyes, but I’m grinning. “Exactly.”
He exhales slowly, not joking anymore. “I don’t know. I guess I didn’t want to settle just to settle. And the truth is, I haven’t felt that pull toward anyone.”
My smile falters for a second. That answer is more honest than I expected.
“What about you?” he asks. “Why is a gorgeous, smart, overachieving skincare queen still single?”
I keep my eyes on my hands as I speak, fingers picking at the seam of the seatbelt buckle. “I was in a relationship for a few years,” I say. “He always said he’d move to Honey Springs with me, but when the time came, I guess he expected me to just stay in Florida with him.”
Esteban stays quiet, his full attention on me. It makes it easier and harder to keep talking.
“At the end, I realized he wanted a trophy wife. Someone who looked good beside him at dinner parties, smiled on cue, didn’t ask too many questions. And that’s not who I am. I want someone who’s with me. Who’s for me. I want someone who challenges me, who makes me feel things I can’t ignore.”
He’s still watching me, and when I glance up, there’s no teasing in his eyes. Just something softer. Something that almost makes me want to cry.
“I’m guessing you were okay after the breakup?” he asks quietly.
“Yeah,” I say with a small nod. “It hurt, but not in the way you’d expect.
I felt… relieved. Like a weight I didn’t even realize I was carrying had been lifted.
I was more upset about being lied to, about being deceived, than I was about losing him.
In the end, it was the best decision I could’ve made. ”
Esteban lets out a breath and shifts slightly, his arm brushing mine. “Yeah. I guess it was.”
I glance at him, surprised by the way he’s looking at me.
“You deserve the man of your dreams, Eva.”
His voice is low, almost reverent. Like it’s not a compliment, it’s more of a truth.
I don’t know what to say. So I just smile, letting the words settle over me like something warm and dangerous.
Because right now, the man of my dreams might be sitting right next to me.
For two whole hours, I was mesmerized by this man, silently wishing time would slow down. But I guess when you’re sitting next to the man you’re crushing on and maybe even falling for, it has no choice but to fly.
We talked about everything and nothing. We laughed. He asked questions no one had ever thought to ask me, and I found myself answering them with an honesty that surprised me.
I told him about my undergrad years, how I spent most of them alone because I was too scared to meet new people.
I was shy and awkward, and it wasn’t until Ashton and Payton came to visit one weekend that I finally started breaking out of my shell.
I confessed how much I’d missed Honey Springs all those years, how it always felt like something in me only made sense when I was home.
He shared funny stories from work, then he shared how he felt when Noah fell off the roof of a house during a job.
How he tried so hard to be strong for Josy.
He had to hold it together for her. But he was so worried.
He said seeing him on the floor not responding broke him.
He talk about Noah’s memory loss. How hard it had been to see Noah confused and scared.
How Josy was pregnant at the time, and he couldn’t even remember her.
I tried to imagine that, being pregnant and invisible to the father of your child. It made my heart ache.
Noah’s memory loss only lasted about three weeks, but it was long enough to make everyone fear the worst. I nodded slowly, my chest tight with emotion.
I remembered that time. I’d wanted to fly home the second I found out about the accident, but my parents insisted he was okay.
It was finals week so I stayed, but I nearly failed those exams because all I could think about was Noah.
Then Esteban told me about Austin and Violet’s story, and my heart softened all over again.
“They met at Josy’s coffee shop,” he said, grinning. “She spilled hot coffee all over him, and he fell right there. Dude was a mess for weeks trying to figure out how to talk to her without sounding like a caveman.”
I laughed, picturing Austin—the cool, collected architect—fumbling around like a teenager.
“And when they finally got together,” he added, his voice lowering, “that’s when the worst happened.”
My smile faded. “What do you mean?”
He hesitated. “Violet was kidnapped.”
“What?” I gasped, my heart thudding.
“A man was obsessed with her. Lost his mind. We searched everywhere. Austin was... he was destroyed. I’ve never seen him like that. Screaming. Losing it.”
I covered my mouth with my hand. “Oh my God.”
“They found her a few hours later. She had bruises, but she was safe. Physically, anyway. The man was arrested, but not before Austin beat the shit out of him.”
I sat in silence for a while, absorbing it all. These people, my people, had gone through so much. And Esteban... he’d lived all of it with them. Carried their pain, their fears. Laughed with them, fought for them.
He hides it well, behind the jokes and the confident swagger. But I see him now. Really see him.
Esteban Báez is an exceptional man.
I wonder how much more I missed by being away for so long. I should have come back sooner.