Chapter 34
thirty-four
INDIGO
Don’t be a little bitch, Indie.
My heart pounds in my chest, and I wipe my sweaty palms on my jeans while Lola watches me pace outside the family box and tries not to laugh. I’m going to punch her in the boob.
“Girl, it’s not like you’re meeting them for the first time. Just walk in, say hi, Mr. and Mrs. Navarro, give them hugs, and ask how they’ve been. It’s really not a big deal.”
It is, though. These are the people I thought would be my in-laws one day.
The people I still secretly hope could be.
And ten years ago, I ditched their son without a word of explanation.
I know Sebastian said they don’t hate me and that they’re asking about grandchildren, but he’s basically obligated to say that to make me feel better. I’m not na?ve enough to believe it. Ten years ago, I hurt their son, and it seems very unlikely they’re not holding a grudge.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” Lola shoves me, and I stumble into the family box with a squawk of protest.
My face must be a brilliant shade of red, because my cheeks are hot to the touch. And it gets worse when a whole room full of people turn to watch me almost face-plant onto the carpet.
“Nice entrance,” Mira says, trying not to laugh. “Very dramatic. Ten out of ten.”
“Oh my god,” I mutter as I scan the room. The girls all smile and wave at me while a few people I’ve never met chuckle, but I suck in a breath, going still, when my eyes fall on two people who used to be so comfortingly familiar.
Victor and Luz Navarro haven’t changed much in the past decade.
Their hair is peppered with gray, the laugh lines that always accentuated their jovial expressions are deeper, and they both have wrinkles that weren’t there before, but the alterations are superficial.
Sebastian’s parents still radiate the same warmth as they always did.
The kind of warmth that draws you in and makes you feel like family from the very first moment.
I didn’t realize how much I’d missed them.
“Indie!” Luz’s smile is blinding as she crosses the room with her arms open wide. “Oh, honey, it’s so good to see you.”
The floral scent of her perfume wraps around me with her arms, and I’m thrown back to who I was a dozen summers ago.
Once again, I’m a teenage girl who’s completely enamored with the sweet woman who is everything I’d always wanted in a mother.
Warm, funny, present. Her hugs always made me feel seen and accepted.
And as tears pool in my eyes, I realize they still do.
“Hi, Mrs. Navarro.” My throat is tight, but I choke out the words.
“Oh, please.” She pulls back but doesn’t fully release me. Leaving her hands on my arms, Bash’s mom takes me in and gives me a nod of approval that I feel all the way down to my bones. Her eyes twinkle when she says, “I think you’re old enough to call me Luz.”
“Luz,” I say with a wet chuckle. “It’s really nice to see you too.”
“Don’t hog the girl, mi vida.” Victor winks at me while he playfully bumps his hip against hers in an attempt to get her to let me go. “And I agree with my wife, Indie. None of this Mr. Navarro stuff. Victor will do.”
Luz releases me with an amused shake of her head, then Victor pulls me in for a brief hug, but one that’s just as tight and comforting as his wife’s. “We’ve missed you.”
You will not cry in a room full of strangers.
Clearing my throat, I smile at Victor, who doesn’t miss my internal struggle. His smile is kind and fatherly. Like it always was all those summers ago.
“I’ve missed you, too,” I tell him honestly.
“You’ve grown up into such a beautiful woman,” Luz says. “Hasn’t she, Victor? The photos we’ve seen of you don’t do you justice.”
“Absolutely,” her husband says, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. “But she’s always been a beauty.”
And this is one of the reasons I’ve missed Sebastian’s family so much.
They never made me feel like I was lacking, never cared who my parents were or made a big deal about their fame.
To Victor and Luz, I was simply Sebastian’s best friend.
The girl who ate dinner with them several times a week.
Their acceptance was freely offered and was everything I needed as an insecure teenage girl who craved normalcy and anonymity above almost everything else.
Lola clears her throat behind me, and I shake myself out of the past and refocus on the present. Turning to my best friend, I grab her hand and drag her next to me.
“Luz, Victor, this is my best friend, Lola. Lola, these are Sebastian’s parents.”
“Hi,” Lola chirps, giving them both warm hugs. “It’s so nice to meet you! You did a great job raising the crab boy. He’s a good one.”
The Navarros chuckle, and I know she’s already won them over.
Luz and Victor have always been proud of all their children.
It doesn’t matter if they’re a famous athlete, a nurse, or whatever else.
Their kids are their lives, and all it takes to find yourself in their good graces is to compliment one of them.
“We like to think so,” Luz says. “Sebastian tells us you’re staying here for a few months, is that right?”
Lola nods. “Yep. We both needed a change of scenery.”
I’m sure Bash’s parents are aware of the reason I dragged Lola away from LA, but they’re too kind to call attention to that. They’d been privy to more than one rant about the cost of my parents’ fame when it came to my own life.
Luz turns to me. “Well, we are so happy you and Sebastian have reconnected.” She pauses, searching my face before she gently says, “He was never the same without you.”
Oh, god. My heart squeezes and my breath catches.
Lola, knowing me well enough to guess what that statement did to me, reaches up and slings an arm over my shoulders. “So, did you put money on the game? Because I thought about it, but it kinda felt like I’d be jinxing things, and I don’t want to be the reason they lose.”
Victor throws his head back and laughs. “My wife would beat me with her chancla if I did.”
Lola nods. “Fair enough. I need a beer. What do you say, Victor?”
“Count me in. I need to take the edge off. Pretty sure I’m more anxious about this game than my son.” Victor and Lola make their way over to the bar, and my chest expands with warmth.
I love Lola so much.
“My son tells me you’re coming to dinner with us this week,” Luz says, standing next to me and watching her husband and my friend laugh at something ridiculous Lola said.
“If that’s okay with you. I don’t want to intrude.”
“Impossible. You could never intrude.”
My throat tightens, and I struggle to swallow past the lump that grows bigger with every sweet thing Luz Navarro says. “It’s really good to see you again.”
She gives my hand a brief squeeze. “I know, honey. I know.”
“There he is.” Victor Navarro beams like the proud dad he is when Bash walks into the family room and pulls his son in for a bear hug. “You were on fire out there.”
“No kidding. I should have put money on the game,” Lola muses.
Sebastian chuckles at my best friend and squeezes his dad tightly before turning and hugging his mom much more gently. “Hey, Mom.”
“Hi, mijo.” She pats his cheek affectionately. “I’m so proud of you.”
“Thanks,” my boyfriend says, his eyes soft. “I try my best.”
“Psh. You don’t have to try. We’re always proud.”
Bash gives his mom a brilliant smile. She pats his cheek one more time before her eyes dart in my direction and she waggles her eyebrows. He laughs, and getting the message, turns to me.
The affection I see in his expression nearly liquefies me.
“Hey, Rosebud.”
Goose bumps break out over my skin and the sounds in the room that had been overwhelming a few minutes ago fade away as Sebastian reaches out and cups both sides of my face. The rough callouses that cover his skin provide a sharp contrast to the softness of his touch. “Hi.”
He stares into my eyes for another few seconds before lowering his lips to mine and kissing me with such tenderness, my heart skips a beat. “Thanks for coming.”
“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t miss it.”
I’ve missed too much already.
He grins at me before leaning in and whispering, “You doing okay? I’m sorry I couldn’t be here when you saw my parents again for the first time.”
“Yeah. I’m great. And your parents are great. It’s been amazing spending time with them again.”
“Good.” He presses a lingering kiss to my cheek. “I’m hoping you’ll get to spend a lot more time with them in the future.”
My stomach does a little flip.
The world only comes into focus once Lola clears her throat dramatically and says, “Get a room, you two.”
Right. We’re in a room full of people. Including Sebastian’s parents.
The Navarros chuckle when I bury my face in their son’s chest to hide my flaming cheeks.
“Good to see you too, Lola,” Bash says. He reaches over to ruffle her hair, and my best friend screeches at him to stop. This makes his parents laugh even harder, and I can’t help imagining a future where this is our normal.
“You want to come out with us to celebrate, Mom and Dad?”
Victor shakes his head. “Nah. You kids go have fun. Your mother and I are up past our bedtimes already.”
Sebastian shakes with laughter. “Sure you are.”
“We’ll see you for lunch tomorrow,” Luz says. She pulls us both in for hugs, then Victor takes his turn. “Goodnight, kids.”
We’re nearly thirty, and when they call us kids, I almost feel like one again. Like ten years haven’t passed, and I’m not essentially a stranger.
We watch them go, Sebastian’s arm wrapped around me, until Griffin claps his hands and rallies the troops.
“All right, boys and girls, we’re one game closer to the Cup. We have another game tomorrow, so we better move our asses if we want to celebrate tonight.”
The room erupts in cheers, then everyone is moving. Toward the bar, toward the Cup, and toward a future that I’ve spent years imagining. And all of it with the boy I’ve always loved beside me.