Chapter 23
Sol
This morning, I walked into a judge’s office as Rainey Collins.
I’ve been Rainey Collins on paper my entire life.
Birth certificate, school records, driver’s license, credit cards—all of it built around a name that wasn’t mine.
This morning, Justin walked me into a judge’s office, and forty minutes later, I walked out as Soledad Mendoza.
Just like that. Like it had always been waiting.
I’d asked Justin on the way in if he thought I was making the right decision.
Justin looked at me for a long moment before he answered.
Then he said, “You do what feels right to you. No name change will change how I feel about you. You’ll always be my baby sister.
” He pulled me into a hug before I could cry about it.
Bethany said the same thing to me last night when I dropped her off.
Although she was a little quiet when I dropped her off at the airport.
I know part of it is that she’s leaving me alone with everything going on, and the other part is that she hasn’t said anything, but I can tell she’s developed feelings for Leo.
I didn’t mention what I had heard at Leo’s house, and I haven’t heard from Leo.
It was time for her to go back to where she is safe and away from everything going on.
“Hey!” I say to Professor Mills when I walk into his office. I’m here for tutoring, and he wants to go over a little more about amnesia to help me out.
He stands from his office chair. “Hello, Sol, how’s your day going?”
“Great so far.” Max comes back tomorrow late at night, and then we can finally talk. My body still tingles with the memory of him between my legs. Just the thought makes me wet all over again.
Alex’s gaze lingers a little too long on my lips. Then he clears his throat, gesturing to the sofa for me to sit. “Shall we get started? Do you want to start with classwork or how the mind works with amnesia, sweetheart?”
Sweetheart? He’s never called me that before. I ignore it and answer him. “We can start with classwork.”
“I hope it’s okay to say, but you look stunning today.
” He grabs a stack of papers from class earlier today, fixing his crisp green shirt as does.
He settles beside me on the sofa, close enough that I can smell his cologne.
Something expensive and slightly too much of it.
I shift toward the armrest without making it obvious.
“Thank you,” I answer him, and take it as a compliment, not him trying to date me.
It’s so damn hot. I’m trying to keep cool by wearing shorts or dresses.
And the dress I’m wearing might show just a little too much cleavage.
Jeez, I should have worn something that covered more. But damn, my boobs are sweating.
For about thirty minutes, we go over classwork, and he helps me fill out the questionnaire form that was passed out in class. “Are you and your boyfriend still together?” he asks.
“Umm, well, we took some time apart, but we are looking to work it out.” I don’t tell him because, for one, it’s not his business, and I would like Max to know first, besides the others whom I’ve told in the family.
If he notices my belly, he doesn’t say it.
Hell, Max hadn’t said anything. Max can be very oblivious at times.
He probably thinks I gained weight or have a lot of bloating.
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” he says, writing something down on the papers he’s grading. “Can I take you to dinner tonight after we are done here?”
Honestly, I feel so bad because he’s a nice guy, and I think he’s just lonely.
“Unfortunately, I can’t. I have plans tonight.” I’m going to Lana’s. She’s helping me with Max’s birthday gift. I asked the ultrasound tech for extras of the baby image so I could print it on a baby shirt for Max. We found a lot of cute ideas on Pinterest. Even if I didn’t have plans, I wouldn’t.
“Some other time,” he says.
I turn back to the papers. That was enough of an answer.
We move on to Mills, who shows me videos of people who have regained their memories and their responses to what they did to help them.
As in most of those rare cases, people with the same condition had to learn about their family, just as I had planned to do.
Maybe I can go to the library and get those genetic tests, too. I hadn’t even thought of that.
Max
Three long days of running and conditioning were torture only because I was away from Sol.
I couldn’t wait to have her back home. I don’t know what she’s been doing besides therapy and school, but she seems clearer and willing to be back with me.
For a short time, I thought I’d lose her forever.
I still see the image of her sprawled out in my truck.
I can’t fucking wait to have her in our bed.
If I have to tie her up so she doesn’t leave, I’ll do just that.
Not literally, but it’s crossed my mind.
As I said to her, when I get back, we can talk about how to make it work.
I want Sol to be open with me. Not hide her nightmares, her dreams, and the memories she recovers.
I want us to heal together and move on. I want to help her find peace, and by doing that, find out where her parents and grandmother are buried.
I knock on her door, and I’m greeted by Daisy. She jumps, standing on her hind legs. I hug her and ruffle her head. She’s gotten bigger since the day they both left. “Hey, girl, how are you doing? Did you miss me?”
She barks.
“Yeah, you did. I missed you, too. Did you take care of our girl as I asked you to?”
She barks twice.
I glance up to see Sol leaning on the doorway. Fuck, she’s beautiful. I missed her so damn much. I cleared my workday to be here with her. In two days, I have to fight for Daniel. For now, I’ll do it and see how I can get out of it without involving my girl. “Hey, baby.”
She wets her lips. “Hey, to you.” She eye fucks me, giving me those bedroom eyes.
My arms flex involuntarily with each step toward her, the cotton of my sleeve straining against muscle.
Would it be a pity to admit I spent forty minutes choosing this outfit to catch her eye?
My faded Levi’s hang just low enough on my hips to reveal the V line she enjoys tracing with her tongue, and my black shirt—the one that makes my shoulders look broader—tightens around the biceps I’ve been sculpting.
“You look absolutely gorgeous.” My hand finds the warm curve where her neck meets her shoulder.
She leans in, her breath catching as our lips touch—soft, then urgent.
The taste of her cherry gloss floods back like a muscle memory.
The thing is, with her, we can always come back as if no time has passed. We both moan in unison.
I step back, letting us both breathe before we get heated and start throwing clothes off.
“We should talk,” she says, turning from me to grab her water bottle.
I nod, although she can’t see me. “We have a lot to talk about,” I agree.
She turns back toward me, and something in her face has shifted. Like she’d made a decision. Like she’d finally decided to trust me with all of it. Her mouth opens.
Daisy barks at the door. Outside, a van rolls up—Flowers for Any Occasion printed on its side—and a woman climbs out carrying an enormous bouquet, roses tangled among a dozen other blooms.
“For Sol,” the woman says, handing them to me.
My brows pinch together. Who would send her flowers?
I slam the door shut, not even bothering to apologize for my rudeness.
Sol looks at the bouquet, then at me. I set them down on the coffee table.
I take out the card, which is clipped to the plastic stand that holds it.
My pulse skyrockets, and my chest hammers.
“Who’s it from?” my beautiful woman asks in a low, soft voice.
So I read it to her. “Sol.” I set the card down, then pick it up.
“Sol, I hope you’re having a wonderful day, sweetheart.
” My jaw tightens. “Studying with you has been such. A. Pleasure.” Each word separated like I’m counting the damage.
“I know you’re having a hard time, and I hope our sessions together have helped you heal…
” I look at her. “Love. XOXO, Alex Mills.” The room goes quiet.
He calls her Sol. I guess, since that’s the name she must have had him call her, because she didn’t tell me to call her Sol.
The fact that he calls her by that name as if he has the privilege of doing so.
I know it sounds ridiculous, but he’s been helping her heal when it should have been me.
I toss the card down. “Love…” I say the word and stare her in the eye. “Sweetheart?” My lips curl with disgust.
“I…I.” Her eyes are as wide as disks. “I don’t know what this is.”
My laugh darkens. “You don’t know…? You do. It seems all this time you have been seeking comfort in another man’s arms.”
“What are you talking about, Max? I haven’t been seeking comfort in any man’s arms.”
I lift the card up. “This tells me everything. You told him about what happened to you.” My voice is strained with anger. “You sat and spoke with him, the fucking man who has been wanting to fuck you!”
“It’s not like that, Max!” she yells.
“It is!” I spit out. “You went to him instead of me.” I laugh, nothing funny about the pain ripping in my chest. “You left me for space because you couldn’t talk to me.
” My voice drops. “But you go and talk to him. He’s the one who’s been helping you heal.
Not me. I have been waiting for you to come back to me.
But instead, the woman I love is seeking comfort with him. ”
“God, Max. He’s my professor. He has after-school tutoring.
I’ve needed help, so I went. Then I asked him about amnesia and how the brain works with all that.
I didn’t get personal, telling anything further than that.
He did order dinner the first time because he was going to discuss it, and it got late. ”