Page 48 of Fixed Up Ever After
Perhaps not yet, but she would be soon. If he could sort out his damn feelings.
“Oh, papá, tía wants to talk to you,” Camilia said, pulling his thoughts back toward his daughter.
His face relaxed and he smiled at her. “Okay, mija. Tomorrow is the wedding, so I might not be able to call you, but I’ll send pictures.”
“Oh! Bring home cake!” she said and suddenly disappeared, tossing the phone to Ofelia. The sound of her small feet hitting the floor and running off filled his speaker, leaving the siblings alone.
“And she’s gone now. I think she heard the door open and ran to her abuelo. Do you have a minute though? I wanted to talk to you about something. Nothing bad!” she clarified, which was good because he didn’t think he had the capacity for anything bad.
When he nodded his head to signal for her to continue, Ofelia started in on her news. “So I’ve been absolutely killing it being a stay-at-home mom, but I do miss cheer. I called Willow—she says hi by the way—and she suggested I apply as a part-time coach at the cheer clinic Camilia goes to.”
Willow was Ofelia’s best friend who lived back in Texas. She had visited a handful of times and stayed most of the summer at their house while her husband traveled for work and she was off for summer break. Teacher perks.
“I just got a callback and will be starting next week!” Ofelia squealed. Her excitement was contagious and he was so happy for her. Ofelia had given up a lot of things when she moved from Texas but was eager to be closer to family. She had chosen to be a stay-at-home mom and from what Javi gathered, she had not regretted this decision. But getting back into something so deeply rooted in her soul would be a good thing.
“Congratulations, hermana. You’re going to be so good at that. Is Arturo going to go to work with you?”
“Oh yes, he’s big enough to run around and play. And Maverick will be home to watch him at other times. Papá offered too, but he’s a handful so I would rather he didn’t have to take on the responsibility.
“But, the reason I’m telling you this is because Camilia gets a discount on cheer. I think it will apply to your next payment. I can ask them when I take her tonight for practice. Did you want me to go ahead and take care of the bill?”
She said the last bit as nonchalantly as she could. It was no secret he got bent out of shape when talk of money was involved. He hated that he was like this, but having struggled most of his life with paying off bills, debts, and now cheer practice, it was a point of stress for Javi.
Last month had been hellacious with very little work and worse pay than normal. It was one of the reasons why he wanted to go independent, now that he had worked up a decent clientele. He was behind on his phone bill and a credit card bill and would have been able to afford both if he didn’t have to pay for cheer. Camilia loved cheer though. It was in her blood like it was in Ofelia’s blood and he would be damned if he made her suffer because he couldn’t pay the damn bills.
He had swallowed his pride last month and asked Ofelia to help. She had been all too eager and offered to pay until his new business was off the ground, but he refused for now, hoping that this month brought a more prosperous income. And it did.
But it all hinged on Lola. He was taking so much money from her. Money she was willing to give for his work and pretending to be her boyfriend, but sometime between then and now the lines of faking began to blur.
There was nothing fake about his real feelings for her. The way his heart swelled at the sight of her. How he wanted to see her roll his eyes at him if he said something she didn’t agree with or thought was cheesy. The way her cheeks would turn red when she was shy or turned on.
Fuck, things had spiraled so quickly and his heart was leading his actions these days.
“I wrote a check. It’s in my bedroom on the bedside table. You can take that,” he answered after a minute.
“Javi, I really don’t mind—”
“I got this, Ofi. I got this.” He worked hard to keep his tone neutral, not wanting to snap at her nor wanting to divulge where he got the money. It would be too complicated and he wanted to sort out his feelings first.
Ofelia bit her lip and looked like she wanted to argue, but soon nodded, letting it go. “Okay, but I’m still going to see if the discount starts this week.”
“Sure, that would be very helpful. Thank you.”
Ofelia seemed happy with his response and nodded. She then told him about a few things they had done while he was away and from the sounds of it, Camilia was having an amazing time with her tía. Ofelia pried into how his week was going and he gave a brief run down, not going deep into Lola's family because that wasn’t his story to tell.
When he finally got her off the phone, an hour had passed and with it, a new uneasy feeling settled over him. Ofelia bringing up the cheer bill reminded him just how much Lola was changing his life, not just emotionally but financially too. If he were a better man, he would tell her he just couldn’t accept the money. She didn’t need to pay him for dating her when he wanted to date her for real. The money would always be between them.
They still had a few more days together and he hoped within that time he could sort through his feelings and make a better and more informed decision about his money dilemma. For now, he had a woman waiting in bed for him and he wanted to soak up every last minute he had with her.
He just hated feeling like there was an hourglass counting down their final minutes.
CHAPTER30
Lola
Sleep claimed Lola’s body last night like a ship in a calm sea, rocking her gently until darkness overtook her. The entire night she slept in Javi’s arms and the presence of another person against her back brought more comfort than she anticipated. The hold this man had on her was alarming, but she wasn’t yet ready to sever the fragile tethers connecting them.
When she finally managed to rouse herself the next morning, two things hit her instantly. Firstly, the delicious ache between her legs which reminded her of yesterday’s activities. She had never had so many orgasms back-to-back and she was sure Javi ruined her sex life completely. How was she to come ever again for any other partner? Just the thought of another man in bed who wasn’t Javi left an ache deep inside her chest.
