Total pages in book: 10
Estimated words: 9131 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 46(@200wpm)___ 37(@250wpm)___ 30(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 9131 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 46(@200wpm)___ 37(@250wpm)___ 30(@300wpm)
We’d spent the morning sharing coffee and pastries with our older cousin, Miguel, laughing over stories about his wild younger days. But what no one knew but us was that this trip was really for Frankie and me, and how we were celebrating our one-year anniversary.
One year of stolen moments, whispered confessions, and insanely hot fucking. Twelve months of pretending we were nothing more than two people—not related by blood—who had fallen in love.
We’d hidden our relationship in plain sight, keeping ourselves shrouded in lies and half-truths to protect what we’d built.
“You’re thinking too hard again,” Frankie said softly, his voice cutting through my thoughts.
I looked up at him, and he glanced down at me. His lips tugged into that familiar, teasing smirk.
“How do you know?” I teased back.
“I know you better than anyone else. And you always get that look when you’re overthinking.”
I squeezed his hand, my fingers tightening around his, and he brought it up to kiss my knuckles.
“So, what were you thinking about?”
We kept walking hand-in-hand.
“Just thinking about us,” I whispered whimsically.
“Hopefully only good things,” he prompted, his voice light, but his blue eyes carried a possessiveness that he reserved only for me.
“It's only ever good things,” I said honestly, leaning into him as we walked. “But also… what happens next?”
We stopped in front of a scenic overlook, the Pena Palace stretching before us. Frankie turned to face me, his hands framing my face as he searched my expression.
“We can’t keep hiding forever, Saffa,” he mumbled, his voice low enough that no one else could hear.
“I know that,” I answered honestly. “But we can’t be who we want to be—together—in any place we call home.
“I know, baby.” He kissed the top of my head. “But right now…” He trailed off and pulled back, glancing at the view before his gaze settled back on mine. “Right now, this is how we stay sane. This is how we protect what we have.”
He was right. I nodded, my throat tightening. “But eventually, it won’t be enough. Hiding like this. Pretending like we don’t feel what we feel for each other.”
Frankie turned to face me and cupped my face, his thumb brushing over my cheek, his touch gentle. “Don’t worry, Saffa baby. When that time comes, when we finally tell the world we’re together and nothing is going to change that, we’ll figure it out together.”
I smiled and nodded again. “And no matter what they say, no matter how much they hate us for it—”
“We’re gonna stay together, because I don’t want anyone but you. I’ll love no one but you.”
The intensity of his words sent a rush of warmth through me. Frankie was always so reassuring. It made it hard not to cling to the hope he held out to me, even though fear and uncertainty lay ahead.
So I’d just focus on the here and now. We were far from the judging eyes and what would be suffocating whispers back home. Far away, we could be two people who loved each other.
“I feel the same,” I whispered.
Frankie leaned down, pressing a soft, lingering kiss to my forehead. We stayed like that for a moment, the world fading away until it was just us and the promise we’d made to each other.
Frankie wrapped his arms around me as I leaned my back against his chest.
If it was wrong to love someone this much—to be loved this much—then I never wanted to be right.
The End.