BooksBarbecue
Back First Comes Love
Chapters (92)
  1. First
  2. Love Connection
  3. Zero
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. One Month Later
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Six Months Later
  21. Sixteen
  22. Seventeen
  23. Eighteen
  24. Nineteen
  25. Twenty
  26. Twenty-one
  27. Twenty-two
  28. Twenty-three
  29. Twenty-four
  30. Six Months Later
  31. Twenty-five
  32. Twenty-six
  33. Twenty-seven
  34. Twenty-eight
  35. Twenty-nine
  36. Thirty
  37. Thirty-one
  38. Thirty-two
  39. Thirty-three
  40. I Have Never
  41. One
  42. Two
  43. Three
  44. Four
  45. Five
  46. Six
  47. Seven
  48. Eight
  49. Nine
  50. Ten
  51. Eleven
  52. Twelve
  53. Thirteen
  54. Fourteen
  55. Fifteen
  56. Sixteen
  57. Seventeen
  58. Eighteen
  59. Nineteen
  60. Twenty
  61. Twenty-one
  62. Twenty-two
  63. A Christmas Date
  64. One
  65. Two
  66. Three
  67. Four
  68. Five
  69. Six
  70. Seven
  71. Eight
  72. Nine
  73. Ten
  74. Eleven
  75. Twelve
  76. Thirteen
  77. Fourteen
  78. Fifteen
  79. Sixteen
  80. Seventeen
  81. Eighteen
  82. Nineteen
  83. Twenty
  84. Twenty-one
  85. Twenty-two
  86. Note from the Author
  87. Sneak Peek – To the Stars and Back
  88. Two
  89. Three
  90. Four
  91. Also by Camilla Isley
  92. About the Author

“Yeah, I was so relieved when you brought him home.” Julia chuckles. “I mean, I was also a little jealous, to be honest, because he’s really a guy out of a fantasy. I even went as far as accusing you of not really being together, and of having brought home a friend to play your fake boyfriend just to steal my thunder… How absurd.”

“Ha, ha, ha…” I chuckle along with her. “Crazy, right?”

“But Mom made me see how much you two love each other.”

The knife in my heart twists, and the wound I’ve been trying so hard to seal starts bleeding again.

“I hope he gets that job in New York,” Julia continues. “And we should all go out to dinner once we’re back in the city.”

“That would be wonderful.”

I don’t have the strength to tell her Diego and I are over, finished, caput. Once the scar is a little more healed, I’ll come up with a credible breakup story. I can’t deal with the unavoidable family’s sympathy that would follow such a revelation; not in person, at least. Better to break the news to my parents over the phone once I’m safely back in Manhattan. And I can go out with Julia in the city, and lie to her for the last time, as soon as I’m a little better. But not today, not this week, not when the memory of Diego’s lips on my skin is still so fresh…

“Sisterly hug?” Julia gets up, stretching her arms wide and bringing me out of my mental reverie.

I lift my butt from the chair and pull her into a tight hug. “Love you,” I whisper.

“I love you, too,” she replies, choked.

We hang on to each other for the longest time, closer than we’ve been in years. If nothing else, something good came out of this dreadful holiday break.

***

After my heart-to-heart with Julia, the rest of my stay at home passes rather uneventfully. I try my best not to think about Diego, even if every time I catch sight of the snowman adorning our backyard, it’s like a million arrows puncture my chest at once.

Diego really picked the perfect spot; the damn thing is not going to melt, ever. It’ll probably still be there come spring. More than once, I’m tempted to march outside and kick the wretched thing back to powder. But then I’d have to explain to my family why I’ve suddenly turned into a snowman-killing maniac. So I just cope by avoiding the windows that overlook the backyard.