The Spanish Love Deception novel Chapter 93

eezed gently.

Ready? he asked me without words.

I took one last deep breath, and we headed for the doors that opened to the Arrivals terminal of the small Spanish airport.

To my parents.

To this outrageously ludicrous farce we were about to embark on.

To this … what had I called it before? Oh yeah, to this whole Spanish love deception we had planned.

Because we, Aaron and I, got this.

He had said so. And I believed him.

I just hoped, for both our sakes, that he was right.

“Papá, for the last time, we are more than okay here.” My eyes searched the small room for my fake boyfriend, looking for backup.

The corner of his lips tipped up.

“Maybe if we move Abuela to your sister’s place,” Papá continued, “you two could take the big guest room in the house. Although I am not really sure if Tío José and Tía Inma will be sleeping there. Wait, let me call—”

“Papá,” I cut him off, reaching out to pat his arm. “It’s okay. This apartment is more than okay. You don’t need to move us to the house. Leave Abuela alone.”

A wave of nostalgia and familiarity hit me right in the gut. It had been so long since I had come home; all of it felt as familiar as breathing, and at the same time, it was like a memory I had not revisited in a long time. My dad and his good heart, always so accommodating. Caring too much. Trying to make everybody feel at home even if it meant going through the bedroom Hunger Games. I had been so preoccupied with dreading the moment that I had forgotten they were my family. My home. And, God, despite everything, I had missed them with all my heart.