Page 74 of Tripped By Love

That thought twisted my gut with fear and sadness.

Jonas ran a hand through his too-long hair. It had needed a cut a month ago and was now curling in waves well below his chin. “I know,” he finally said.

“If you need me, I’ll come back. I’m only an hour away.”

He lifted his chin. “I’m not a child, Marco.”

God, but he was…and he should have been. He’d already had so much of his childhood stolen from him. What was the harm in staying a little longer in that momentary space before the full weight of adulthood landed on his shoulders?

“I know, Jonas. You’re not,” I said.

Cassidy found me and gave Jonas a side hug. We said our final goodbyes and left with the noise and music still pouring from Maria Carmen’s house at ten o’clock at night on a Monday. It filled the air in a way that only family could.

I opened the passenger door for Cassidy, and she climbed in. When I got into the driver’s seat, I risked a look in her direction, knowing I was full of emotions that I was struggling to keep hidden.

“Will he be okay?” she asked.

That lump in my throat returned. “I’m not sure. But I hope so—for Maliyah’s sake as much as his own.”

She reached across the console and squeezed my bicep.

I turned the car on and headed down the road with waves of hope and worry as well as love and fear cresting over me. Like the tides, each emotion came and then receded until I wasn’t sure how I’d be left standing when they were done with me.