Page 186 of Love Unwritten

I shoot him a look. “Not yet.”

“Aw, man.”

Ellie fixes his glasses on his nose. “Chickens do sound fun.”

I scratch my chin. “On second thought…”

Nico and Ellie laugh, thinking I’m joking.

While I can easily tell Nico no, Ellie is a different case altogether, and it’s only a matter of time before she realizes it.

Julian pulls me into a bone-crushing hug. “I’ve missed you, man.”

My chest tightens as I return his embrace before letting him into the house. “Same.”

“Where’s Ellie?” He looks around.

“She went back to her mom’s house.”

“To visit? It’s not even Saturday.”

I shake my head. “She moved out earlier today.”

Nico followed her around all morning while she fed the animals, mucked out their stalls, caught up on all our laundry, and made lunch for the three of us. It was a bittersweet meal, but Ellie already promised to be back tomorrow, so Nico seems in slightly better spirits about her leaving.

Despite my plans to take Ellie out later for our first date, I already miss her too. I’m not sure how I’ll survive five weeks of her being gone, but I will make the most of the next two weeks before she leaves.

He stops dead in his tracks. “Did you fire her?”

“Technically, yes.”

“You’re an idiot.”

I shoot daggers at him. “She was going to quit anyway, so I figured I’d get her severance pay.”

He blinks twice. “That’s…”

“Nice?”

“Interesting.” His gaze lingers on me for a moment before Nico comes running down the hall.

“¡Tío!” He jumps into Julian’s waiting arms.

“Did you grow a whole foot while you were gone?”

Nico laughs. “No!”

My cousin stands. “Hm. You look taller.”

“Really?” Nico puffs his chest out.

I laugh.

By now, Nico is used to the sound, but Julian’s head swivels in my direction.

“What?” I say.

“It’s really great to hear your laugh.”