Page 252 of Love Unwritten

Like the music note tattoo on my other wrist that symbolizes the relationship I have with my mom and Burt, Nico and Rafael will always have a permanent place on my skin to match the one they have in my heart.

A clearing of Rafael’s throat steals me away from my moment. “Can I see it now?” The excited twinkle in his eyes reminds me so much of his son.

“Sure.” I hold out my wrist for him to see.

Various emotions flicker across his face—excitement, confusion, surprise.

I can’t handle the silence anymore, so I crack a joke. “Is this getting too serious for you?”

“Not even close.” His eyes sparkle, making me feel like I’m missing part of the punch line.

“What does that mean?”

Red splotches appear on his neck. “Nothing.”

He quickly shifts the subject and asks Anika about paying, but I know Rafael well enough to understand he did the one thing he promised to never do to me.

Lie.

“We need to pick Nico up,” I remind him as he passes the street that leads to his aunt’s lakefront house.

“He’s going to stay with my aunt tonight.”

“Really? Why?” Josefina never takes care of Nico during the week, mostly because we don’t like to mess with his routine.

“She offered to take him to school tomorrow.”

“Oh. That’s nice.”

His fingers drum against the steering wheel, completely out of sync with the music streaming from the speakers. Usually, the silence between us never feels uncomfortable, but tonight, it is filled with tension and some other emotion coming from Rafael that I can’t pinpoint.

“Are you good?” I ask once he parks in our driveway.

“Yup.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.” He cuts me a look before exiting the truck and heading over to open my door.

“Well, you’re acting weird,” I say before shutting it behind me.

“I’m just…thinking.”

Oh God. Maybe the tattoo was a bad idea, despite my mom saying otherwise. Sure, we’re in a committed relationship, but maybe getting a tattoo to symbolize it made our situation too real for him?

“Are you sure you didn’t get freaked out by tonight?” I try to shield my worries with a light tone.

“No.” He uses that no bullshit tone of his.

“Then what’s the—”

He doesn’t let me finish. “Elle, I promise you that I’m not freaked out or being a commitment-phobe or whatever else you’re thinking.” He laces our fingers together and leads me in the opposite direction to the house.

“No?”

“No. It’s actually the complete opposite.”

My heart beats faster in my chest. “Really?”