Read Online Everything Between Us by Mila Ferrera - Free Book Online

insane? look. “I told you she won’t leave the house.”
    “Yeah, but … she’s okay to be here alone?”
    “Stella wants to be left alone so she can spend her days making banana bread and chocolate cupcakes,” she says in this hard, condescending way. “I’m sure she’s thrilled.”
    “Really?”
    She rolls her eyes. “I thought you’d be the one upset about me going.”
    Oh, there it is. The pouting, please tell me you care voice. “Well, of course I am. I’m glad you’ll be back for the opening.”
    She lets me go. “Good. Because I’ll be looking fabulous.” And I need someone to notice , I add for her. Poor Liza.
    She kisses me for a while longer, and I make all the right moves but don’t push it, because it’s after ten, and Stella’s waiting.
    I can’t believe that thought just went through my head. Stella’s probably grateful for every Daniel-free moment she gets. Maybe I simply enjoy ruining her day. “Have a great trip, Liza.”
    A honk from the driveway saves me. Her car is here. She heads out, and I duck into the powder room to scrub her lipstick off my face. Then I stride down to the enclosed porch, and as I approach, I find myself walking softly, wanting to catch Stella in one of those moments. Wanting to watch her. But when I peek around the corner, she looks up immediately.
    “Hey,” I say. “Sorry I’m late.” It just comes out of me, before I realize I’m handing her another bullet.
    But like yesterday, she doesn’t pull the trigger. “It’s all right. My mom said she wanted to say goodbye to you.”
    I set my box down and lay my sketchpad on the table. “She said she’d be gone for a week. Aren’t you going to miss her?”
    Her dark eyes meet mine. “No. Are you?”
    “No.” Holy shit, did I just say that? What the fuck?
    She blinks. “Okay.”
    I have no idea how to translate her okay . So I grab my pencil and sit down. She hasn’t turned away yet, and I’m wondering if today will be like yesterday, if she’ll watch me. The idea stirs within my blood, raising my temperature. I clear my throat, trying to figure out how Stella manages this when she’s twenty feet away—her mom was grinding against me a few minutes ago, and I ran cool as ever. I stand up suddenly and walk over to the windows. It’s because I’ve been thrown off. What’s going on with my mom has made me jump the rails.
    Stella moves in my periphery, and I turn my head. She’s standing in front of the glass now, too. “Did you see something out there?”
    I wait for the barb that usually comes at the end of her questions, the ones meant to tear my ego away piece by piece. It’s like she somehow knows I’m nothing special underneath the slick exterior, and she’s eager to work her way in there and splash around. I get ready to repel the attack with a glib comment, maybe a counterjab to throw her off balance for a moment, but again, she doesn’t go for it. She’s simply waiting for my answer.
    “Oh. I thought … a possum, maybe,” I stammer.
    She snorts. “Possums are nocturnal.” Her laughter is raspy, like her voice sometimes. It’s low and husky, a seductive kind of sound. This would be the moment when she makes a crack about how stupid I am, but instead, she says, “But maybe there was one doing the walk of shame across our lawn. It could happen.”
    Out of nowhere, I’m grinning. I didn’t even know I had it in me today. “Just trying to get back to its own tree without being spotted.”
    She nods solemnly. “Possums can be so judgmental.” There’s a hint of an apology in her tone.
    “Yeah, but they’re damn cute, so it’s easy to forgive them.”
    It’s there and gone in an instant, this flash of surprise and warmth. “So …” she says slowly. “What are we doing today?”
    I lean against the metal frame between the floor-to-ceiling panes of glass. “It seems like we’re starting with playful banter before we move on to thinly veiled threats and open insults. I