51. Silent Thoughts

~ ENRIQUE ~

“Was it comfortable?”

“It’s great. You’re incredibly smart, for someone of your age to accomplish something like this… and I’m certain it must have cost far too much as well.”

“There’s no price too high for something like this,” she says, blushing at the compliment. “And I got help. It wasn’t all me.”

“But it was your vision, and you made it happen,” I say quietly. The atmosphere around us changing.

Our eyes meet, and the urge to grab her and kiss her fights against me. So instead, I look away and sit down on the ground, my arms resting on my knees as I look at the twinkling star or two that peek out from behind the clouds.

She sits down beside me, her legs tucked under her, her long hair cascading over her shoulder.

I look down at the hand and begin to remove it when she reaches out. “Stop. What are you doing?”

“I told you, I’m not accepting this.”

“Enrique… why not?” The light in her eyes that was there when she talked about it, diminishing. “Please accept it. I’ve put ev