“I used to love her very much.”
And if my beating heart is any indication, I still do.
“Used to...?” Giuliana scrunches her nose. “You can stop loving someone?”
“No, you can’t.” Alex strides into the living room, and scoops his daughter into his arms. “Love is forever once you let someone into your heart.”
She glances down at me. “Then why did you say youused tolove Presley?”
I rub the back of my neck. “I guess because I loved the person she was back then, and I don’t know who she is now.”
Giuliana rests her head against Alex’s shoulder. “I think she’ll text you back.”
My eyebrows lift. “You do?”
She nods. “You’re the bestest uncle in the world. And if you miss her, she probably misses you too. I miss you when you’re not around.”
My heart squeezes inside my chest, and I push off the couch so I can snatch my niece from my best friend. She wraps her arms and legs around me like a koala, and I hold her tight.
“You’re the bestest niece in the whole world, and I love you so, so much.”
“Love you too, Uncle Mac.”
“Time to brush your teeth, baby girl.” Alex takes Giuliana from me again, and sets her on the floor. “I’ll be in to tuck you in after I say goodbye to Uncle Mac.”
Giuliana scampers into the hallway with Ellie hot on her heels.
Alex gives me a wary look. “Are things that bad, you need advice from a four-year-old?”
I chuckle. “She gives good advice.”
He smiles as he glances toward the hallway “She does.”
“How’s she doing with Aarya living here?”
He rolls his eyes. “She loves it. The two of them started ganging up on me.”
“You’ve got a lot of female energy in this house, my man.” I slap his shoulder. “You’re officially outnumbered.”
He blows out a heavy sigh through his lips. “It feels wrong deceiving her like this. Getting her hopes up, letting her get attached to Aarya when she’s not going to stay here in the end.”
“Don’t worry about the end right now. Focus on what’s right in front of you.”
He grunts. “What’s right in front of me is a drop-dead gorgeous woman who I can’t have.”
“By your own choice.” I widen my eyes. “She has made it crystal-clear that she’d be down for a tumble in your sheets. I don’t know how you’re turning that shit down. I’d be all over that Middle Eastern princess if I were in your shoes.”
Alex glares at me. “You know why I’m turning her down, and it’s not for lack of desire. Trust me. She’s not making it easy.”
I laugh. “I know, I know. You’re doing the right thing. I don’t want to see you get a broken heart over a fake marriage arrangement any more than you do.”
He pinches the bridge of his nose. “I take it Presley still hasn’t responded?”
I shake my head. “Nope.”
“Give it time, man.”
Time. I’ve spent the last four years wondering where she went and what happened to her. Maybe she didn’t think of me at all. Maybe I’m deluding myself by waiting for a message from her. Maybe she moved on.