Chapter 268

• GUSTAVO
• ~•~
• Valentina had just gone upstairs a while ago after talking with her mom, and I could hear her moving around up there, soft footsteps, the faint click of a door. I stood in the hallway for a minute, hands in my pockets, staring at the floor like it might tell me what to say, but didn’t. My guts still stung a little when I moved too fast, but that wasn’t what had me stuck. It was Valentina’s birthday coming up in a week. It was going to be her first one here, and I wanted it to mean something. I just had no damn idea what I was going to do to make that happen.