The porch light flickered softly overhead as Bharath stepped out onto the stoop, the humid Georgia night wrapping around him like a warm shawl. Crickets chirped in the bushes, and the air smelled faintly of lemon cleaner and garden soil. Maria followed just a step behind, wiping her hands on a dish towel.

  “You’ll come again, Bharath?” she asked, not quite a question, not quite a command.

  Bharath turned and nodded earnestly. “Yes, ma’am. Thank you for dinner. Everything was… perfect.”

  Maria studied him for a long second. Then she reached up and patted his cheek lightly - almost maternally.

  “Next time,” she said, “you’ll bring stories. Maybe teach us some words in your nguage, huh?”

  He smiled. “I’d love to.”

  She nodded, then tugged Marisol by the elbow as Bharath stepped down toward the curb where Tyrel’s pickup truck waited.

  Once they were alone on the porch, Maria lowered her voice. “Mija, I meant what I said earlier. He seems like a good boy. Sweet, honest - and I like that he doesn’t try to charm me.”

  Marisol grinned. “He doesn’t know how.”

  Maria rolled her eyes, then sighed. “But you’re still young. Both of you. Love feels real when you’re in it, but life…” She looked off into the darkness. “Life can change everything.”

  Marisol nodded solemnly. “I know, mamá. But I also know what this feels like.”

  Maria looked at her daughter, at the fire in her eyes, the softness in her cheeks. “Then just don’t let it blind you, mi corazón. That’s all I ask.”

  The porch light above flickered once - not enough to go out, but just enough to shift the shadows across the yard. Bharath stepped toward the pickup truck, trying to look anywhere but at the way Mia stood at the top of the steps, framed by the door like a siren carved out of moonlight.

  She was... devastating.

  The shape of her was impossible to ignore - all curves and confidence, hips cocked slightly as she leaned against the doorway. The cotton of her tight tank top clung to her like a second skin, and her jean shorts did nothing to hide the lithe strength of her legs. The way the porch light haloed around her body made her look almost unreal - like a fever dream conjured by a lonely man.

  She followed him down the steps and leaned casually against the passenger side door, right before he could open it. Bharath paused, not knowing if he should move her aside or wait her out.

  “You really didn’t have to come tonight,” she said, twirling a loose strand of hair between her fingers.

  “I wanted to,” he replied honestly. “It was important to Marisol.”

  “It was important to mamá too,” she added. “She just hides it under ten yers of suspicion and salt.”

  He chuckled softly, hand brushing the edge of the truck. “She was kind. Direct. I respect that.”

  Mia tilted her head, eyeing him in that way again - not the overtly seductive look from earlier, but something stranger. Studying. Prying.

  “You’re weird, you know,” she said.

  “You’ve made that clear a few times tonight.”

  “Not in a bad way,” she added, biting her lip. “Just... different.”

  Then she leaned in a little.

  And Bharath’s breath almost hitched.

  She wasn’t trying to do anything, not exactly. But the neckline of her top was low, and the way she angled her body - one arm draped along the window - sent her chest forward in a way that made it impossible not to notice. Her scent - something sweet and citrusy - mingled with the humid night air.

  And her voice dropped, just a shade softer. “You’re... brave. What you did for that girl. I don’t think I’ve met anyone who’d do that.”

  He tried not to react. Really tried.

  “Anyone would’ve stepped in,” he said carefully.

  “No, they wouldn’t have,” Mia whispered.

  Her hand briefly brushed his forearm, and the warmth of her touch sent a jolt through him. He tried to think of anything - circuit diagrams, spicy food, the smell of diaper pails - anything to pull his mind out of the heat of the moment.

  He cleared his throat. “You said you’re into science, right? That’s what you’re focusing on?”

  Mia blinked, slightly thrown by the pivot. “Uh... yeah. STEM magnet program. I want to go into computer science or biomedical engineering. Haven’t decided.”

  “That’s amazing,” he said, genuinely impressed. “My cousin back home is studying biotech. She’s brilliant.”

  Mia shifted again, crossing her arms - which only made her breasts rise. Bharath forced himself to look her in the eye.

  “You really care about that?” she asked. “What I want to do?”

  He nodded. “I care about what matters to people.”

  For a second - a real second - Mia’s facade cracked. Just a hairline fracture. And underneath the teasing, flirtation, and glossy charm was a girl who was never asked that question by anyone who wasn’t trying to get into her pants.

  Bharath looked out across the yard, trying not to focus on how beautiful she looked, silhouetted like a goddess under the porch light.

  “I don’t think I could handle two Riveras being this intense,” he said, half-joking.

  Mia smiled, softer this time. “We’re a lot. You sure you’re built for it?”

  He looked back at her. “You’d be surprised what I’m built for.”

  Her lips parted slightly. “Dios.”

  And then - mercifully - the front door creaked open, and Marisol stepped out with a bag slung over her shoulder.

  “Did I miss something?” she asked, arching an eyebrow.

  Mia backed up from the truck with a sigh. “Just your boyfriend being a monk.”

  Marisol slid into the driver’s seat, smirking. “Verdad? That’s not what he was earlier in the afternoon with me.”

  Bharath groaned and dropped into the passenger side of the bench. “Please drive.”

  As they pulled away, Mia stood on the porch, arms crossed over her chest, watching them disappear down the block.

  And for the first time in a long time, she didn’t feel like the center of the universe. But Mia could now understand why her sister seemed to think he was hers.