Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Ican’t believe I told him I’d go to Mexico with him. What was I thinking? I wasn’t. I saw how much he wanted it, and I caved because it’s really damn hard for me to say no to the man.
“You need to either take a Xanax or take a Xanax,” Kevin says as he watches me pace around my bedroom. He’s perched on my bed.
“I can’t calm down. Are you serious? I just said I’d go to Mexico. With Emilio, Kevin. I can’t go to Mexico with him. What will people think? Oh shit, what will his parents think when I just turn up with him?”
“Well, they’re going to think you’re screwing the man’s brains out, obviously,” Kevin replies, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
“This isn’t funny. This is my family.”
“Exactly. They’re your family. All anyone is going to think is you’re there to visit for a weekend, babe. The only people who will be thinking about you screwing the man’s brains out are you… and him.”
“Again, you’re not funny and you’re not helping. What do I even pack?”
“Clothes. Although I’m sure Emilio wouldn’t mind if you went without them.” Kevin laughs.
I pick up a pillow and throw it at him. “Argh, why are you even here?”
“Because you’re spiraling, and if I weren’t here, you’d probably be running home to your parents and hiding away. I’m here to make sure you don’t back out.”
“It’s fine. It’s just a weekend to visit my aunt and uncle.”
“Right, your aunt and uncle, who happen to be the parents of the man you want to jump like a monkey.”
“They’re not blood-related, idiot. It’s not incest.”
“I didn’t say it was.” Kevin holds his hands up in surrender. “Also, you haven’t actually done anything with Emilio.”
“I kissed him. Once.”
“When you were eighteen, after you’d thrown up five glasses of champagne. I know the story, Frankie. But also, if he’s still interested after kissing you with vomit breath, then he might be the real deal.”
I know Emilio is the real deal. That’s not the problem. I don’t want to be the reason my family is torn apart. Tío E is one of my father’s oldest friends. I can’t be what comes between them.
“Wait… You really think all he remembers from that kiss is vomit breath?” My nose scrunches up. That’s just… it’s disgusting. I really hope it wasn’t that bad. I run into my bathroom, pick up my toothbrush, squirt some paste on it, and start scrubbing my teeth.
Kevin appears in the doorway. “What are you doing?”
“Brushing my teeth,” I tell him as I continue scrubbing.
“Right, but why?”
Turning on the faucet, I lean over and rinse out my mouth. Then I pick up my towel, wipe my face, and turn around. “Because I don’t want Emilio kissing me to be linked to vomit breath. I’ll be right back.”
Before I can talk myself out of it, I walk through my front door, leaving Kevin in my apartment. I knock on Emilio’s door and wait. It doesn’t take long before he’s standing in front of me, in just a towel, water droplets running down his torso.
Damn, I really did not think this through.
All that toned, brown skin on display for me. Fucking hell, why can’t he just not be so hot?
“You want to come in?” Emilio asks, his lips tipping up at the corner like he’s amused by me standing on his doorstep speechless.
“No. I just need to do one thing,” I tell him.
“What’s that?”
“Stand still. Don’t move.” I push up on my tiptoes and then press my lips to his.
Emilio’s hand wraps around my back and he pulls my body up against him. His head dips and then his tongue pushes out, parting my lips.
I kiss him for only a brief moment before pulling away. “There. That’s what I want you to remember as our first and only kiss.”
“That was not our first kiss, Frankie.” Emilio smirks.
“Yeah, but it dawned on me that I had vomit breath for the first one, and that’s not how I want you to remember kissing me,” I explain. “Don’t overthink it. I just… wanted to fix it.”
“Vomit breath? I don’t recall that. I recall kissing a girl I’d been pining after for years and then having her run away from me,” he says.
“Yeah, well, now you can replace the vomit breath memory for this one. Pick me up at six. If you’re late, I’m changing my mind and not coming with you,” I tell him and then practically run back into my apartment.
There’s a knock on my door at exactly 5:59 pm. Emilio. Nerves fill my every fiber. Why do I feel like this is a mistake? A roller coaster heading for destruction, and I can’t seem to find the exit to get off the ride?
I stand from the couch and open the door. My suitcase right next to it.
“Hey, you ready?” Emilio asks, his easygoing tone putting some of my nerves to rest.
“Ah, yeah.” I nod and wheel my suitcase in front of me.
“You do know we’re only going for a weekend?” Emilio asks, looking down.
“Yeah, but I didn’t know what I would need.”
“I could have bought you anything you needed while we’re there.”
“I could also buy myself whatever I need, Emilio,” I remind him. “I’m not in the market for a sugar daddy.”
“Good to know.” He takes hold of my suitcase.
I lock my door and follow him to the elevator. Neither of us says a word as we travel down to the garage, or when Emilio easily lifts a suitcase I struggled to drag off my bed into the back of his car. He then opens the passenger side door and I get in.
He pulls out of the garage and into traffic. Stopping at a red light before he finally turns to me. “This is ridiculous. Why are you not talking?”
“Why are you not talking?” I throw back at him.
“Because I’m afraid if I say the wrong thing, you’re going to jump out of this car and change your mind about coming with me.”
I blink at his honesty. It’s never been a secret that we have feelings for each other, but Emilio has never been this vulnerable with me. This open. I don’t know how to take it. “I’m sorry that you feel like you have to walk on eggshells around me.”
He shrugs and starts driving again when the light turns green. “Why are you not talking?” he repeats.
“Because I’m nervous. What are your parents going to think about me just rocking up unannounced?” I ask him.
“They know you’re coming. I added your name to the flight logs, Frankie. You really think my dad wouldn’t know about the change?”
“Right. But what will they think, Emilio?”
“They will think that you’re coming to visit. That’s it,” he says. “Which is what you’re doing.”
“Right.” I nod my head. That’s exactly what I’m doing. Visiting family. “What are you doing in Mexico anyway?”
“Besides seeing my family? Work,” he says.
“Work.”
“Yes.”
“What kind of work?” I smile at him, knowing full well he’s not going to tell me.
“The kind that would probably give you nightmares, Frankie. I’ve never lied to you, so don’t ask me questions you’re not prepared to know the answers to.”
“Sorry,” I mumble.
“I’ll tell you, if you really want to know. It’s not as if you’re a security risk. I would just prefer you didn’t have that image of me.”
“What image?”
“The one of a monster,” he says.
“I don’t think you’re a monster. Cocky? Yes. An Asshole? Most of the time. Over-indulged, spoiled brat? Absolutely. But you’re not a monster, Emilio.”
He laughs. “You think I’m a spoiled brat? Really? Didn’t you get an entire ranch gifted to you for your tenth birthday?”
“Yeah, from your father. What did he gift you that year, Emilio?”
“That’s different. He’s my papa, not yours, and you still got a ranch.” Emilio shifts uncomfortably.
“Wait. What did you get for your tenth birthday?” I ask.
“The deed to an old castle in Italy. My family visited it that year, and I made a comment to my dad about how much I loved it,” he says.
“You got a castle? Like, you actually own a fucking castle, Emilio? Seriously?” I gasp.
“Mhmm. It’s not my fault my father likes property. If he can gift someone property, he will.” Emilio looks really uncomfortable, which makes me smile. This is a side of him I haven’t seen since we were in our early teens.
“Yeah, not a spoiled brat at all.” I shake my head and laugh.