Chapter 11 #2
But with the gift I’ve been handed today—Coach cancelling practice and an entirely free late afternoon—I saw the opportunity, texted her Beach after class?
and, surprisingly, she said yes. So, now, with no rush at all, I get to hang out with Leana at McGee Beach.
I get to kiss her out here. I got to show up to her room, see her standing there in just a bikini that, on her, had me about to bite a door to keep myself calm.
And, thirty minutes later, after finding out how good her legs look on my shoulders and tossing a condom into the trash can, I got to help her put it back on before we headed out.
There’s a perfect amount of sunshine. Hot but not hellish.
We’ve been spending half the time we’ve been at this game checking each other out instead of actually playing.
Haven’t looked at my phone once since I dropped it when we got here.
A perfect afternoon the day after acing my first college exam.
It’s really nice. Her lips are really nice. Holding on to the skin of her sides, thinking about how my hands were here earlier and how well they fit around her (and how well other parts of me fit inside her), it’s really nice.
When she pulls away, I can’t help but follow her lips, hoping for one more kiss. Smiling into her lips as she gives it to me. And then her hands come back down, pat my chest, and she looks at me, her head tilting.
“What are you thinking about?” I ask.
“I … nothing. I’m just happy.”
“I’m happy too.”
“Good.” She comes up for one more kiss and then steps back, heading to her board. “Pick up my beanbags for me.”
“ Ching —I’m still not going easy on you.”
“Okay, pendejo with your good memory and shit. Remember what I told you winner gets as a prize?”
“Very much so,” I say back, handing her three sea-green bags.
“Changed my mind. Loser gets that.”
“I—” Lots of thoughts start playing in my mind about what my very near future could look like, and, yeah, unfair play by her, but, at the end of the day, I’m a simple man with simple wants. “Say less, mamita.”
I toss my bag way off to the side, getting a “You’re such a smartass” from Leana as she watches me throw another and then my third one way off mark, landing in the sand behind her.
And then I take hers back, dropping each one into the hole on my side.
“Damn, I get no points and you get, like, a hundred, I think. Does that mean I lose? I—I’m pretty sure I just lost.”
After my devastating defeat at cornhole (it’s cool though, whenever I’m at night training later, it’ll be with a smile on my face), I climb over a wood railing, one hand holding on to a mangonada in a Styrofoam cup and the other holding Leana’s hand, letting her grip as tight as she needs while she gets her footing.
And even after, making sure I won’t let her fall as we walk down a stretch of concrete and rock that swerves and juts out into the bay.
I don’t take her too far, maybe about twenty-five yards before helping her sit down and then settling next to her, looking out at the water, listening to the waves, getting a mist of salt water sprayed on my skin when a big one crashes into stone.
“I told Vale I was sorry for stealing you away from him today,” Leana says as she makes herself comfortable against me and then reaches for the mangonada.
“As much as I probably should’ve used the afternoon to get ahead on homework, got to be honest, would one thousand percent rather be here than in a library studying philosophy.
And that’s saying a lot because I love spending time with Vale.
And his cousins asked if he could be at the shop today anyway, so I’m glad I didn’t have to be the one to take him away from that. I’ll FaceTime him tonight.”
“Let me find out he’s your favorite,” she teases, seeing my smirk. “FaceTiming and sharing work schedules. Next time I’ll just let you two have the beach date.”
I let out a laugh as my fingertips trace the skin of her sides and slide down to the tied strings of her bikini bottom.
For a second, my mind goes to that night across the street from school, sitting on the sand with Vale close by and my hand at his waist. But, with a few blinks, I’m back, here, with Leana.
“He does share his boba with me, so it might be a closer call than you think.”
“And, out of the two of us, he’s going to be the one that would save you from a cave.”
“Oh, that’s low,” I say, watching her laugh as she keeps talking about how he told her that “the caves scare Gabi.”
“It’s cute seeing his face when he talks about it too. He, for real, genuinely feels sorry for you. Like this class might give you a phobia of caves by December.”
“No mames. That’s not even true,” I groan back, letting my face fall on her shoulder.
“We get through one cave, and as soon as we spend a week and a half on that, we move on to another cave. I’ve never been in a cave before—never even seen one in real life—but every single philosopher makes them sound like they’re the worst possible place a person could end up.
And not because there’s a bear or a dragon inside—”
“A … dragon?”
“Whatever. Point being, it’s not even some big animal they’re worried about. It’s that caves are where morals go to die.”
“I’m sure you’ll get through it.”
“Only because I’ve got Vale. For real, I don’t think I’d be surviving without him. I’d be lost to the caves.”
“Yeah, he’s pretty good for that,” she admits, letting go of the spoon so that her hand can come to my leg, patting my thigh before resting there.
My free hand goes to hers, covering it. “I’m glad I’ve got you too.
I’m the only one out of my old friend group who stayed in Corpus Christi instead of heading to Austin or College Station or Denver or Los Angeles.
And I love my boys, they’re all great. But having friends outside of soccer, I think, is pretty healthy for me.
I need people outside of that circle too. Keeps me sane.”
“I’d imagine.”
I turn my head, leaning some and then a bit more until she gets the hint and starts sharing that mangonada, giving me a spoonful of frozen mango covered in chamoy and taj í n before sitting back up. “So, how do you two know each other anyway?”
“He’s from San Antonio too.” Which, now, is an obvious connection I should’ve made easily.
“We went to the same high school. Our parents went to the same high school too. They basically reconnected when we were freshmen and then we became friends because our moms and dads were always hanging out. Soon enough, we were besties. He was in my quince court and everything. Honestly, he’s the one who put the idea of coming here for school in my head.
I was fine staying in San Antonio. Had a couple options that I probably would’ve been just fine with. ”
“And then?”
She takes a deep breath, slowly letting it out, looking from me to the bay.
“And then we had a heart-to-heart. Both of us went through some pretty bad breakups around graduation. He thought we could use a change of scenery for a while. Not have reminders or, worse, those guys close by while we’re trying to live in the moment and be free and all that.
He wanted to take a chance on somewhere new, and I wanted to come with him.
I think we both knew that this could be the best thing for our own happiness. ”
“Was he right? Is the best and freest version of you here in Corpus Christi, Texas?”
“I know he thinks so.”
“I wasn’t asking about him. I want to know what you think.”
Leana’s head falls on my shoulder for a minute while we both just watch and listen to the water and the seagulls flying around.
And then she sits back up, her head turned to face me.
Her hand comes up to the back of my head, pulling me down gently for a kiss.
It’s slow. Thoughtful, even. Like maybe this is just as much an answer as whatever words she could give me.
“I’m really happy you came up to me,” she says. “That it was you who asked to carry a box for me.”
Memories of the last few weeks come to mind.
The handful of days that have started with running with Leana, her being the first person I talk to in the morning.
The super over it look she gave me when, after finding out she’s studying to be a nurse, I told her that, if it’d help her with classes, we could do a “nurse and the futbolista coming in for his physical” roleplay sometime.
When she said that, if she had to pick a favorite Mexican food, it’d be a torta when sopes are right there .
Like, that’s the only correct answer. And how I told her that, with her being so wrong, I might have to reconsider whether I need a running partner.
How she pulled me close and kissed me and made me forget how wrong she was.
All those times I’ve gotten to just hold her for a few minutes before leaving her room and having to hustle for the rest of my day.
“I am too.”
“I … I don’t regret coming here. I think that he was right. I needed somewhere new. Somewhere different. And the last two and a half weeks have been great for a lot of reasons. But I—I don’t know.”
“What don’t you know?”
“I— A part of me isn’t so sure I’m living up to the opportunity the way I should be. I think that maybe I’m still not letting myself be free enough to say whether or not Vale was right. And that happiness, actual happiness, might be more complicated than a yes or no answer.”
“Not to be insulting here, but you’re sounding like a philosopher now.”
“Comes with having Vale as a bestie. But, for real. I can admit that I did need to get away and be able to do things for me and not have my family around judging me or trying to give me their say-so about everything I do. But I’m also figuring out what me being free looks like.
What me taking advantage of this gift looks like.
And I—I think that means I need to make some really big decisions soon. ”
“Well, I’ll be here for you. And I am here for you.”
“I know,” she says, her fingers gently scratching the back of my neck. “And out of everything I might regret, being here, with you, I don’t think could ever be one of them.”
She kisses me one more time and then brings her hand down, slapping the skin of my thigh. “We should get going. I told your roommates I’d have you back early enough to go to the gym with them, and I still need to give you your loser reward.”
“Pues, after you then, mamita.”