Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
VERA
I was absolutely not backing off. I mean, I was, I didn’t want to be a creep, but I wasn’t. I knew she was attracted to me. She didn’t think I noticed how she was looking at me when I knocked on her door? Of course I noticed. I noticed everything about her.
I especially noticed how she twitched under my touch, and how her breath hitched when I rubbed her lower back. I wasn’t going to go into her bikini bottoms, though.
I had pulled back on the flirting, except when around her friends, and my touch never got too inappropriate, despite how much I really wanted it to.
That party. I thought about it every chance I got.
I thought about how delicious she looked.
How I wanted to take her into an empty room and show her just how much i’d missed touching her.
I was desperate to kiss her again, and if we had another second together, I would’ve, but the interruption made me realize it was good that I didn’t.
As much as I wanted it, she had made it clear, no matter what she physically felt, we weren’t going to work, and that was okay.
I respected the hell out of her, and as much as I disagreed with that, I had to create distance between my feelings and what we were doing. I was the one blurring the lines.
It was a struggle not to flirt with her, or “accidentally” brush my hand against her skin.
When I was in her house, that’s all I wanted to do.
Especially when she had on that killer skirt that was so tight I couldn’t peel my eyes away from her ass.
She had to have worn that on purpose, knowing how I felt about her.
But I told her I’d back off, so that’s what I was going to do. I could be platonic while also pretending to date her in front of her friends but wanting more behind the scenes. That didn’t sound complicated at all.
The wedding was coming up soon, then it would all be over and we’d go back to being just friends, or we’d both move on and never see each other again. I wasn’t very fond of either idea.
And sitting in the car with Cara, driving to my abuela's house, while she had on that baby blue dress was proving to be impossible to stay away. I was gripping the steering wheel so tight, my hands were turning white. I refused to place them anywhere near her bare leg.
“Is this dress too much? I feel like it’s too much. I don’t want your grandmother to think I’m a whore.”
My laugh was so loud. “It’s perfect. You look very proper and very very attractive. I’m struggling to keep my distance.”
She rolled her eyes but I caught the smile she was trying to hide before she turned her head. We rode the rest of the way in silence, but I could see by the way she was fidgeting, she was nervous. Wasn’t that just the cutest thing?
“Nervous, princesa?” I asked. I didn’t like the thought of her being nervous, but another part of me reveled in the idea. That meant she cared, on some level, about me.
She shrugged, acting nonchalant. “A little. I just want her to like me.”
“Yeah? She will, especially since you love her cooking. Any particular reason you want her to like you? “ I smirked when she scowled at me. I knew exactly why, but I wanted her to say it.
“I’m a people pleaser. What can I say?”
I decided to drop it. I didn’t want to push her right before meeting my abuela, but I knew that wasn’t the whole truth.
We pulled up to my abuela’s house and I got out of the truck, rounding to the passenger side to open Cara’s door. She smiled as I held out my hand to help her out.
“You look beautiful in that dress, Princesa. Don’t be nervous, my abuela is going to love you. There’s no reason for her not to.”
Her blush made me internally pat myself on the back. While my statement was true all around, it was an extra bonus to get a reaction from her.
Before we could knock, the door swung open and I smiled at what greeted us. My beautiful abuela was wearing the apron she wore every time she cooked. It was red and white and splattered with various spices.
“Mija! I’m glad you could make it. Oh, my, this must be Cara! It’s so nice to meet you, mija. Veronica, you weren’t lying to your abuela. You are gorgeous, my dear. Please, come in. The food’s almost ready. I hope you like tamales, Cara. They are Veronica’s favorite.”
I groaned at my grandmother’s embarrassing word vomit. I looked toward Cara with an apologetic expression, but she was too busy hugging my abuela. Her smile was bright and genuine.
“Hi, Ms. Rojas. It’s so nice to meet you. That’s very kind of you to say, thank you. I’ll have to remember to get the recipe from you. They smell delicious.”
My grandmother finally let us in and I put my hand on Cara’s lower back to guide her inside. As soon as we walked in, we were greeted by the delicious aroma of tamales.
“I’m sorry about her. She’s old and doesn’t have a filter.” I whispered just so she could hear me.
“I heard that Veronica Elena! Don’t make me bend you over my knee in front of company. You know I will do it! Cara, please call me Sofia.”
What the hell? She heard that? Cara let out a soft chuckle and I glared at her, only for my lips to curve in a small smile at the sight of her. I was really down bad for her. I needed to get a hold of myself.
“It’s okay, Veronica. I like her. She puts you in your place and is actually super sweet. So you talk about me, huh?”
I shrugged. “Are you surprised? And please don’t start calling me that. I hate that name.”
“I won’t, but it was funny to see your reaction. Why don’t you like it?”
“I don’t know. It’s too girlie for me.”
“That makes sense. Vera is more of a woman’s name. And you, Vera, are definitely a woman.”
The way she said that had me thinking all kinds of things I shouldn’t have been. Thankfully, we arrived in the living room before I could think about it anymore.
“Here we are, girls. Sit down and relax while I finish up dinner. The tamales should be done in about ten minutes and then we can eat. Veronica, why don’t you get something to drink for Cara.”
“Of course, abuela. Cara, What would you like? We have wine, water, tea…”
Cara smiled. “Water is fine, thank you. Sofia, please let me help with something.”
My abuela shook her head and shooed her off. “Absolutely not. You are a guest in my home, you do nothing but relax and look beautiful. Veronica, come help.”
I chuckled and shook my head, looking towards Cara in a silent question of, “Are you going to be okay?”
She nodded and placed her hand on my arm. “Go, I’ll be fine. I promise.”
I came back with her water and asked if she was doing okay. She was just sitting on the couch looking content on her phone, probably checking a work email.
“That better not be a work thing you’re looking at.”
She looked up at me and put her phone down. “Sorry. No more work tonight. I promise. Thank you for the water. Are you sure there’s nothing I can help with? I feel awful just sitting here while you two do all the work.”
I handed her the water and shook my head. “No. Abuela would skin me if I made you do anything. Just sit there and look pretty like she said. We’re almost done anyway.”
“She said you said I was gorgeous, not pretty. But fine. I kind of like your skin and wouldn’t want you to go without.”
“I did say you were gorgeous. And wow, a compliment? It must be my abuela’s presence that’s making you act so nice towards me.”
I chuckled when she playfully swatted at my arm. “Go help your abuela before I take it back.”
“There you go speaking Spanish again. Careful, princesa.” I winked before turning to return to the kitchen. My abuela just looked at me with a raised eyebrow.
“I’m sorry I took so long. I wanted to make sure she was okay. She really wants to help, but I told her you’d skin me alive if I let her.”
She laughed. “Smart girl. But this look is not for that. If you two are ‘just friends,’ then why did you call her princesa? And what does she need to be careful about? Veronica Elena, you better not be threatening that poor girl.”
“?Ay dios mío! There is no way you heard that!”
“Si, I did. I hear everything! So tell me what that was about.”
I groaned. “It’s just what I call her. Friends have nicknames for each other all the time. And no, of course I wasn’t threatening her. How can I help with dinner?”
“Wash your hands first, mija. Dinner’s almost ready. But you’re not getting out of this conversation.”
Surprisingly, in the kitchen, my grandmother only questioned me about Cara seven times.
Asking if we were actually together and why I’d lied to her about only being friends.
To which I groaned and said we were actually just friends.
She’d ask why I wasn’t trying harder to be more with Cara, why I hadn’t brought her over sooner, and some more rather inappropriate questions I didn’t want to remember.
We finished up the tamales and I helped gather everything else to take out to the dining room. Cara was sitting on the couch when we came out and immediately stood and started walking over to us.
“It all smells so good. Can I help with something?”
“No, mija. Everything is taken care of. Just sit down and get what you like. We have tamales, red rice, and beans.”
Cara smiled as we all sat down and filled our plates. My abuela started saying grace and I looked toward Cara. She had her head down, but her eyes were open.
We’d never talked about religion, but I should’ve warned her in case she was heavily against it. If she was, she didn’t show anything but respect for my abuela and she waited until she was done before picking up her fork to eat.
We sat and ate and I groaned as my abuela asked her dozens of questions.
“How old are you, mija? How did you meet Veronica? Are you really just friends or is she lying to me?”