Chapter 31
Chapter thirty-one
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The past few hours had been a dream. After the pool, we did a guided meditation class that actually had me feeling like I could keep my head above water, and then we spent time exploring a few nearby cenotes.
Since we’d missed out on the group trip yesterday, it felt good to finally see the water everyone was raving about without the weight of an argument hanging over us.
We laughed, we swam, and for a little while, I forgot that my life was a complicated puzzle with half the pieces missing.
But reality has a way of checking back in.
My phone had been buzzing in my bag for twenty minutes. London was already blowing up the group chat, reminding everyone that the wedding rehearsal was at 4:00 sharp on the resort’s beach. It was 3:15, and we were currently miles away from the resort, stuck in our third pharmacy of the day.
The first two were sold out of Plan B, and the panic was starting to settle in my chest.
Dex stepped up to the counter of the small, dusty farmacia while I hovered by a shelf of sunscreens. He cleared his throat, trying to channel whatever high school Spanish he remembered.
“Hola. Necesito… uh, pastilla del día después? Plan B?”
The man behind the counter didn’t even look up from his newspaper. “?Qué?”
Dex tried again, slower this time. “Plan B. La pastilla. ?Tienes?”
The guy finally looked up, nodding slowly as he reached under the counter. “Sí. Tengo. ?Cuántos necesitas?”
Dex glanced back at me, then turned back to the man. “Solo… solo uno.”
The man pulled out a small box and set it on the glass. “Diez dólares.”
I blinked, stepping closer. “Did he say ten dollars?”
Dex smirked, pulling his wallet out. “Yeah. Dora the Explorer taught you well.”
I flipped him off with a grin. “Do you realize how much cheaper that is than in the States? Dex, get me like four boxes.”
Dex stopped mid-reach, looking at me like I’d lost my mind. “Damn, girl. It’s not candy.”
“Yeah, well, I’ll be popping them like candy until I can get home to see my OBGYN. Just get them.”
Dex shook his head but held up four fingers to the man. “Cuatro, por favor.”
While the man rang them up, I grabbed a bottle of water from a small cooler nearby. Dex paid the man, grabbed the bag, and we headed back out to the car where our driver was waiting. The second the door clicked shut, I ripped into one of the boxes, unscrewed the water, and swallowed the pill.
I leaned my head back against the seat, closing my eyes as I felt the cool water slide down my throat. “I hope it works,” I whispered, more to myself than him.
“For that cheap, it might be a placebo,” Dex teased, leaning over to nudge my shoulder.
“I hope not. I’m not ready to be a mama, Dex.”
He got quiet for a second, his playful energy shifting into something deeper. “What you afraid of?” Before I could even open my mouth to mention the dinner at Chambao, he cut me off. “And don’t say your mother. You are not her, so don’t even mention her name in this.”
I looked at him, surprised by the firmness in his voice.
“I’m not pressuring you into having my baby,” he continued, his eyes searching mine. “But just know, when the time is right, you’re going to be perfect. You’ll be what you always wanted in a mother.”
Something rose in my chest, but this time it wasn’t from sadness. I just nodded, leaning over to press a soft kiss to his lips. To lighten the heavy mood, I pulled back and raised an eyebrow. “But can I get a ring first?”
Dex laughed, a deep, confident sound. “Oh, you getting it all. The ring, the wedding, my last name, and you moving your ass into our house.”
My stomach did a little flip, but I had to be honest with him. “I’ve actually been thinking about getting an apartment.”
The smile disappeared from his face. “Nique, don’t piss me off.”
“I’m not trying to,” I said, turning in the seat to face him. “But I’m fresh out of a relationship where I was completely dependent on the other person. I want to find my independence again. Plus, you and I still need to do that therapy thing we talked about.”
Dex rubbed a hand over his face, looking frustrated. “Man, Nique, we ain’t getting no younger. We already wasted so much time. Why can’t we just live life on the edge and just be madly in love? Stop thinking we’re gonna crash and burn.”
“Baby, at least give me a year,” I said softly. “Give me a year of us doing this right, and after that, we can reconvene.”
Dex just stared at me, his eyes dark and unreadable.
“Relationships are about compromise,” I added with a small shrug.
A slow, knowing grin spread across his face. “So you finally admitting we’re in a relationship?”
I felt the heat rise to my cheeks, and I looked out the window to hide it. “Something like that. We’re still taking it slow.”
Dex didn't care about the slow part. He ignored every careful wall I had just tried to build, reached over, and pulled me into a kiss that told me he wasn’t worried about my one year plan. He was playing the long game.
Not long after, we pulled up to the resort with exactly twenty minutes to spare.
Dex walked me all the way to my villa, checking his watch. “I’ll see you on the beach,” he said, leaning against the doorframe.
“See ya,” I said, leaning up to kiss him one more time, savoring the taste of him before the chaos of London’s wedding took over.
I ducked inside and closed the door, my heart racing for a reason that had nothing to do with being late. For the first time in a long time, the future didn't look like a threat. It looked like Dex.