Mateo
Chapter seven
I'm not sure what I'm expecting on Tuesday when Jade drops Cooper off, but it's not her in scrubs.
She's talking to Dad in the kitchen while I'm on the patio pretending to concentrate on my physical therapy homework.
My right ankle is hooked behind my left, but I'm not moving.
I'm too focused on the woman beyond the sliding glass door.
Her dark hair is piled on top of her head in a loose bun, tendrils of hair framing her face.
Beautiful is the wrong word for her. Striking is much more fitting.
There's a softness in her abrasiveness, and it wobbles me off my moral axis.
She's an enigma, a challenge, and she's looking directly at me.
Fuck. I offer a small wave and slowly raise my bad knee. Can she even see me out here? Maybe there's a glare.
Yes, a glare would be good.
"I shouldn't be later than nine," she tells Dad, her voice muffled through the glass.
The slider opens, and Cooper sticks his head out.
"Hey, kid," I say.
He waves and wanders toward me, holding his hand out for a fist bump to which I oblige.
"What are you doing out here?" he asks.
"Leave Mateo alone, Coop," Jade yells out the door.
"It's cool," I say. "I'm done, anyway."
"So why are you out here?" Coop asks again.
"It's nice out today. I was stuck in the house with the rain yesterday," I say. "I thought the walls were going to close in on me."
He nods as if he understands and hands me my crutches.
I slowly raise myself from the chair. Physical therapy is kicking my ass ten ways to Sunday, and I wasn't lying that the house felt suffocating.
But the doe-eyed tornado looking back at me from the open doorway is the only reason I'm not napping.
I needed to see her. I can't explain why.
I keep reminding myself she's too young.
She's Addie's friend. And really, I don't know her.
But nothing in that pep talk diminishes my need to know her.
To know about her. I tried searching for her socials, and then searched Addie's for a sliver of information, but nothing came up.
If curiosity killed the cat, then shave my ass and call me Mittens.
She opens the door wider and retreats, snagging a backpack off the counter before wandering upstairs, most likely to find my sister.
"Want a snack?" Dad asks when Cooper and I are both inside.
"Sure," I say at the same time the kid says, "Yes, please."
Dad raises an eyebrow at me, and I realize he wasn't talking to me. Right, idiot.
Cooper giggles, and I shrug. A guy can try.
"Hey, did you bring your game?" I ask.
He shakes his head. "Mom took it away."
"Did you get into trouble at school again?" Dad asks him as he opens the fridge.
"You really are a little punk, aren't you?" I tease, nudging him with my crutch.
Dad shoots me a disapproving glare over his shoulder. Oops.
"It wasn't my fault," Cooper says, climbing onto the stool at the island.
Dad takes an apple and a block of cheese out of the fridge, placing them on the counter, and gestures to Cooper to move along with his story.
"Okay, it was my fault," he says. "But it's not fair."
I settle onto the stool beside him, propping my crutches on the counter. Dad slides a cutting board and knife toward me, and I cube the block of cheddar while he slices the apple.
"So what happened?" I ask, genuinely curious, because even though he's a smart ass, I get the impression he recognizes there's a time and place for it.
"I finished my reading test and played drums on my desk with my pencil."
"That doesn't seem bad," I say.
"That's what I'm saying."
"Cooper," Dad says. "Were your friends finished with their tests?"
The kid rolls his eyes and lets out a huff. "It's not my fault they're slow."
"How long did it take you?" Dad asks. There's a gleam in his eyes, one I haven't seen in years. Mischief.
"Ten questions, plus a bonus, in one minute and seventeen seconds."
Dad high-fives him, and the two of them share a conspiratorial smile. Then he places the apple slices on the cutting board. "I've gotta get the lawn mowed. Hopefully, this is the last one of the season. You two going to be okay?"
We nod, and he leaves us to our snack.
When Dad is out of earshot, I lean toward Cooper.
"So who's watching who right now?" I ask.
He shrugs and bites into an apple slice. "Your guess is as good as mine."
I chuckle. It's clear why Mom and Dad like him so much.
"You know what this snack needs?" I ask.
He eyes me warily.
"Doritos."
He laughs and says, "Good luck in this house."
I stand from the stool, grab my crutches, and throw him a wink before I hobble down the hall to my bedroom.
When I come back out, I have a purple bag of Doritos between my teeth. Quality, fresh food is my everyday diet because of Mom and Abuelo, but I'm a junk food junkie at heart. If I have the chance to eat something full of dyes and preservatives, so help me God, I'm gonna do it.
Laughter filters from the kitchen as I make my way back, contraband on full display. Addie and Jade stand at the island, and when I look at Jade, my body refuses to listen to my brain and I stop dead in my tracks.
"Mom, look. Mateo likes your favorite chips," Cooper says.
Her lips curl into a smirk she tries to hide behind a can of sugar-free Red Bull.
The chips fall from my mouth in the most dramatic display of a man fumbling over a beautiful woman.
Fucking smooth, Mateo, real fucking smooth.
She pulls the can from her mouth, and I watch as her tongue glides over the silver ring in her lower lip.
Fuck my life.
I take back ever thinking of her as a girl.
I still don't know her age because I haven't convinced myself to ask yet, but she's not a girl.
She's all woman. She could wear a fucking trash bag and still make it look good.
Her ebony hair falls in waves down her back, and dark makeup lines her eyes.
She's changed into a lace crop top that reveals much more of her than I need to see right now.
The roses on her arm go all the way to her shoulder, where they wrap around a skull.
Script along her collarbone is half covered by the lace of her tank top.
I attempt to bend down to pick up the chips, but she rescues me, which is almost as surprising as the dainty floral piece that runs from the back of her neck down her spine, peeking out beneath her shirt and stopping at her tailbone.
She stands up, and I'm still staring because I'm a fucking idiot.
All I can think about is running my tongue along that tattoo and across the metal in her lip.
Get a grip, Mateo.
You'd think I'd have all the confidence in the world when it comes to women, and I do, but this woman's got me twisted. She's off-limits and so far from the women I've been with in my past that I almost feel like I'm being booby-trapped.
Addie and Jade leave in a flurry of goodbyes and a hair ruffling to Cooper. The door closes behind them, and I ask what's been on the tip of my tongue since I first saw her.
"Hey Coop, how old is your mom?"
"She turns twenty-five next week."
Fucking booby-trapped.
I want to ask questions. I want to drill this kid for information about his mom, and not only is that unlike me, but I can't. A buffer is what I need. I've got to step away and place a buffer between us. But I'm not sure how to do that when I can't stop thinking about her.
"So you're like really smart, huh?"
Cooper shrugs and takes a chip from the bag. He closes his eyes as he chews and releases a small moan of appreciation. I chuckle and take one for myself. Man, I love these chips.
"My teacher says I read at a sixth-grade level," he says when he's finished chewing.
"And you're in what grade?"
"Second."
I suck in a breath. I knew he was different, but damn.
"Are you good at math, too?"
Cooper removes his glasses and breathes on the lenses, then wipes them with the bottom of his Hollywood Undead T-shirt.
This kid. I have nothing else. This fucking kid.
He puts his glasses back on and levels me with a stare.
"Ask me a math question."
I swallow my bite of apple and ask, "What's thirty-two minus eight?"
Behind his clean glasses, he rolls his eyes.
"Twenty-four. Give me something harder."
"Okay, what's sixteen times four?"
"Is thirty-two your favorite number or something?"
I must look as dumbfounded as I feel because he lets out a heavy sigh.
"Both of your questions have thirty-two."
"How the hell does my second question have thirty-two?" I unlock my phone and pull up the calculator because now I'm confused.
"Sixteen times two is thirty-two."
"But I asked you what sixteen times four was."
"Right, and sixteen times two is thirty-two, and thirty-two times two is sixty-four."
"No wonder you're getting into trouble at school."
Cooper gets down from his stool and drags it to the other counter. He climbs onto it and maneuvers to kneeling on the counter. Taking two glasses from the cabinet, he asks if I want ice in my water. I don't answer him, and he nods as if he understood my non-answer.
"My teachers wanted me to skip a couple of grades last year, but Mom said no," he says as he fills our glasses with ice water.
"Why'd she say no?"
"She didn't want to stunt my social skills. Basically, she didn't want me growing up faster than I already am."
His answer is telling, and yet it still doesn't solve the mystery of Jade. What was her own childhood like? What is she protecting him from?
"Is that what she said?"
"More or less. There's a private school…" He pauses and squints up at me like he's telling me a secret he's not supposed to share. "Don't tell my mom, okay?"
I nod, and he continues. "There's a private school I keep hearing my teachers talk about. I looked it up. It costs a lot of money. But man, it'd be really cool to go."
I want to relate to this kid. I want to tell him I get it. That I hear him and understand, but the truth of the matter is I don't. I've lived a privileged life, and it'd be wrong to pretend I didn't.
"Your secret is safe with me, kid."