Chapter 10
Luna
“I’m going to be sick.”
My mom looks up from the garment she’s sewing, needle in hand, to stare at me with a calm-down face. “You’re going to be just fine.”
“How?” I ask.
“Maeven set everything up, and she’s extremely thorough. You see people are already talking about you and Rio. The last two weeks since the Knicks game, you’ve been in everyone’s mouth. The two of you are naturals at this.” She finishes and goes back to sewing.
“He hates me.”
My mom snorts. “No, ese muchachito doesn’t hate you. Just like you don’t hate him. I thought the flowers were a nice touch. Shows he can be sweet even though he sings esas freaky frescuras.”
Her wording always makes me chuckle, but my eyes drift to the peach rose and eucalyptus bouquet sitting on our dining room table.
“Mami, the flowers were Maeven’s idea.”
“Except, it wasn’t. She was surprised when I mentioned it, so make sure you thank him.”
Oh man. He sent them to me. I don’t need more things to be conflicted about. I tinker with my hair, making sure my edges are tight.
“I’m spending the night at Darren’s tonight. If something happens, call me.”
I can’t help but tease her. “I’ll be okay. Go be with your man. Get it, girl.”
“No seas atrevida. I can still give you a few nalgadas.” To prove it, she swats my butt.
The doorbell rings, surprising both of us. My mom hands me the t-shirt she finished hemming, and I throw it on. “Don’t fight at Yankees Stadium. Don’t have deep conversations either.”
“You sound like Maeven,” I say as I kiss her cheek and head for the door. When I open it, Rio is standing outside, filling the door frame in jeans and a baseball jersey. His smile is instant.
And so is the rustle of butterfly wings in my belly.
“Hi.” He leans for a kiss on my cheek, and then his gaze darts behind me. “Buenas tardes, Dona Raquel.”
He goes around me to shake her hand, but my mom gives him the customary kiss on the cheek. “Take care of my mariposita, and no fighting,” she says to him.
He pauses and then says, “Lo prometo.”
His manners are so sweet, my mom blinks a few times, and I can’t fight the grin that breaks over my lips. Then we rush out the door without talking.
We get into the car, the radio playing ‘No Más Guerra’ by Belú “La Teniente.”
I love this song. It’s high on my Spotify playlist. “I should’ve known you listen to Belú.”
Rio frowns. “Who?”
I point to the speaker. “La Teniente.”
“Oh,” he says and shakes his head. “I don’t know much about her, but she’s with Ficha like me.”
“You should hear her whole album. She’s awesome.
They call her the daughter of El General and she lives up to the name.
Her music is fire and real, a call back to the beginnings of reggaeton.
This is her love letter to him, a thank you for putting the genre on the map.
You know?” I tap my chin. “You and her on a song would be hot.”
“I’ll listen.” It’s noncommittal, and we’re silent for a while.
Now I’m thinking about everything that’s going to go down today, and I’m anxious again.
“You okay?” he asks.
I finally look at him and shake my head. “I’m nervous.”
“Don’t be. Just remember, we can’t stand each other.”
I roll my eyes. “But we’re supposed to be falling for each other. What if the kiss falls flat?”
“Mami, we almost set The Garden on fire just looking at each other.” The smoldering look that follows makes my entire body flush.
He’s not wrong. We’ve been feeding social media with an almost kiss.
“It’s all people have been talking about. Well, because we have not been seen together since, today one of your Sirenas wondered if you dumped me for being a sosa.”
His bark of laughter is so sudden it startles me. And it doesn’t stop. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him laugh so hard.
“Stop laughing.”
He presses a hand to his belly. “I can’t. Where do people get this stuff?”
“They said I always acted like a sosa when I was hanging with Adina. So that’s my personality anyway. Meanwhile, you’re so bellaco, their word, you got bored quickly when I didn’t grope you at MSG.”
He laughs all over again then stops, and his gaze narrows on me. “I think that’s how you had to act. I don’t think Adina could’ve handled it if you were spicy on top of looking spicy.”
What the hell?
I rear back, frowning at him. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Come on, Luna. You know all eyes were on you, right? You just tried to make yourself invisible around her. You’re in the background in all the photos, like anyone was looking at that skinny sosa. See? The word really applies there.”
I so don’t like the way that sounds. “She was my best friend. We rode for each other.”
I also don’t know why I’m defending Adina like a pendeja.
“You rode for her.”
I don’t know what hurts more: that I did ride hard for her or that the whole world knows, and now I feel stupid. “Rio, don’t start with me. Just because we are not friends anymore doesn’t mean I’m going to shit on her.”
“No one is asking you to shit on her. Just be honest with yourself.”
“Stop. We have a plan for today, and we told Maeven we don’t need her in our ear. We can’t kiss if we’re arguing.”
He scoffs. “Speak for yourself.”
“Oh, because you’re a great actor?”
He shakes his head. “No, I don’t need acting skills to execute what I’ve thought about doing for a long time.”
My brain goes blank, and my mouth goes slack. His eyes are round, and he looks away.
Did he mean that? Wait, what did he mean?
The car plunges into a thick silence, and just when I’m ready to ask him, there’s a cough from the front of the car.
“We’re here,” Tito says. I tear my gaze from the back of Rio’s head to look at him.
He ducks his head, but I see the small smile.
Rio turns his head in my direction but doesn’t look straight at me. “Are you ready?”
“Yeah.” I don’t know why I whisper it.
The next second, Tito opens the door, and Rio steps out first and then helps me out. We rush through the entrance.
“Rio brought her to the game?” someone yells.
“Yooo, that shit is on and popping. Way to land on your feet, Luna,” a woman yells.
I stop dead in my tracks and am about to turn around and give her a piece of my mind, but Rio’s hand clamps on the small of my back and keeps me moving.
It’s not until we’re at our seats that he leans to whisper in my ear, “What were you about to do?”
I give him a pointed look. “It’s the Bronx. You know what I was about to do.”
He smiles, and before he looks away, I reach to place my hand on his cheek.
“Thank you for saving me from myself.” His smile deepens, and I can’t help but look at his lips, and the words are out of my mouth before I can fully think them. “I’m curious too.”
He opens his mouth.
“Rio!” someone calls out from behind him. I look up as two girls stand there smiling a little nervously at him. “Can we get your autograph?”
He nods. “Yeah.”
Their faces light up. I look away and exhale.
* * *
Rio
I’m curious too.
Her words keep repeating themselves in my ear as I sign the autographs and stand and pose with the two girls.
“Let me take your photo so the three of you are together,” Luna says, and I get to gaze at her and smile as she angles the camera to snap a couple of photos.
She’s beaming too, stretching those glossy rose lips.
I wish I could see her eyes. I want to know if, behind the shades, she’s affected like I am.
When she hands the phone back, one of the girls asks, “Can we take a photo with you too?”
And now it’s my turn to take their photo, and we snap a group selfie of all of us together.
“Thank you,” they say, and the other girls lean in and whisper to Luna, “Fuck those bitches online. And way to go.” She tilts her head toward me when she says it.
Luna laughs, and we take our seats again.
“They’re sweet.”
“Yeah,” I say, wanting to get back to our conversation.
“I’m surprised they didn’t want to snatch my face off. The Sirenas are super protective of you.”
I chuckle. “That they are, even when I’m a mess, but I think you won two over.”
She shrugs. “I think we are all messes at times. I think they understand you and who you are. That’s a testament to your branding.”
“You sound like Maeven.”
“Dude, I want to be Maeven when I grow up.” We both laugh.
The game begins, and we settle in. After a while, her gaze shifts around us. Tito, who is sitting close by, is doing the same.
I lean in. “Forget they’re here.”
She turns her face toward me. “How? They’re taking photos and videos and constantly talking about us like we can’t hear them.”
“Imagine walls around you wherever there’s a person. Once you’re enclosed behind them, they don’t matter. I’m good at blocking the noise, not letting it touch me. I can be in a stadium full of people and be alone.”
She nods, and just then, Judge hits it out of the park, and we stand to watch the ball sail away into the stands. The stadium erupts in cheers.
When we sit back down, Luna places her hand over mine.
“I get why you block the chatter. You need to stay sane, which I don’t know how you do it with everyone always watching you. But who reaches out?”
I frown, and I’m glad I’m wearing shades too, because her question hits too close. Dr. Jacinda asked something similar last week.
“I have friends.”
“I know. But sometimes even our friends don’t fully know what’s going on with us because we just don’t go telling everyone. It takes someone to reach deeper…”
“And ask the right questions,” I finish.
“Exactly.”
“Tito’s my cousin and best friend.” I hook my thumb toward his seat. “Niko and Zao keep an eye on me. El Flaco can sense my SOS moments. My family in DR and PR do a good job of checking in on me, but they’re far away.”
“Which side of your family are you closer to?”
“Both. Neither would have it any other way. My dad used to take me to Guánica, his hometown, when I was a kid and taught me so much about the land.”
“And your mom?”
The flare of pain in my chest is so fast and potent that my throat clogs. “She’s gone. A year and a half ago.”
She releases a wounded sigh, shoulders drooping. “Oh. I don’t think I knew that.”
“It wasn’t public. I didn’t want it to be. I couldn’t deal…”
I trail off because the heavy weight I carried on my chest during those days is back sitting over my heart.
I felt like I died too, but everything they told us was a lie because, in my death, there was so much agony.
I have to close my eyes and breathe. Because I can do that now.
I can feel the air flow through my lungs.
When will I be able to talk about her again without my insides caving?
Luna’s hand closes around mine, and in that moment, I need something to hold on to, so I lace my fingers through hers and squeeze.
Someone taps my shoulder. “You’re on the jumbotron.”
I look up at it, and yes, both of us are there with the words 'Kiss Cam.' It’s our signal to go. I turn my face back to her, but I’m frozen.
She takes her other hand and presses it against my cheek, pulling me closer while tilting her head up.
“I’m sorry,” she says as our lips press together. In the background, there’s noise and people. In my chest, there’s pain. But my lips are coated with sweetness. And in my hand, there’s another to keep me anchored.
When we pull back, we are staring at each other, but I can’t see her eyes.
So I pull my shades off and reach for hers.
With her gaze naked before me, I see all the warmth her hand was infusing into mine.
I see the welling of eyes who understand loss.
I see the smile of someone who sees me, who is reaching out.
The lump in my throat is instant, as is the heat in my chest.
And this time, it's me, and not because of a fucking script, or because I’m trying to convince anyone of anything.
I take her face in my hands and kiss her, our mouths fusing together.
Her hands are on my wrist, like she’s trying to secure me there.
And that tiny moan when my tongue flicks over hers fills my ears and my chest. And I flick her tongue again and press small kisses in sequence.
My phone rings, jolting me, and I reluctantly pull away. It’s the confusion in her eyes followed by her tongue swipe of her bottom lip that intensifies the beating in my chest.
“Answer the phone,” she says.
I do, and Maeven’s voice comes through. “That was gold. Now, control yourself. There are children around you."
Is she laughing?
“Okay.”
“I got you into the after-party. All the players are going. Party, but focus on her. Remember the rules: two drinks max. I think Adina will be there. Keep Luna away from that clique. I’m sending the info to Tito and Marco. Gotta go.”
I open my mouth to ask if we have a VIP area, but she hangs up before I can ask.
"We got yanked back?” Luna asks.
“We’re doing too good of a job, I think,” I reply.
Her gaze lands on my lips. “We really are.”
“And now we have an after-party to go to. I think she wants us to keep it up there too.”
Something crosses over her eyes, an emotion I can’t pinpoint, but as she looks away, she bites her lower lip.