Page 16 of Never Tear Us Apart

“Um, could it be the Smith and Wesson you brought with you, Dirty Harry?”

“That’s not it.” She takes a sip of her drink and sucks on a piece of ice. “It’s something else.”

I set my drink down and sigh.

Another thing about Jenica…she was strangely perceptive. She knew instantly yesterday when I saw her that something had happened and here she was, reading me like a book again.

“I saw Cruz again.”

“What?” She looks at me, eyes widening. “When?”

“This morning. Well, afternoon, really.”

“Ah shit, Elle.” She sets her glass down next to mine and turns to look at me. “What happened?”

“He surprised me. I came downstairs and I didn’t see him and when I looked up, there he was with his friends.”

“Wait…he was here?”

I nod. “He let himself in to show his friends the house. He seemed super pissed to see me.”

“Do you think there’s a chance he wasn’t pissed but something else?”

“Like?”

“Like, he didn’t expect to want to see you and liked it morethan he wants to admit?”

“Um, no,” I laugh. “That ship sailed, landed on another continent, then went into dry dock. He’s so over me, it’s not even funny.”

“I don’t know about that,” she says mysteriously.

“What do you mean?” I can’t help but ask.

“Well, first, I had to do a double take to make sure it was even him because he looked different. A little broody and angry. Not at all like his pictures.”

“He was in a bad mood?”

“Shit yes,” she says with a laugh. “He kept staring at one of his friends and looked like he wanted to murder him.”

My mouth opens and I stare at her like a guppy. “Do you know why?”

“No, but wait,” she grabs my arm, “had he just left here when I called?”

I nod.

“Well ay dios mio.”

“No es una mierda.”

She tilts her head and looks at me. It takes a moment to figure out why and when I do, I slap a hand over my mouth.

“Didn’t you take French?” she asks with a curious smile.

“Yes, but Cruz taught me some Spanish.”

What I didn’t say was that I hadn’t spoken a word of it since he left. Everything that reminded me of him hurt, so I buried it. Even speaking Spanish.

“What else did his Latin tongue teach you?” She waggles her brows and nudges me with her shoulder.

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