Page 27 of Hate That Blooms

Cora: Don’t play dumb. You know what she means.

Cora: He may be a cabrón, but it seems like he’s devoted to only one girl. You.

Don’t even start.

Natalie: It’s true. Shit, he’s looking right at us.

Cora: Aw, he looks sad. Probably wondering where you are.

Good. Just ignore him.

Okay, I’m heading to bed. Talk to you guys later.

They text me goodnight. I shut off the laptop and put everything away so Reya can’t get a hold of it in the morning. Quickly, I clean the living room and then head back to bed. My phone vibrated in my pocket just as I entered my bedroom. The notification bar reads "Unknown,” I roll my eyes and I can’t help but think stalker has horrible timing.

¿Qué hace mi reina esta noche?

Still with the “Reina” stuff.

You are. Mine and only mine.

Si tuviera un rey, no me dejaría hacer todo esto sola. Y estoy tan jodidamente sola.

…

Those three dots move across the screen for what feels like forever. I crawl under the covers and look around my bedroom, the same room I’ve been in since we moved into this house. I haven’t had it in me to move into mom’s room. Part of me still feels like she is going to come home at any minute, shower, and go to sleep.

But I know that she isn’t coming home.

The phone vibrates. I swipe up and read the single sentence.

Would you let me take care of you?

I let out a small laugh. He has to be joking or living in a land of delusion.

I don’t even know who you are. ¿Por qué quieres cuidarme?

I never knew what true hunger felt like until I tasted your skin that night at the dance. I have been craving you every single day since. You can doubt what I’m about to say, all you want, but I can promise you it will happen. I’m gonna marry you, Gabriela. One day, when everything is okay. I’m gonna take care of you and your sister.

Closing my eyes, I remember that night at the dance. I try to think about whohecould have been, and it’s as if I can almost feel him against my skin. How hard he felt against me, unlike Issac. The thought of him has me wet, and I swear I’m going to go to hell for slipping my hand under my sweats. I let out a soft moan as my fingers make contact with my clit. The vibration from my phone draws my attention back to him.

Reina? You still there?

When I think of the stalker, all I see is Joaquín. I imagine it’s him pressed against me, his mouth on my neck. I gently press my fingers inside my pussy to gather my arousal, and it only takes the lightest pressure on my clit to have me bucking against my fingers, wanting more. Needing more.

Needing him. Wanting him. Even with the hate that burns in his eyes when he looks at me. I would take it all just to have him inside of me.

The pressure builds, and I chase the release, leaving stalker on read. “Oh god,” I moan, my fingers making tight fast circles making me turn my head to muffle the sound of my orgasm in the pillows. The waves of pleasure ebb and flow as my thighs twitch, I slow my fingers, lying there completely sated.Well not completely. Withdrawing my hand, my fingers glisten with my release, and I stare at them.

I pick my phone up and take a picture and send it to him.

Tu “Reina” te necesitaba. Pero elegiste esconderte de ella. Sé un rey y deja de esconderte.

Chapter16

Joaquín

Iread her text over and over again, staring at the picture of her glistening fingers. She got herself off to the thought of the stalker. Part of me is pissed that it wasn’t me she was thinking of while she touched herself. “Be a king and stop hiding.”

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