Page 18 of The Plan

“Wait, where are you going?”No offense, but I don’t want to go out if Sire isn’t going to be there. Today’s supposed to be about him.

“Home, I’m also kind of tired. I hate when you guys have such early games.” Today’s game was at eight this morning, so I had to wake up earlier than usual, and it isn’t even twelve yet, so I’m definitely going to take a nap.

He walks over to his passenger door and opens it. “Okay, so come over. We can just chill at my place or something.” Uhh... I don’t know. I’m not sure what his definition of chill is, and I really am tired.

“There are no expectations, Vid, you know that. We really can just hang out.” I study him for a second but quickly give in. I walk into his car, and he drives us to his place. On the way, I think back to what Sage said and turn to Sire.

“How many siblings do you have?”

He taps the steering wheels and steals a quick glance at me. “Technically, it’s just the twins.” I nod slowly as he goes on. “But there's also Lisette. I say she’s my sister because neither blood nor an adoption paper could make us closer. I knew her before I knew the twins. I think my earliest memories are with her. That’s what they were talking about earlier.”

“They’re convinced I favor her, but I don’t. They’re all annoying. Especially Lis.” I fill the car with my laughter, and when I turn to him, he has a smile on his face. His mood is clearly a lot lighter than before.

I remember him saying he met the twins when he was seven, so if he knew Lisette before that, it makes sense why heconsiders her his other sister. I feel another smile grow on my face. I love that he doesn’t see family as only blood.

Besides Hazel, I don’t have anyone I could consider family who isn’t blood. As if he senses my thoughts, he steals another glance at me. “How about you?”

“I’m an only child.”

He nods and taps the steering wheel again. “You and Hazel grew up together, right?”

I nod with a smile. I didn’t tell him that, so August must talk to him about Hazel. “Yeah, our moms have been best friends for, like, hundreds of years and had us at the same time.”

Sire nods again, a small smile playing on his lips. “She’s Dominican, too, right?” I nod again, adding that she’s also Puerto Rican. Hazel is lighter than us, probably because of her Puerto Rican side, but with her hair and features, at least to me, it’s clear she’s mixed.

“She’s been teaching August Spanish, and he won’t shut up about it.”

I break into a laugh at how he puts it, but I think August and Hazel are cute together.

On the rest of the drive, I’m on aux, and after one Spanish song plays, Sire says he wants to hear my entire Spanish playlist. It’s too long for one drive, but I let a few songs play anyway.

“Oh! This is my favorite one.” He laughs at my excitement, and I raise the volume as “Promise” by Romeo Santos starts.

“You said that about the last two.” I shush him as I put the music up more. It starts off slow before the beat picks up like every perfect Spanish song.

“I like this one.” Sire nods his head to the music, and I laugh at him because I know he’s only saying he likes this one because parts of it are in English.

I turn to him, studying the side of his face and his perfect smile as I sing over the music. “Quiero ser tuyo enterito pero tengo miedo.” His head snaps in my direction, and his smile grows.

“God, I love your accent.” He looks between my eyes and nods slowly. “You should only speak Spanish.” I tilt my head back with a laugh.

“You wouldn’t understand anything I said.”

He shrugs like he couldn’t care less. “I’d learn.”

I smile at him, and he holds my gaze before turning back to the road. After another few minutes, he pulls into the front of what I’m assuming is his apartment.

“You and August live together, right?” He nods in return as we walk into the living room. From what I can see, their apartment is only a bit smaller than Hazel’s and mine. There’s a small balcony on the left, and you can see into the kitchen to the right. There are three closed doors down the hall straight ahead, which I'm assuming are their bedrooms and the bathroom.

I turn back to him, and he’s in the kitchen looking inside the fridge. “Are you hungry or want anything to drink?” His fridge is way more full than mine, and I’m tempted to see what they have, so I walk over.

I take a look, and they have literally every juice I’ve ever seen. “How much do you guys drink?” Seriously, that is a lot of juice.

He chuckles and rolls his eyes. “August is very indecisive, so he insists we get everything.” He seems that extra.

“I’ll take some chinola juice.” He hesitates, then I tell him it’s the passion fruit one, and he repeats the word, trying the foreign language on his tongue before he grabs it and pours me a cup.

After I thank him, he says, “I’m gonna take a quick shower and change out of this uniform. You can just chill here or wait in my room.” I nod in response and decide to wait for him on the couch as he goes to one of the rooms down the hall. As soon as I sit, Iget a text from Hazel, so I text her for the next fifteen minutes Sire is gone.

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