Page 12 of In the Lonely Hour

“Are you hungry?” he checked as they headed outside of the center.

“Not just yet. We ate about an hour ago. I’m sure we’ll grab something on the way in when we head out.”

“Cool.”

Once they were at his sand colored Land Rover Discovery, Andres opened the door for her and helped her inside.

“Are you kidnapping me, sir?” she asked before he could close the door, getting a smile out of him.

“It appears so.” Andres winked and closed the door, making her heart skip a beat.

As they headed out of the parking lot, Andres gave her permission to link her phone to the car so she could play what she wanted to listen to. She began her Samoht playlist but lowered the volume, wanting some adult conversation more than anything else.

“So tell me about yourself,” she requested, taking in his handsome side profile. Honestly, Layla didn’t know what part of his face and skin she liked most. There was so much to take pleasure in. From the shade of his skin to his freckles and how his round glasses drew attention to them and his curly, long lashes.

“What would you like to know?”

“Everything.”

Andres’s low, deep chuckle made Layla clench her thighs. “Everything?” he repeated, looking over at her briefly.

“Everything.”

“I’m thirty-five. You know what I do for a living. My parents are still alive and married. They are the founders of the Martin Community Center and Foundation. That’s my last name.”

“Wait. Your family created the center and foundation?” He nodded. “That’s amazing, Andres. Do you mind me asking if there was a reason behind it?”

“My sister was autistic.” He cleared his throat. “There weren’t really any resources or any kind of help in our community when my siblings and I were growing up. They offered to enroll her in some fucking special ed classes, but she was smart as hell. That had never been her struggle. She used to get bullied for her differences, and it didn’t matter how many kids I beat up, I could only protect her from so much, you know?” Andres paused. Swallowed hard. “Emily ended up becoming friends with Zasha and she was troubled in her own ways. She convinced Emily to join a suicide pact with her. It was about ten girls total. Theyall were supposed to drown themselves in a river in our old neighborhood.”

Layla’s eyes watered as she covered her opened mouth.

“One of them recorded it and it was clear she didn’t want to do it, but they ended up convincing her to anyway. Out of the ten of them, only four actually killed themselves, Emily included.”

“I’m so, so sorry, Andres. Jesus. What happened with the other girls? Did they face any kind of charges?”

Andres released a shaky breath as Layla held his free hand. “Yeah, we were able to have Zasha and the girl who was recording charged with second degree involuntary manslaughter because they were the ones forcing her to stay under the water even though she was crying to get out.” His head shook and he pulled his hand from hers to brush his nose and wipe his eye quickly.

“They were sentenced to ten years, so they should be out by now.”

“Teenagers can be so fucking cruel. I guess that’s another reason I’ve sheltered Dior so much. I know she’s capable of more and I’ve babied her, but I’m just… so scared of this hateful world. If something like that were to happen to her…”

“It won’t,” Andres assured quickly. “That’s why me and my brother came up with the idea for the foundation. When my parents came on board, it took off from there. I know we can’t keep every child with Autism from being bullied, neglected, abused, or taken advantage of, but we’re damn sure going to try. Trevor, my brother, mostly works with kids who suffer from those things though. It’s best for me to work with those who want to develop more socially because it keeps me from living in the moment of losing Emily.”

“I hate I even asked.”

“It’s cool. It helps to talk about her sometimes, and I know people often wonder how I started with this. It’s just the idea of dealing with that on a daily basis… it would be too triggering.”

“I understand. Are you and Trevor close?”

“Yeah. We’re all pretty close. I think if we didn’t have the foundation, we probably wouldn’t spend as much time together as we do, though. It’s what keeps us together.”

“I feel you. When’s your birthday?” Andres looked over at her for a few seconds with a smile. “What?”

“Is this how you usually have conversations?”

“What do you mean?”

“Asking questions and not giving any details in return. That might be why your daughter converses the way she does too.”

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