Page 26 of Bang Buddies With Benefits
For the rest of the meal, we kept to safe topics, like how delicious the food was and how beautiful Mariana and her court were. Catalina was particularly quiet, but I couldn’t figure out a good way to ask if she was okay without drawing more attention.
As the waiters began clearing the plates, several of the people at our table stood. Yolanda handed Gabby to Rosa, muttering something about preparing for the exchanging of the shoes.
“…was hoping I’d run into you,” a male voice said from the other side of Catalina—with the hustle and bustle, I hadn’t even noticed the scrawny dude’s approach. He took the spot Lorenzo had previously occupied, his patchy mustache lifting in a goofy smile that quickly deviated toward leering. “I wanted to pop by and ask you to save me a dance for old time’s sake.”
Damn, why didIhave to be subtle while he got to fixate on her breasts?
Also, if he didn’t stop, I was going to fixate on putting my fist through his face. Temporary or not, this guy was encroaching on my territory, and Catalina didn’t look like she reciprocated any of the vibes he was casting her way.
“Hernando, did you hear the good news?” Catalina leaned against my side, curling closer as I automatically wrapped an arm around her. “This is Zac. My boyfriend.”
I wasn’t sure who beamed brighter—me, Rosa, or Yolanda, who approached the table right in time to hear Catalina’s declaration.
“I knew it,” Yolanda said, adding a tiny squeal. Then she shook her head, as though she’d forgotten where she was. “Later, we’ll totally celebrate, but right now there’s no time. Rosa and Catalina, there’s an emergency situation, and we need all-hands-on-deck.” She waved her hand, gesturing for the two of them to follow. “Rapido, rapido, por favor.”
Without warning, Rosa plunked Gabby in my lap. Then everyone rushed off at once, including Hernando. My lungs tightened, along with my throat, my journey from smug to aghast so abrupt that it left me with emotional whiplash.
As if it’d been waiting for me to let my guard down, a memory rose, of sitting on the foot of my bed with my ex, staring at a white stick, my gut churning as I waited to see if there’d be one line or two.
The instant she’d announced she wasn’t pregnant, relief had flooded me, blessed and cool. Julia, on the other hand, burst into tears. I’d done my best to console her—until she told me we shouldtryfor a baby.
Admittedly, my “fuck no” didn’t come out the right way.
That led to a discussion about the future, and when she asked how I felt about the idea of children, I told her I wasn’t ready and wasn’t sure I’d ever be.
Silly me, I’d thought honesty was the best policy.
After yelling that I should’ve told her sooner, she demanded I leave.
A couple days later, she called me up and begged me to change my mind. I replied that it was too soon for me to even consider the possibility, and that’d been the beginning of the end.
How ironic was it that I’d ended that real relationship over the possibility of a baby, only to find myself in a fake relationship holding anactual baby?
I stared down at the tiny, squirmy human, and she blinked up at me with eyes so big and brown they latched onto my very soul.Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.
The back of my neck burned and itched, and I desperately wanted to glance around for help. Only I couldn’t, because I was too afraid I’d accidentally drop her or break her, and how had I let this happened?
Right then and there, as time crawled to a stop and we continued to stare at each other, Gabby and I came to a mutual agreement: I had no fucking idea what I was doing.
12
Catalina
Boyfriend.
Of all the words I could’ve uttered, why’d I have to go there? I’d sworn up and down to my family that I was never using the term again, and now I looked as fickle as I felt. Dang yo-yo-ing emotions had been throwing me off all day.
It’d also been a knee-jerk reaction, one with a hysterical edge.
“They’re not in here,” Yolanda proclaimed as we finished tossing the dressing room. The air was sticky with hairspray and perfume, and pallets of makeup and hair tools were scattered everywhere, as were piles of clothing. “I checked three times that I’d brought them—the car. Maybe they’re in the car.”
Keeping with tradition, my aunt and uncle were going to present Mariana with a pair of heels. It symbolized a step toward adulthood, and our family always went all out with the bling.
“You keep searching the room, and I’ll go check your car.” I held up my hand and Yolanda tossed me the keys. Even more impressive, I caught them with ease. I rushed toward the parking lot, but my mission wasn’t enough to push my thoughts to the background.
Hernando grew up in our neighborhood, next door to Mateo. As part of our friend group, I had very few memories of him that didn’t include the first boy I’d ever loved. As hard as it was to believe, I hadn’t always been this force of nature who spoke her mind and tended to destroy anyone and anything in my path that didn’t agree or bend to my will.
Although Mateo would likely tell a different story if he were here, as he claimed I’d always been the stubborn, bossy leader of our neighborhood pack. A deep ache filled my lungs, crowding out all my oxygen. We’d argued plenty, but if he wasn’t in the gym or on the field and I wasn’t at the dance studio, we were together.
