Page 13 of Sol
“No, I did not sleep with him,” I muttered to my leather sandals. I picked at the corner of thebar.
“Mm-hmm,” she hummed. I lifted my eyes to see hers full of humor mixed with concern. “But you wantedto.”
I began to shake my head no, but then changed it to a shrug morphing to a nod under hergaze.
With buttoned-down delight that she’d figured it out, she kept pressing. “He’scute?”
I thought about Trent, with his huge, blue eyes. His over-the-top winning smile. How even though I was older than him, I always looked up to him, because of the way he had everything under control—and the fact that he was about a foot taller thanme.
His height didn’t seem to matter that one time in the pizza parlor, right before he left, when any restraint between us dissolved. I could still feel the stubble on his jawbone under my fingers. The beginnings of sharp cheekbones shaping his handsomeface.
I bowed my head. “Yeah, he’s cute. I would have slept withhim.”
With a wave, Lulu encouraged me to elaborate. I told her about the kiss in the pizza parlor, and she got a huge grin on herface.
“Back then, the boy I always knew had turned into a man going off to war. And when I saw that, I realized that I’d always kind of liked him. Is that wrong? I mean, he hung out with my little brother, and he’s into the military. But he was grown, and was so considerate. Mindful of how I wasdoing.”
“Is there a chance he likesyou?”
Two Spanish businessmen walked in and ordered coffee next to us. I paused. “Yeah. After that kiss, yeah. Okay, before that,too.”
“You guys didn’t keep in touch after heleft?”
“Not really. A few emails. He didn’t come to my graduation. I mean, he couldn’t—neither could Degan because of the military, but I was allalone.”
“As I recall, I had to talk you into walking, MissNonconformist.”
I shrugged. “True. I guess I secretly hoped they’d show up, even though I knew it was impossible. Anyway, after we graduated, I went to Caracas, then I started dating Brian. Although Degan keeps me posted. ‘We’re headed to the xyz part of the middle ofnowhere.’”
“Oh. Fucking Brian,” Lulu muttered, then sipped her coffee. “Is there a chance that it’s a different TrentMilner?”
I shook my head. “I only wish it was a differentone.”
Right?
The bartender came by asking us if we wanted more coffee. We ordered two more cups, and I turned back to face my friend. “I saw his address. It’s definitely him. I don’t know what he’s doing taking my class, though. I kind of figured he’d just re-up. I wonder when he got out.” I wondered if Degan had reenlisted and didn’t want to tell me, knowing how I’dreact.
“Does Trent speak anySpanish?”
I shrugged. “Hemight.”
Lulu clapped her hands. “Oh my God, it’s so romantic. Maybe he’s come to Spain to sweep you off your feet so you can go live like a princess in a castle on ahill.”
“You’re ridiculous,” I said. But I couldn’t help thinking that I’d probably go with Trent anywhere, if he was the way he used tobe.
“If it is him and things don’t work out, you’re going to stay for the whole summer course,right?”
“Of course,” I saidquickly.
“Don’t ‘of course’ me. You know how you are. We both do. You’re as whimsical and mercurial as they come. You’re the type to decide to one day go to Siberia because you’re feeling a littlehot.”
Igiggled.
“You decide to go to some mountain in Argentina because you want to try a weirdtea.”
I shifted,nodding.
“I can see you deciding to go somewhere just because you feel like learning a language only six people in the world know. You pick up languages the way other people pick upmen.”
