Page 112 of Along Came Amor
Hector had loved her. Hector had made promises, spoken vows. And then he’d changed his mind.
Things were great with Roman now, but they hadn’t yet beensubjected to any of the stressors of real life. Something would inevitably come along and burst the bubble. It might happen tomorrow, it might happen in two months, it might happen in two years. But itwouldhappen.
And when it was over, her family would trot out,Remember what happened with Hector?Like she was a fool for daring to believe she could be happy again.
Something startlingly close to anger simmered in her veins. All of this would have been fine if Roman weren’t in the wedding. But because he was, her whole family knew him now, and by the time the ceremony and reception were over, they’d feel a claim on him.
Her family and Hector’s had been so entwined in their lives, disentangling those threads had been as hard on her as the separation itself.
Roman was everything she could ever ask for in a man, and she wanted him all to herself. But he wasn’t just hers. He was Ashton’s, too.
Which brought up the question of what this would do to her relationship with Jasmine.
Fighting the sudden tension in her limbs, she forced herself to write,It’ll make things awkward with Jasmine.
She could just picture it. When this thing between them had run its course, Jasmine and Ashton would have to decide which of them to invite to events. Or worse, Ava and Roman would have to pretend everything was fine. And maybe he would be fine. He probably had a lot more experience with this sort of thing. But Ava knew she wouldn’t be. God, just look how she’d reacted to running into Hector. Something told her it would be even worse with Roman.
Ava knew she should tell Jasmine about Roman, but she couldn’t suppress the anxiety that cropped up every time she thought about telling anyone but Damaris.
Oh, shit.Damaris.
Ava turned her phone on and gasped at the number of text messages. Nowhere near as many as Roman had been inundated with the day before, but damn. There were messages from the Primas of Power and the Wedding Flashers group texts, from her mother, her grandparents, her stepmother, her sister, from the group text she had with a bunch of Alliance teachers, and even one from Hector’s sister. And of course, a series of texts from Damaris, spanning the past couple days. Ava opened those first.
Damaris:How’s Puerto Rico?
Do you have phone service?
I hope you’re not dead.
Text me if you’re dead.
Fuck, please don’t be dead.
If you don’t reply by this afternoon, I’m filing a missing persons report.
I’m serious, by the way.
The last text had been sent two hours earlier. Ava scrambled to reply.
Ava:I’m here! Not dead. Sorry to worry you.
Damaris:Well, shit. What happened to checking in when you’re with Roman? I know he’s your cousin’s fiancé’s best friend but I’m the only one who knows you two are????
Ava:Ew. And I’m sorry. I’ll explain later. We had our phones off. I’m on the plane back to New York now.
Damaris:You can buy me brunch tomorrow to make up for the near heart attack.
Ava:Absolutely. See you then.
Ava shot off a quick text to her mom letting Patricia know she would be home soon, then because her strong sense of responsibility wouldn’t let her ignore them, Ava began to skim through the other messages.
Willow:HELP Mom is driving me CRAZY
Olympia:This child will be the end of me. Can you talk to her?
Dad:look i got a new grill
Abuela:Ayúdame a cocinar pernil este fin de semana OK?
