Page 66 of The Fadeaway
“My mom had my sister when she was sixteen and gave up everything. She had big plans to go to college and she never did. I didn’t want that to happen to me.”
He nods with a serious expression on his face.
“Anyway. It’s a point of contention for her. She thinks my decision to come to Valley was selfish. She wanted me to stay at home where she could help watch Christian while I took classes at the local community college.”
“Christian seeing you hustle is good for him and even from the small amount of time I’ve been around you two, I know you’re not selfish.”
“Thanks for that.” I let my head fall back against the couch and peer up at him. “Tell me something about you. Something that makes you less perfect.”
He chuckles softly. “There’s a long list to prove that fact.”
“Tell me one.”
He pulls his bottom lip behind his teeth as if he’s deep in thought. “I got it,” he says finally. “Fifth grade I cheated off Mallory Sinclair. A whole bunch of us did and I was the only one that didn’t get caught because I agreed to kiss her after school in exchange for her not telling the teacher.”
“Oh my God. Using your charm and good looks started at an early age, I see.”
He flashes a wry smile.
“Did you have a lot of girlfriends in high school or have you always been…” I struggle to find the right word and Joel raises his eyebrows.
“Curious how you’re gonna finish that sentence, Kitty.”
I roll my eyes. “You’re a player. You know you are. Were you always?”
The cocky grin disappears, and his lips form a straight line. “No, not always.”
“Did someone break your heart, Joel Moreno?” My own heart beats wildly in my chest because the stoic expression on his face makes me think that’s exactly what happened.
He chuckles, though, causing me to second guess my theory.“Estas asumiendo que tengo corazón.”
“No fair with the Spanish. Maybe you’re just a cynic when it comes to love?”
Shaking his head, he leans closer. “Nah, I just know what’s what and I live my life accordingly. People don’t seeme, girls don’t wantme– they want what I can offer – a good time, money, a piece of the spotlight, and I give them that, nothing more. I don’t break their hearts because they don’t give them to me and vice versa.”
I read the sincerity on his face.
“Oh my God, you really believe that, don’t you?” He looks at me with a puzzled expression. “Joel, girls are willing to take whatever you give them because they’re silently hoping for more. Every girl wants to be the one that changes your mind and captures your heart – the one that makes you want more.”
He looks amused, his perfect lips pulled up into a smirk and brown eyes light with humor.
“I’m serious. That’s what makes great love stories likeTwilightorFifty Shades of Greyso romantic. They can have any woman they want, but only one woman truly changes them. Girls want to be your Bella or Anastasia.”
His eyebrows lift. “Did you just callTwilighta great love story?”
“I’m serious. Okay, maybe for some girls it’s about money or fame or how insanely hot you are, but the vast majority are risking heartbreak in hope of being the one to capture yours.”
He runs his thumb along my jaw, tilting my chin up. “What about you? Did Victor break your heart?”
I shake my head. “No, but sometimes I think he broke my ability to trust.”
The words are out before I can stop them. Regret, sadness, pity, so many emotions cross his face and I feel like the world’s biggest Debbie Downer. With his hands still on my face, I crawl into his lap. I’m not dumb enough to believe that I’m the one that’s going to steal Joel’s heart, but I stand by my theory because smiling and laughing, and just hanging out with him, feels almost as good.
“When I’m with you, I feel a little more hopeful that I can move past it,” I say so quietly that I’m not sure he hears me at first.
I feel his chest rise and fall and he whispers back, “Me too, Kitty.”
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