Page 32 of After the Fire
He shrugged. “Not my intention, by the way,” he said, looking out into the distance. “I think you’re so deep in thought that you block out the outside. What’s on your mind?”
“Why are you being so nice?” I smiled at him, expectant of his reply. I knew he was going to laugh, but never in my wildest dream did the actual response match my expectations. He barked out a laugh so loud, it echoed through the valley. A few birds took flight at the exact moment, clearly ruffled by the sound.
“Are you always so uncompromisingly forthright?”
I grinned at his question. “I mean, you put it so eloquently.”I preferred the term no-nonsense: simple and straightforward. It was the only way things got done. Maybe it was too Susana of me to assume that my candor got things done? I shrugged. “Some people call it being a bitch.”
He smiled. “Who does?” His brow furrowed in confusion. His eyes were particularly dark today, a deep blue that reminded me of the sky at dusk. “And I’m not being nice to you. I’m nice in general, I think.”
“You know how they say that when you’re born in a burning house, you think the whole world is on fire?” I looked at him. He had taken a seat next to me, his hand reaching for mine and lacing our fingers together. Our hands rested on my thigh. I felt compelled to rest my head on his shoulder but stopped short of doing it because I wasn’t sure I could handle his response. “It’s not, obviously. It still feels this way most of the time for me. Like it’s us—my family—against the world, always waiting for the next thing to happen, always counting down the next thing in a long, infinite series of steps that eventually, hopefully, leads you to a happily ever after.”
“But it’s not,” he replied. He turned his body to me and looked into my eyes, searching. “It’s not anyone against anyone, Vee.”
“I know.” I sighed. “It just feels like it. Like no one is on my side.”
“I’m on your side.” His lips turned up at the corners in a tiny, shy smile. He licked his lips, and then his eyes moved to my mouth in the exact moment as my lips parted. We sat there for a second, frozen, the anticipation burning between us. My core lit up like a fire on the coldest night of winter.
The sound of thunder broke the moment. I blinked.
“I broke up with Clara,” he blurted. My eyes widened, and I turned to look at him, a question on my face.
“Okay?” I squeaked. It came out more as a question than anything else.
“Just wanted to put it out there,” he said as he shrugged and stood to leave. He reached for my hand to help me up. “Let’s go.”
“No.” I planted my feet, not wanting to move forward. I narrowed my eyes at him. “What happened?”
“It was overdue,” he said, dragging his long fingers through his hair. “It wasn’t working out anymore.”
“But then why did you bring her here for your grandmother’s birthday?” Was it me? Was this because of me? That couldn’t be it, right? I wasn’t that important. I was just in and out, just passing through this town while I found answers to questions that were riddling me.
“It was partially Lucía’s fault,” he said, scanning the surroundings. The sky was dark, and there was a flash of lightning in the distance. “I’ve been here for a few months and Lucía just… slipped up. Told her we were having a party. Oh wow, I sound like an asshole. I’m not an asshole, I promise. I needed space. From everything.”
He was babbling. He wasn’t a babbler. He was comfortable with his words. The sentences that came out of his mouth were thought out and thoughtful.
“Recently, I’ve been wondering if the choices I’ve made are the right ones and am really hoping they are. Let’s go.”
17
THE BLACKOUT
Maybe the stormrolled in fast, maybe it didn’t. But it almost felt like one minute it was light gray clouds, the next it was thunder and lightning and heavy, heavy rain.
“No, no, no!” Whatelsecould possibly happen to me? “Whyyyyy?”
Santiago chuckled next to me, his hand guiding me through the dense trail. His eyes were fixed on the ground, either trying to avoid the water getting in his eyes or looking down to dodge anything that could cause an accident. Our steps were quick and clumsy, running away from the storm as fast as we could.
I didn’t even have enough time to react. By the time I stood up, I was soaked, water dripping from my hair straight to my shoulders, down my face, and from the tips of my fingers.
“I can’t believe this keeps happening to me,” I said loudly to him. He looked back for a second and smiled wide.
“What keeps happening to you?” he yelled back. He was soaking wet in his running clothes. His long-sleeved T-shirt clung perfectly to his toned torso. The muscles on his back were defined, and I could practically count them out loud. I couldn’t stop ogling.
Santiago cleared his throat, directing my eyes to his face. I felt myself blush and was thankful that my face was partially covered with my wet hair because I was sure it would have been tremendously evident to him. He laughed as he looked me up and down and smiled once his gaze reached my eyes. He stopped in his tracks, making me bump against his chest. His hands were on me immediately, holding me tight around the waist. He lingered there and took a step forward without breaking eye contact.
“Um. This…” I gestured at nothing in particular with my arms open wide. “It almost feels like I’m in one of those prank shows from the early 2000s and they just keep piling stuff on me to see how much I can take.”
“You can take it.” He winked. The moment dragged on, neither of us moving an inch. One of his hands let go of my waist, and his fingers grazed the back of my hands, running tingles up my arm. The rain was relentless, but everything stopped. It was just us. “Vee—”
