Page 47 of The Road Sometimes Taken

I can feel my ears burning as I grip my whiskey glass tightly, nearly shattering it in my frustration. I remind myself that she’s not mine and she’s free to do as she pleases. But then,just two days ago, she kissed me. She. Kissed. Me. And then, she didn’t talk about it again, killing me inside. The memory lingers, I find it hard to forget. I can’t shake it off, especially since she has treated me exactly the same as before, as though nothing ever happened between us. I want to take the damn bracelet off and show it to her, to remind her how she told me to live in the moment. To stop and see the wonder. But what about her? Is she stopping to take it all in? To let herself feel it all? Because if she was, she would let herself get lost in me. At least I hope she will.

I toldherto let me know when she couldn’t get over the kiss but, in the meantime, I’m the one still reeling from it. I’m the one on edge all the damn time from that one kiss. I’m the one who hasn’t forgotten and I might be in big trouble. Because her hat falls on the ground and when he goes to pick it up and tries to put it on his head, I immediately get up from the stool and stride toward them, quickly.

Her back tenses as soon as she realizes he’s not giving the hat back. Her arms are crossed in front of her and I can’t tell if she’s saying anything. I make it right in time to hear him say, “Wear the hat, ride the cowboy. Let me put it on, sweetheart, so you can take it from me and we can get out of here.”

“I wouldn’t put that hat on your head if I were you,” I snap. Cara turns immediately to face me with drawn eyebrows.

“Why? I was dancing with her first, jackass. Besides, she’s not stopping me, right sweetheart?” he says, with a smirk on his face that I want to erase with my fist.

“You saw an opportunity to get her alone and took it. And don’t call her sweetheart,” I bite back.

“I’m perfectly capable of handling myself.” Cara stomps on her feet and narrows her eyes at me.

“Do you want this ass to put your hat on, Cara?” I ask, ignoring the dude standing next to me, hat still in his hand.

He leans in closer, a mocking glint in his eyes. “My name is Dale, not ass. Why don’t you say that to my face though? Askmeif I want to put the hat on. This is a bar, not a courtroom, and it seems to me the lady was having a good time and I’m here to have fun, too. Looks like the problem is you, so if you can’t handle that, maybe you should back off.”

Cara’s frustration boils over. I can see it in the way her cheeks flush, her arms fly up to her chest crossing over it and her eyes narrow. Oh, she’s pissed. She steps between us, lowering her hands to her hips.

“Enough! I’m not some prize for the two of you to fight over. Just let it go and give me my damn hat.” She pulls the hat away from him and storms out of the bar.

“Cara, wait!” I shout, barely keeping pace as we burst out of the wooden double doors and into the humid, bustling street. The air is thick with the scent of street food and exhaust, but Cara’s focus is unwavering. Her hips sway with urgency as she turns left into a narrow alley, away from the chaos of the crowded avenue. Horns sound in the background as the music fades from the different bars.

“Cara, por favor, slow down.” My voice is a broken plea as I walk as fast as I can behind her, trying to catch them, but she doesn’t slow. Her heels echo faintly but sharply on the ground as she seems fuming and more annoyed the further away she walks from me. Finally, she stops, her shoulders heaving with frustration. With a dramatic movement, she puts on her hat and spins around, her eyes blazing with anger.

“What the fuck was that?!” she shouts, her voice bouncing off the alley’s walls. Her hands fly to her hips in an exasperated gesture. “You’re giving me mixed signals, and I can’t keep up with this! One minute you’re all sweet and charming, and the next you’re treating me like a little sister.”

I close the distance between us, my own frustration boiling over. “Cara, it’s not like that. I didn’t mean to?—”

“Not like what?” she interrupts, her voice rising. She’s standing so close now that I can feel the heat radiating off her. Her eyes are locked onto mine, and there’s a raw intensity in her gaze. “One minute you’re kissing me and touching me gently, calling me bebé and shit, and the other you’re just winking and smiling at everything that crosses in front of you. But then when someone else tries to get close to me, then you turn all caveman on me. Protective like I am ten and need my big bro to come and set a boundary.”

“It’s not protecting you like a brother, Cara,” I add between clenched teeth.

“Then what, Manny? You clearly don’t want me, but God forbid I want someone else.”

“You wanted him, Cara?” I ask, getting even closer to her and letting my words hang in the air between us, mingling with the stale scent of the alley. “Because wear the hat—ride the cowboy, right? That’s what he said… is that what you want? To go home with him?” Her breath intertwines with mine, and I can see her swallowing hard. Whatever this emotion she’s feeling is, anger, frustration,lust,is palpable, fueling a sudden, electric tension between us.

Her back is against the wall now and I’m caging her in with my hands right next to her face. “I got all caveman on you like you said not because I think you’re a sister to me, Cara.” I pound my fist on the wall and bring her hand to my chest. “You feel that? That’s my heart about to come out of my chest because I was fucking jealous, not because I thought you needed saving. I’ve been dying to kiss you again every second of every minute of every hour since our first kiss. I told you I had never kissed you before because I knew that once I had a tasteof you, it wouldn’t be enough. And I was right. I want more, Cara. I need more.”

“Manny,” she whispers and I close the space between us, crashing my lips to hers. This kiss is fierce and demanding. This kiss is urgent and filled with all the emotions we’ve been dancing around. The rough brick feels cool against my hand, a stark contrast to the heat of the kiss but if I bring my hands down to her body, I won’t be able to stop myself from touching it all. She arches her back, pressing her breasts against my shirt and all I can think is fuck it all. Fuck all restraints and all inhibitions. If I want her, I need to let her know.

My hand glides down her back and under her ass, lifting her slightly and she wraps her legs around me. I press her hard against the wall, biting her lower lip, and licking it before continuing to kiss her. AndthatI do. I kiss her. I kiss her until time has lost all its meaning and everything else ceases to exist. I kiss her until I can’t breathe anymore and the only air I’m breathing is hers. I kiss her until there’s not two of us anymore but one tangled mess of each other.

Our breath is ragged as we break apart, our foreheads resting against each other’s with the hat forgotten. The alley is silent now, or at least it feels that way, because right now all I can hear is her soft breaths and all I can see is her green eyes looking at me. Everything else fades away.

24

A LITTLE TASTE

COLD WAR, CAUTIOUS CLAY

Cara

“Manny,”I whisper, my voice trembling completely out of breath. His lips are so close that I can still taste the whiskey and spice lingering on them.

His hand frames my face, while the other rests possessively on my hip. I look down and realize my legs are wrapped around his waist, and he’s holding me securely because apparently, I climbed him like a tree during our kiss. I was so lost in that perfect moment that I didn’t even notice.

“Yes, Carita?” he murmurs, his eyes closed as he gently caresses my cheek.

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