Page 43 of Straightened Out

Not to me.

“Did you hear me? I want you to call me,” he repeats.

My eyes lock with his. He doesn’t want me to call him—not really and I call him out on it.

“Why so you can play with my emotions?”

“What are you talking about?”

He can’t be this dense.

“Last night you crawled into bed with me, Rocco. You kissed me and you touched me—”

“That was a mistake.”

I raise an eyebrow.

“It didn’t feel like one to me,” I whisper.

It felt right.

It felt overdue.

He can call it whatever he wants but like there are two sides to every story, there were two people in that bed.

Me and him.

Mistake my ass.

“Well, it was. I’m not good for you, Violet, and if you think otherwise, then maybe you should remember how you felt when you looked at Pilar,” he says, reaching out to tuck a strand of my hair behind my ear. “I’m going to be in New York for a couple of days, then I’ll fly back to be with your brother for Pilar’s service, but I’m taking residence here. If you need me, you call.”

I smack his hand away.

“I won’t,” I say defiantly.

“I hope not,” he murmurs.

“Why is that?”

“Because, you my pretty ballerina, are my greatest weakness.”

Chapter 14

Violet Cabrera

After Rocco dropped me off at home, I didn’t see or hear from him. As suspected my mother was on my case, wanting to know why my trip was cut short. I lied and told her Joaquin and Rocco were busy with the nightclub and Miami isn’t fun when you’re flying solo. Whether she bought my fib or not remains to be seen.

“Mija, table six is waiting to have their order taken,” my mother calls from the kitchen and I quickly pocket my phone.

In the last two days I’ve texted and called my brother countless times and all have gone unanswered. This morning I almost called Rocco to see if he had heard anything from him, but I quickly decided against it.

I told him I wasn’t going to call him and here I was almost two days later, about to cave. I can just imagine the smug look on his face.

Yeah, no thank you.

I was dealing with the events of the weekend just fine on my own. I’m not sure what kind of person that made me. I mean, most people would be traumatized to the point of not being able to function and yet my only concern was my brother.

He’d call eventually, though—at least that’s what I kept telling myself.

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