Page 66 of Sombra
She pokes my ribcage in her curiosity and excitement and then gestures to the Sacromonte mountain. “There? Oh my God, I see them! Is it all dark? Do we have to go spelunking?”
“What is spelunking?” English has some weird words.
“Exploring in a cave.” Her eyes have an edge of concern.“How far in the cave do we have to go? It’s a real cave? With rocks and darkness and monsters?”
Chuckling, I steer her toward our path. “There are no monsters. Unless you count Sergio.” He’s been my best friend since we started school together and grew up in one of the famous caves of Granada.
Her head swivels nonstop as we begin the hike up the hill from the base, and seeing myhometown through her eyes is extraordinary. We pass crowded whitewashed buildings folding in on cobblestone streets that get ever-narrower as we increase in altitude. Some at the top are too close together to pass through by donkey—just a person can squeeze through.
A block or so in, along the street dotted with tea shops, we run into Trent and Dani exiting one, holding hands. After exclaimingsurprised hellos, Trent asks, “Where are you two going?”
“Almuerzoat Sergio’s,” I answer. “He’s up in the Sacromonte in acueva.”
“That’s a great place to take her,” says Dani, looking tiny next to Trent. “The Albaicín’s so dreamy.”
Kim leans into me. “I’ve never in my life seen anything like this. It’s out of a movie or a travel poster. It’s just so old and twisty and gorgeous.”
“Exactly.” Dani grins. “You never know what you’ll come across when you go around a corner here.”
“I love that!”
Dani and Trent exchange glances, and then Trent nods. Dani asks, “How long are you in town today? Do you want to come over for dinner?”
Raising her eyebrows, Kim pleads silently with me to go. “Yes, we’d love to,” I say.
“Come over around eight, okay?Earlier is fine, too.”
Trent takes Dani’s hand. “See you then.” We wave at each other and take off in separate directions.
As we journey up the hill along the twisted streets of the oldest parts of town, Kim points at a house that’s almost a fortress, with high white stucco walls embedded with broken glass at the top. “I wonder what goes on in there?”
“They probably play chess,”I joke.
She bursts out laughing. “The mystery is what gets me. They could be playing chess, for all we know. Or they could be doing something illegal. Or seductive.” Her eyes lock on mine, and she sucks in her lip. And while I think she’s teasing me, I’m not taking it as a tease. I’m thinking about breaking into one of these houses and seducing her.
Goddammit. The past few days havegone by with us only being able to steal kisses when no one is looking—especially in between classes at school. But at home, that’s hard to come by, since there’s always someone around. Even if we’re in my casita, someone always monitors our comings and goings.
I’m about at the breaking point, though. Her curves are too tantalizing, and I really need to find out if she tastes as sweet asI think she does.
As if she’s reading my mind, she giggles. “You’d never see all these curves in Iowa with our long, straight interstate. I’m the only one with curves.”
Whenever she gives me an invitation to check her out, I take it, stopping in the middle of the narrow street and letting my eye linger on her pouty, beautiful face, starlet figure, and eyes that I now know changecolor based on her moods. Sometimes they’re more brown. Today they’re almost green. “Absolutely.”
A cat with a white belly and gray tabby stripes meows at us from the sidewalk. “What?” Kim coos from under my arm. “Are you okay?”
“Miaow,” says the cat, and Kim separates from me to kneel down and scratch between the cat’s ears.
“He is a handsome cat. A snow walker.” I admirehis coloring—as well as Kim’s luscious backside.
“I don’t think I’ve ever petted a strange cat before. I’m amazed that he let me. I wasn’t allowed to have pets because my dad is allergic.”
“So, this is aBreakfast at Tiffany’sevent. It’s something you’ve never done before.”
“Yes! I love it! Even simple things count.” She looks so cute that I snap a picture of her.
When we get to the top of the hill, we arrive at Sergio’s house. He lives in one of many caves on the hill, which from the outside has a regular front door. Although we took the hike at a slow pace, we’re still out of breath and take a moment to regroup before knocking on his door.
“You sure there are no monsters?” pants Kim.
