Page 54 of The Slayer
The tears spilled over before she could stop them, and she wanted to take back every time she’d called him cheap. She ran a hand up his forearm, clutching at it as she cried.
“Okay?” he asked, his hold loosening. “You’ll take it?”
She nodded, and then moved his hand away and whispered, “I’ll take it.”
He smiled, that same humble, pleased smile he had every time he won a fight, big dimples making his dark gaze seem a little less intense. “Que bueno,” he said and then added in English, “Good.”
She nodded in agreement and sat back, looking out the windshield to the raindrops running down the glass. Then, before she could stop it, a sob burst out of her, and she covered her mouth to muffle it.
“Ay, mami.” Chuito reached out and grabbed her, pulling her to him so that she was sobbing against his chest as her entire body shook with emotion. “You always cry at the wrong times, fights and movies and dirty love songs.”
“It’s not a dirty love song,” she said as she gripped his shoulders. “It’s a beautiful one.”
“Okay,” he said, for once not arguing with her. “If you say so.”
“I say so.” She buried her face in the curve of his neck, inhaling the scent of his aftershave. “I love you, Chu.”
“I love you too.” He rubbed her back gently. “Like friends.”
She hit his shoulder. “Friends don’t give each other sixty thousand dollars.”
“Yes, they do.” He held up his hand to the dash. “I just proved it.”
“No.”
He wiped at her cheeks. “You keep messing this up.”
“Is it bad?” she asked as she fought against the emotions still overwhelming her. “Is the mascara running?”
“Yeah, it’s okay.” He rubbed a thumb under her eye. “We’ll fix it. You wanna come in with me?”
She nodded, more tears spilling down her cheeks even while Chuito tried to fix the disaster of her ruined makeup.
“You got to stop crying, mami.”
She sucked in a hard breath, blinking at him through the tears. “I can’t.”
“Then fuck it.” He took his keys out of the ignition. “The rain will hide it. Put the check in your purse.”
“Okay.” She grabbed the check off the dash, but another sob burst out of her as she looked at the memo section, seeing that Chuito had written,For Juan, as if knowing she would understand. “Oh, Chu.”
Chuito ended up having to put the check in the card. He tucked it into her purse for her along with the phone, because her hands were shaking and she was still crying. She sat there sobbing until Chuito got out and walked around the car to open her door for her.
She looked up at him standing there in the rain. “I shouldn’t go in. I’m crying. Everyone in there will think I’m crazy.”
“It’s okay.” Chuito forced her to get up. “We’ll be quick.”
“I don’t want to. I need more time,” she argued, even as Chuito draped an arm over her shoulder and slammed the door behind her.
“You’re fine.” He pulled her toward the Cellar. “Don’t tell Jules about the money. She’ll get the wrong idea.”
“What’s the wrong idea?”
“You know what the wrong idea is.”
“That you love me enough to pay for law school?”
They stopped when they got under the awning, and Chuito surprised her by kissing her forehead. Then he opened the door and gestured for her to go in. He followed in behind her as she worked on blinking away the tears and wiping at her face.
