Page 57 of Red Queen
“Thanks, ma. I’m just… I’m scared to go over it again, you know. What if she cheats on me, too? Or I mess it up? I’m not sure I want to handle another heartbreak.” I was devastated when I found out that Drea was cheating on me. I blamed myself for a while, but I realized later that it was her fault entirely. I gave her everything I could, but that just wasn’t enough for her. She was too greedy.
“Don’t you dare mention Rosa and that woman in the same sentence. I knew that girl was trouble the moment you brought her home. Rosa’s nothing like her, amor.” She moves to sit next to me, then pulls me close to her side, rubbing my arms up and down in a soothing way.
“Gracias, Mamá.” I lift her arm up, then plant a kiss on her hand. I can thank her for many things, and I’ll never be able to pay her back for all she did for me.
“Te amo mucho, hijo.” She kisses my head, then we just continue to sit there now in silence, enjoying being together.
37
ROSA
“Hey.” Mateo slowly opens the door, peeking inside, then makes his way toward the bed.
“Hey,” I reply, and I put the book down I’m reading as he plops down into his bed that’s next to mine.
There’s a nightstand between our beds. I rearranged the room a little. I managed to convince my parents to put us into the room where there are two beds, because Mateo’s kicking a lot in his sleep. That’s not true at all, but we’ve never slept together before that wasn’t for sex, and tonight’s not the night to start it.
“I think today went pretty well. My family loves you. Especially my mom,” he says, propping up on his elbow, facing me.
“I think so too. And I can say the same. I don’t know what you said or did to my mom, but she’s stunned by you.” He chuckles, then goes quiet for a second.
“You know… I think we’re getting better at this. We’re naturals now.” He smiles and I nod, signaling that I agree. “I should tell you something, though.”
Uh-oh. That does not sound really good. “Okay. I’m listening.”
“I… I told my mom. That we’re actually fake dating, and you’re getting paid for this.” I pause, a little surprised he’s being so honest now.
“You did? And what did she say?” I ask, nervousness creeping into my voice. I hope she’s not cursing me out for pretending that I’m in love with her son.
“Uh… Nothing much. Just so you know, she was happy I told her.” I feel like there’s more to it, but I don’t want to put pressure on him. I saw him talk with his mom earlier, and it seemed personal, so I don’t want to straight-up ask about it. He’ll tell me when he wants to.
“Okay. At least you told her. One less person we have to lie to.” I sigh, leaning back on the pillows, then he mutters a quiet ‘yeah’. He doesn’t sound too happy about it.
“What are you reading?” he asks, taking the book in his hands from the nightstand, reading the back cover. I try to take it back, but he doesn’t let me.
“Just romance,” I answer vaguely, not wanting to give too much detail about Catalina and Aaron. I’m at the last stage of the book, and the spicy scenes are happening soon. The last thing I need is for Mateo to read it.
He flips over the pages, stopping occasionally, and when I see him get too close to where my bookmark is, I jump on his bed, fighting to get my book back. Unfortunately, I seem to forget how strong he is, so he easily keeps me in place, holding me close to him while I’m trying to squirm my way out.
“Give it back. Please.” I finally stop, calming down, asking him nicely, but it’s no use. He’s immune to me. But he won’t be for too long.
I shift, pushing him back onto the pillows, then I get comfortable on top of him. I stare into his eyes, enjoying how the blush creeps up on his cheeks as I start to play with the hem of his pants, hooking my fingers into the band, moving my fingersback and forth. He lifts his head up, leaning in to kiss me, and I let him.
He puts the book back on the nightstand, then cradles my face, deepening the kiss. We don’t move for quite a while, just enjoying the way his full lips move against mine. His tongue seeks entrance soon after, turning the sweet, deep kiss into a hot and greedy one. When I feel him relax under me, I pull back, then I pull my finger along my lips, making sure Mateo watches.
“Thanks for giving it back,” I smirk at the grumble he makes, happy that my plan worked. He can say no to me, but not to my lips. “Good night.”
He huffs, still grumpy that I set him up. “Yeah. Good night, or whatever.”
I pull the covers up, then turn the lights off. I just kissed Mateo again. Without the intention of sex. And I liked it. Why am I getting more and more comfortable with him each day? I feel like we’re slowly going off the road in terms of fake dating, and it starts to feel real.
Now, that I don’t really like. We’re supposed to be on bad terms, not kissing each other like we’ve been together for years.
I decide I’ve had enough thoughts for today, and shut my mind off. We’re gonna have to start packing soon, we’re going on a vacation in Monaco. Lilah invited us to the grand opening of Soleil & Lune, the restaurant that she now owns. I can’t wait to see how she handled it.
“Okay, bye, Mom, we really have to go now.” I hug her close for the fourth time. Every time we get close to leaving, she holds usback and tells us another story, like we haven’t been staying here for days.
“Alright, alright. Have fun at the party and be careful! Te amo!” I tug Mateo toward the car, silently asking him to leave already.
