Page 45 of Scoreless Nights

“But you’re using my card.” The waitress grabbed the payment and walked off with it as Lily leaned on her hands and batted her eyelashes at me.

“It’s a lot of fun, Sebastian.”

I got caught in her eyes again, biting my bottom lip and running my thumb along my jaw to distract myself.

Mom brought the check back herself, and gave my credit card back to Lily as if it was hers. “I like your style,” she winked, making Lily’s smile even brighter.

We stood to leave and Mom walked us towards the door, looping her arm through Lil’s. “You’re welcome here anytime, Lillian. You’re part of the family.”

“Thank you, Ms. Cruz.”

“You can call memamá.”

No she couldn’t because that would be almost as bad as our parents being married. Why couldn’t everyone stop with the happy little family shit?

Lily didn’t respond, just leaned in to hug my mom goodbye. Then my mom turned around to face me. “I’ll see you at your game next week. I love you.”

I gave my mom a hug and then I grabbed Lily‘s hand and walked her to my car. Mom was watching, and I was sure I was going to get another text message as soon as I got home. But I couldn’t help it. I opened the door for Lily and waited for her to get in before I shut the door and rounded the front of my car. When I chanced a look at my mom, she wasn’t looking at me the way she did in the restaurant. She had a smile on her face, and I gave her a small wave before I climbed into the driver's side.

My mom always saw something, and we never actually talked about it, so when we got home and I had no text messages on my phone, I knew she had decided that once again, when it came to Lily and me, it was what it was.

ChapterTwenty-Three

Lily

Meeting Cruz‘s mother was a high I wasn’t prepared for. It felt so meaningful in a way that I didn’t expect. My mother married her ex-husband. Her son used to be someone that I hated being around. Yet, she was warm, and made me feel so welcome.

I instantly loved her.

Cruz was quiet on the drive home, and when we walked in the front door, we each made our way across the apartment to our own rooms

Instead of going to sleep, I decided to sketch, and I started with what I could remember of the details of Tico’s. The signs, the shape of the windows, and the lighting. When I finished the drawing, I put the date at the bottom, knowing it was always going to be a special day.

I flipped through some of the pages of my sketch pad and looked at my recent sketches. Like I told Cruz, I still sketched all the time, but I mostly stuck to the memories I wanted to keep. Moments that meant something to me.

Just a week in Miami, I already had more of those moments than I did my entire last two years of college. I looked at one that I’d drawn of Angel after we’d first met, and how pretty I thought she was in person. She seemed so perfect, with a big smile and dark hair that fell perfectly at her shoulders. Not one strand felt out of place.

Then there was a picture ofLa Primada BaracoaBars on the old pier. And one of the outside of the art studio I interviewed at a few days before. The rest were sketches of Cruz. Him at his game, the way he leaned against the bar in the kitchen when he ate his sandwich, and the two of us in his bed, handcuffed together.

My heart started beating faster as I looked at the image I’d drawn. It was how I imagined us while we were sleeping. Cruz had his arm thrown over his head, and the one handcuffed to me was on my thigh. Maybe that wasn’t how it really was, because Cruz was already awake when I woke up, but I couldn’t change the way I pictured it inside my head.

Even if it did cross a few lines, I couldn’t picture us any other way.

Closing my sketch pad, I tucked it under my pillow and tried to get my heart rate down. It was just like me, to get worked up over something so seemingly innocent as a touch to my leg. But I was innocent, and I didn’t want to be. I felt so much, was needy, and anxious to know what it was like to have that moment with someone. It had to be the only reason I was so affected by Cruz.

I groaned and turned over, mad that I couldn’t seem to control thoughts, and fell asleep thinking about how inappropriate I wanted to be with my step brother.

* * *

“Lil. Wake up.”

I turned my head away from the noise–which sounded a lot like Cruz. Plus he was the only one that called me Lil.

“Lil?” I heard again. “You’ve slept all day.”

No I hadn’t. It may have been late when I finally fell asleep, but that was a mere fifteen minutes ago. I had a lot more sleep to get through.

“Levántate y brilla, señorita.”

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