Page 22 of My Best Friend's Grump Brother

We walked further down the pavement in silence. As he said, the walk was no more than seven minutes, and we were in front of the food truck. I had smelled its deliciousness from twenty feet away, and now that I was here, I realized just how hungry I had been. I was completely and utterly famished.

An old man was wiping down the foldable chairs and putting away the disposable plates that people had used. Soft Latin music played through the speakers, adding to the feel of the cool night. I don’t know how I missed this truck because it was so close to where I lived.

“Daniel!” The old man in the truck smiled as we stopped at the front of the truck. “You come!”

I could hear the Spanish accent in his words. The man reminded me of those old grandparents in those family-friendly movies that added that layer of warmth to the whole plot.

“Hey, Alberto,” for the first time since I had seen him in Chicago, the man looked at ease and relaxed. “This is Selena, a friend of mine.”

I scoffed, “Friend is a stretch. It’s nice to meet you.”

Alberto smiled at me, “I worry, mijo.I start to think you have no friends.”

I bit back a laugh, to which Daniel just rolled his eyes.

“I told you, you have that whole brooding thing down to a tee. Even Alberto thinks you give bad emo-boy vibes.” I teased him.

“People are just annoying.”

“Like me?” I challenged.

His eyes moved to meet mine, glistening against the light. “Exactly like you.”

“If I’m so annoying, why buy me dinner? Surely you have better things to do than bother me on a Friday night. Hot date?“

“I don’t date.”

“Yeah,” I sucked my teeth, “What poor girl would want the misfortune of your company.”

My comment earned me a scowl, and I smiled up at him. This was the first time since I started working for him that I felt the dynamic was normal. I was at ease and not having to overthink what I said or did.

Alberto looked between the two of us and smiled knowingly. Whatever he thought was going on between us was definitely not going on. I could assure him of that.

“So, table for two?”

“Yes.” Daniel and I said in unison, making the old man smile even further.

Chapter eleven

I Care

Selena

Wesatatthesmall table, waiting for our order to be ready. Alberto and his wife Maria manned the truck while their son Miguel went to night school at the University of Chicago. It was a cute and quaint family business they had started when they moved to the United States decades back.

I watched the two of them work as they prepared our order, and I noticed how they were not more than arm's reach of each other. Their love radiated from their eyes, and you could see just how taken Alberto was with Maria.

My mother had always told me that if you wanted to know if a man was in love, you only needed to look into his eyes. And seeing the way Alberto’s eyes burned for his wife; even a blind man could see that she was his entire world and vice versa.

I envied that. The same way I envied it from my friends. I loved my girls; they were my closest family. But I wished I had what they had—a man who adored me and a child who was a product of our love, like Amelia and Nate. Or Claire and Sebastian, who had a second chance at love years later and realized their love had never burned out.

“You’re staring.” Daniel’s voice cut through my thoughts.

“How can I not?” I tore my gaze from them and looked at the gorgeous man across from me. “Love is a beautiful and wonderful thing. They look like little love-sick puppies.”

Alberto kissed his wife’s cheek, and she blushed as she cut up some of the ingredients.

He scrunched his nose in disgust. “You sound like Claire. Ever since she married Seb, she's been living in la la land.”

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