Just two kids caught up in young love, first love. Firsteverything. He remembered how Diego's lips felt against his, the way his hands seemed to know every inch of Brody's body. He remembered the way they laughed and talked for hours about everything and nothing at the same time.
And then, just like that, it was over. The family shipped Brody off to Tennessee, and Diego Duarte disappeared from his life, and nothing had ever been quite so golden since.
Chapter Four
Astheydrovedownthe interstate towards Houston, Diego couldn’t shake the memory of Brody, his first love. It was like a fresh wound had ripped up, and he couldn’t help but feel like he was eighteen years old again, his heart broken apart. He tried to steady himself with a few deep breaths, but his heart still thumped loudly in his chest.
Ash shook his spiky hair like a dog and glanced over at Diego. “What was that about? You and that guy—what’s the story, Mary? Spill the deets.”
Diego cleared his throat and tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. His thoughts were buzzing like a thousand hornets.Maybe this is what shock feels like, he wondered to himself. His heart thumped loud in his chest, but he took deep breaths and slowly his body returned to normal.
Brody. A wave of nostalgia washed over him, that initial hit of pure want and need like he was a kid again caught up in that perfect first love. Brody Hollis could have been a poster child for small-town America. Golden hair, golden eyes, tanned skin, and muscles all over from farm work. Young Diego had no place in Brody’s world and yet they found each other, and everything made sense. Everything clicked.
Diego smiled, lost in those precious memories.
Then the rest flooded back—all the nasty shit: getting caught, Brody leaving town, his own family torn apart.
How could he explain that to a stranger?
But Ash was waiting, so after a moment, he answered. “We—he was my first boyfriend. I haven’t seen him in a long time.”
“Ah. Young love, that’s sweet. He looked shocked to see you, though. You both did. Messy break-up?” Ash leaned back in his seat, munching on a bag of chips.
Diego exhaled slowly. “Something like that.” But when Diego glanced over at Ash’s face and saw that his roommate was genuinely curious, he sighed. “Seeing him reminded me of a bad time in my life. The worst things that ever happened to me happened because of him. None of it was his fault, not directly, but—I’m just a little shook right now.”
“Oh shit, I’m sorry. But if you need to talk about it—” Ash’s head nodded back and forth on his shoulders. “I’m a good listener. And we’ve got another hour and a half on the road.”
Diego nodded, grateful for the offer. He drove in silence for a few minutes, taking deep breaths to calm his racing heart. “You’ve met Diana, my sister, right?”
“Yeah, she’s a cutie. I’d cut off my right nut for hair that long and curly.” He picked at a strand of his own pink hair between his fingers. “You got any other siblings?”
“I do. I’ve got a little sister. She’s with my parents. They live in Saltillo. In Mexico.”
“Do you see them often?”
Diego shook his head, his grip on the wheel tight. “Not really. I used to go visit at least once a year, but I haven’t gone down in a couple years.”
“Do they ever come up here?”
“They can’t.” Diego exhaled. Once he started talking, the words spilled out of him; only a few people knew this story that he was about to share. “When I was younger, I lived in a small town near San Antonio. My parents owned and ran apanadería, a bakery that specialized in Mexican sweet breads and pastries.”
Ash’s smile lit up his face. “I love that stuff. When I was little, my mom used to get me the little gingerbread pigs.”
“Maranitos, that’s what they’re called.”
“So, what happened?” Ash asked, directing them back to the conversation.
Diego took a deep breath. “Brody and I had been seeing each other during our senior year of high school. No one knew except my sister and a couple of his friends. They helped us meet up in private and covered up for us so we could be alone.” Diego took a minute to think. In some ways, ten years ago was a lifetime ago, and yet, it was just yesterday. “Cielo Springs is a small town with a lot of ranches in the area. Pretty conservative, like most small towns in Texas. But Brody’s family was on another level. His uncle was the county sheriff and—well, have you ever heard of ‘sundown towns’?” When Ash said that he had not, Diego continued. “That means that if you’re not white, you better not still be in town after sundown. Not quite that literal, but there are people with that kind of mentality around.”
“No fucking way,” Ash murmured.
“Real racist kinds of shit, yeah. And when their perfect golden quarterback son turned out to be a homo who was fucking a wetback, they lost it. I never saw Brody again. I heard he went to live with his grandparents somewhere east. Then the next day—” Diego’s eyes landed on the car in front of him. It had one of those decals with stick figure parents and four little stick figure kids. “His uncle—the sheriff—called the immigration agency and reported my parents as illegal aliens with no papers. They were deported within twenty-four hours.”
Ash’s face went white. “You’re shitting me.”
“I wish I was. Diana and I had been born here and we’re citizens, but my folks never went through the process. They kept talking about it, but…” Diego shrugged and changed lanes. “Di and I went to live in Houston with my mom’s sister. She’d gone through the process and was a naturalized citizen. My parents took little Donna with them when they moved.”
Ash sat in his seat, dumbfounded. “I’m so sorry.”
