“I’ve been riding bikes since I was a kid. I used to be in motocross. But it’s brutal, so I switched to cruising on the open road.”
“Oh really? I never knew that. Super cool.”
“You look like you know how to ride a bike. Can you ride?” he asked.
“Yep. I can. My bro’ taught me. I can ride a few types of bikes,” I replied in a flirty tone.
“Ha! What? Did you say what I thought you said?” He sounded shocked. I wanted to see him, but I knew my schedule for school. I was staring down the barrel of some tough exams.
“Yep,” I said proudly.
“You’re ballsy. I like it.”
“Of course. I’m Spanish.”
“I’m aware, trust me. Know how to play pool?”
“Of course. I play at college sometimes. Why?”
“Pool, pizza, drinks? What do you think? Friday night if you’re free,” he suggested. The traffic eased up and I pulled into the college parking lot.
“Sounds good. Just call me with the details. I just pulled into school, so I gotta go.”
“Okay, babe. I’ll call you later in the week.”
“Bye, papi.”
“Haha. Bye.”
Okay, better way to start the day. I had to hightail it to the C block in a hurry. By the skin of my teeth, I made it to the lecture hall. People were still talking among themselves. I caught the wave from Shauna and Rob.
“Hey, hey.” I hugged them both and sat down. Shauna sat in next to me as usual.
“Miss Puerto Rico, you didn’t respond to my text yesterday. You must be sick of me.” She jokingly pouted.
“No. I’m trying to get my mind set up for these exams.”
“You and me both. Are you okay after last week?”
My skin started crawling just thinking about those creeps.
“My brother knows them. He’s dealing with it.” Shauna knew some of what club my brother was in but she didn’t know everything. I wanted to keep it that way.
“I was worried about you,” she said. Mr. Sanders put up a slide with red blood cells on it. He was lecturing us on pathogens. I wanted to pay attention because I knew he was a hard marker. He dropped a lot of gems in his lectures.
“Okay. Now we’ve got everyone in. How are we all?” Mr. Sanders was a serious type of guy. White hair and thin with big dark glasses. They didn’t suit his face, but oh well. He knew his stuff and had worked in a biochemistry lab for over a decade. Now he was head of the department at University of California. Kudos.
“Don’t worry. I’m good. But I gotta move out. My brother is giving me the shits,” I whispered.
“Oh, shit! Luckily, I like my roommate. What’s going down with you and the hottie?”
“Well…” I smiled when I thought about those lips and those icy blue eyes. Oh, and the hair, his husky voice and that bike. “I’m taking it easy. I don’t want to rush things.”
Shauna shut it down quickly. “Are you serious? I would have rushed right in and taken off all my clothes on sight! The man is fine...” I widened my eyes at her. “Respectfully so. Respectfully. I ain’t no man stealer.” She quickly cleared it up.
“Yeah. I like him though. Let’s see. I’m going with the flow of it.” Our talking got a little loud. Mr. Sanders gave us a look over his glasses. Uh-oh. A few people turned to look at us. I sank down in my seat and Shauna held back a laugh. I listened intently for the rest of the class. From time to time, Diego’s penetrating eyes came into my mind. My whole body flushed with heat when I thought of where his mouth could go. I shook myself out of it. I had to focus. I had medical exams coming up.
As the day wore on, it got better. I took to looking at places to rent in between classes. The bonuses of staying with Palo were starting to wear off. I felt the taste of bitter resentment at his choices clouding me. The next couple of days flew by as I got back in the groove of studying and routine. Palo and I didn’t speak. I just could hear his voice from time to time down the other end of the house. Friday night rolled around quick enough. I was in my room picking out an outfit with music on to set the mood, getting ready to meet Diego at the spot. I didn’t want Palo messing up anything else for me.
