“Fuck,” I whisper as I crouch down, looking for my clothes.
“Ven. No te vayas,” Manny groans, reaching for me and pulling me into him.
I sigh and lay my head on his chest, tracing the outline of the Sacred Heart tattoo. His hands run down my back and over my bare ass. The feel of his fingers on my skin ignites small fires inside of me.
“God, don’t touch me like that, or I’ll want to do it all over again.”
“What’s wrong with that? I certainly enjoyed myself, even if you did leave third-degree scratches on my back.” He laughs.
“Sorry. I don’t know why I’m so feral.” I apologize.
Sex with Manny was just so intense. So freeing. I felt like I could let loose and explore this repressed side of myself.
“You’ve probably always been like that,” he says, turning and propping his head up on his hand. His eyes taking me in.
“Like what?” I ask.
“Like girls gone wild. You just needed the right dick to push you there.”
“What about other dicks?”
“Ay. None of that.” He clicks his tongue. “This is the only dick you’ll be testing that theory on.”
“Te celas. It’s hot.”
Manny rolls his eyes and pulls me in for an embrace. My body stiffens when I hear a door creak.
“He’s just going to the bathroom. He’ll go back to sleep.” Manny reassures me.
I nod my head and stay dead quiet until I hear the bedroom door creak again.
“I have to go,” I whisper.
“It won’t be like this forever,” he reassures me before kissing my forehead.
Naturally, the double f’ers make their appearance, andthey’ve brought their homeboy, denial. I worry that this will be some short-lived fling. Did I want something more? Could we be something more?
“How will we handle Juan Carlos?” I ask.
“We’re all grown. When the time’s right, we’ll talk to him.”
I shake my head in response, pulling myself from his embrace. Turning my back on him, I grab my clothes and move quietly to redress myself. The silence is suffocating.
“Isabel,” Manny calls before I move to the window. “I don’t want you to feel like I’m denying you in public because I’m worried about other people. I could give a fuck about other people. But I do care about Junior and you. Our relationship won’t make sense to a lot of people, but I don’t care as long as it makes sense to you and me.”
And that’s why my heart kept deep diving back into this. Because he did care, and it wasn’t just the words he was saying, but the actions he was applying long before I expected him to.
16
MANNY
Butterfly triggers and Post Traumatic Quince Caca.
The day was finally here, and we had successfully moved through the church portion of Dolly’s Quinceañera.
“You ready?” I say, looking at my sister and then back out through the crack of the door.
The guest list was estimated at around two hundred, ranging from my mother’s favorite cashier at H-E-B to close family members, coming to celebrate the youngest Chavez child make her debut into womanhood.
