I turned and kissed him on the cheek. “I have to get going, too. I have a million things to do this week. I’m starting to stress that my project may not get approved.”
He raised his eyebrows like I’d said something outrageous. “What? Of course it will. I was ready to fund it myself after hearing you talk about it.” I turned around to face him and after I put my t-shirt back on, he moved in to kiss me again. He licked into my mouth, his tongue silky against mine.
It was so easy to give into the way Nesto made me feel.
After a few more kisses, I pulled back and sighed. “It’s very hard to focus when you do that.”
He laughed and brushed my lips with his thumb. “That mouth of yours is hard to resist, next time I’d like to see it around my cock.”
I groaned and my skin felt hot, I knew I had to be turning red. “Next time.” I sounded breathless.
I gave him one last kiss and stood, starting for the door. He followed and gave me a squeeze when we got there.
“Hasta la proxima,” he said with a nod. “I’ll text you tomorrow, maybe we can have a drink after work?”
I wanted to and I almost said yes, but the intensity of my desire to see him checked me.
I smiled anyway to soften my answer. “Maybe. It’s so busy right now.”
His eyebrows dipped, a vexed expression on his face. He wasn’t the only one. I wanted to backtrack, not close that door completely, even though I still wasn’t sure what I was doing with Nesto. “Text me tomorrow. It might not be as crazy.”
His shoulders relaxed at my offer. “Okay, I will.” He leaned down to peck me on the cheek, and I slipped out of his apartment.
As I got to the sidewalk I looked up and saw him watching me from his big windows. He lifted his hand in a wave and I returned it, smiling up at him. I drove away, waiting for the feelings of unease from a moment ago to return, but instead what I felt was anticipation, andthatshould have scared me.
chapter nine
nesto
Man, I was in over my head with Jude. Who gets that worked up over leftovers? I was standing by the window, watching him drive home and feeling things I had no business feeling for a guy I barely knew. But when I saw him standing in my doorway, looking so unsure, I just wanted to drag him inside and wreck him. He was so skittish, he pulled back as if he needed to keep himself in check, and I wanted to know why. What hurt was he protecting himself from?
There were no two ways about it, Jude was going to be a distraction.
As I went back to the couch my phone started buzzing on the coffee table. I looked down and saw Camilo’s face on the screen and grinned. Those fools were probably half drunk and wanting to rag on me for fucking off to thecampo. I took the call and Milo immediately appeared in the center of the screen, with half of Patrice’s face on the right, and Juanpa’s behind them.
“What’s good, pa? You staying out of trouble up there in the boonies?” Juanpa shouted, taking the phone from Milo and commandeering the call.
“¡Dimelo tiguere! Where you fools at?” I asked, unable to control the grin taking over my face.
Milo piped in from behind, pushing on Juanpa’s head. “Uh, forget our location for the moment and tell us why you havesex hair and a hickey on your neck.” His face was in a hilarious sneer. “Jesus, you’re a skank, you just got there!”
Juanpa grinned, shaking his head. “Damn, it’s true though. You’ve been there for like a week, and you’re already going through them frat boys up north.”
“You two are extra as fuck. What’s a grown ass man like me going to do with a frat boy? And where did Patrice go? He didn’t even say hi!”
Milo rolled his eyes. “You know him, control freak. He went to argue about the bill.”
Milo had his curly hair in a man bun thing and was wearing thick eyeliner around his eyes. His tight military-green shirt was unbuttoned so low I could see the top of his chest piece. Seeing his tattoo, exactly like mine, but with the colors of the Jamaican and Cuban flags sent a wave of homesickness through me.
I missed my friends.
I noticed they were in a familiar rooftop bar and then saw Milo looking to the side. He was giving someone off-screen some serious “papí, come here eyes.” That paired up with the eyeliner and shirt could only mean one thing.
“Holy shit, J, did you two let Milo drag you to The Americano again so he could thirst after the bartender he fucked last summer?” I shook my head hollering. “No loco. No.”
Milo flashed me the finger, his face still turned the other way,and Juanpa bared his teeth in our friend’s direction.
“He promised us dinner at Chop Shop, but we let thispendejodrag us here instead, and we still haven’t eaten. You know how he gets. He’s been eye-fucking the dude for the last hour, but has he gone to talk to him? No. Every time the guy tries to get his attention he turns around and ignores him. It’s a fucking drag, man.”
