hotel. Did you see him in Paloma’s Edge during the Fall Break?”
The skin around Bri’s eyes crinkled. “I did. For about a minute and then he was running off to do something.” She stood up and stretched. “Uhhh. I hate that I have to leave so early because I have classes tomorrow.”
I wanted her to stay longer, too, but she did have to go to school tomorrow. When Pete came back from Mrs. Muldoon’s, I’d lost count about how many times he’d stopped by my room to see Bri. Since infancy, he’d had a major crush on Beth, which began to fade this summer. He began liking girls his own age. But, I think seeing Bri made him forget about any classmate he may have thought was cute. I’d bribed him with reading him as many stories as he wanted so that Bri and I would have more girl time, but he hadn’t fallen for it. She’d played legos with him, as if she’d been his play date and not my guest. I’d thought she would’ve become irritated with Pete but she didn’t show it if she had been. It meant a lot to me that she made Pete feel good and praised how well he spoke. Apparently, I hadn’t had to tell her about his speech impediment for her to know that it took endless work from everyone in his life to help him to get to the point where he could babble on coherently. He was a trooper.
I hoisted myself up, so I escort Bri to the front of the house. I put my hair into a ponytail and I looked at my new ear piercings through the mirror. Vince had done a great job piercing my sensitive skin. The redness wasn’t present anymore and there was no swelling. I didn’t want to wear clip-ons anymore.
“I didn’t think I’d chicken out. Maybe I’ll get my ears pierced next time we go. It looked painless when Vince did all of the piercings.”
“It did. Millie didn’t wriggle one bit,” I said.
***
AFTER I CAME OUT of the dining hall on Tuesday, Scott signaled me from all the way down the long hall. If someone hadn’t told me that they thought he was trying get my attention, I wouldn’t have seen him. He’d called me last night but I’d wanted to unpack, re-organize my binders, and read the first chapter of another romance novel in my collection.
“Did your mid-term grades turn out the way you wanted?” he asked we walked together to our Biology class.
“Yeah, but I could’ve done better if I’d taken a few more hours off of work. My GPA didn’t take a major dive. And my parents didn’t give me grief about it. They just said what they always say: if I’d stayed at home, I wouldn’t have to work as much, or at all.” I grinned at him. “How did you do on your mid-terms?”
“I passed all of them,” he replied. “And it’s a good thing you came here, instead of staying home.”
“Why’s that?”
“I wouldn’t get to see the chance to take you out Thursday night before we leave to our away game this weekend.”
Chapter 13
Hunter
“HOLA, HUNTER,” BLANCA SAID when she saw me sitting on the counter at La Caridad. Manny wanted lunch and the other guys wanted to have some food from outside today. “I asked Mariska and Jillian when I’d see you again.”
“I’ll be making more of an appearance,” I said with a smile.
She nodded. “The usual?”
“Two more orders of the imperial rice and an extra side order of sweet plantains.”
As Blanca went to tell my orders to the chefs, my eyes scanned the room and zeroed in on Mariska in a black dress and a cap on her head. I knew it was her by the shape of her slender waist and hips. Vince wouldn’t tell me where he’d pierced her, since I knew that she’d had something done. He’d use the client’s right to privacy excuse when he’d talked about other clients before. Manny hadn’t budged either, when I’d asked.
“Do I have to make all of the moves?” I tilted my head to look at Jill directly. I’d replied to some of her text messages, but since we’d had sex last week, the messages had doubled and now
The skin around Bri’s eyes crinkled. “I did. For about a minute and then he was running off to do something.” She stood up and stretched. “Uhhh. I hate that I have to leave so early because I have classes tomorrow.”
I wanted her to stay longer, too, but she did have to go to school tomorrow. When Pete came back from Mrs. Muldoon’s, I’d lost count about how many times he’d stopped by my room to see Bri. Since infancy, he’d had a major crush on Beth, which began to fade this summer. He began liking girls his own age. But, I think seeing Bri made him forget about any classmate he may have thought was cute. I’d bribed him with reading him as many stories as he wanted so that Bri and I would have more girl time, but he hadn’t fallen for it. She’d played legos with him, as if she’d been his play date and not my guest. I’d thought she would’ve become irritated with Pete but she didn’t show it if she had been. It meant a lot to me that she made Pete feel good and praised how well he spoke. Apparently, I hadn’t had to tell her about his speech impediment for her to know that it took endless work from everyone in his life to help him to get to the point where he could babble on coherently. He was a trooper.
I hoisted myself up, so I escort Bri to the front of the house. I put my hair into a ponytail and I looked at my new ear piercings through the mirror. Vince had done a great job piercing my sensitive skin. The redness wasn’t present anymore and there was no swelling. I didn’t want to wear clip-ons anymore.
“I didn’t think I’d chicken out. Maybe I’ll get my ears pierced next time we go. It looked painless when Vince did all of the piercings.”
“It did. Millie didn’t wriggle one bit,” I said.
***
AFTER I CAME OUT of the dining hall on Tuesday, Scott signaled me from all the way down the long hall. If someone hadn’t told me that they thought he was trying get my attention, I wouldn’t have seen him. He’d called me last night but I’d wanted to unpack, re-organize my binders, and read the first chapter of another romance novel in my collection.
“Did your mid-term grades turn out the way you wanted?” he asked we walked together to our Biology class.
“Yeah, but I could’ve done better if I’d taken a few more hours off of work. My GPA didn’t take a major dive. And my parents didn’t give me grief about it. They just said what they always say: if I’d stayed at home, I wouldn’t have to work as much, or at all.” I grinned at him. “How did you do on your mid-terms?”
“I passed all of them,” he replied. “And it’s a good thing you came here, instead of staying home.”
“Why’s that?”
“I wouldn’t get to see the chance to take you out Thursday night before we leave to our away game this weekend.”
Chapter 13
Hunter
“HOLA, HUNTER,” BLANCA SAID when she saw me sitting on the counter at La Caridad. Manny wanted lunch and the other guys wanted to have some food from outside today. “I asked Mariska and Jillian when I’d see you again.”
“I’ll be making more of an appearance,” I said with a smile.
She nodded. “The usual?”
“Two more orders of the imperial rice and an extra side order of sweet plantains.”
As Blanca went to tell my orders to the chefs, my eyes scanned the room and zeroed in on Mariska in a black dress and a cap on her head. I knew it was her by the shape of her slender waist and hips. Vince wouldn’t tell me where he’d pierced her, since I knew that she’d had something done. He’d use the client’s right to privacy excuse when he’d talked about other clients before. Manny hadn’t budged either, when I’d asked.
“Do I have to make all of the moves?” I tilted my head to look at Jill directly. I’d replied to some of her text messages, but since we’d had sex last week, the messages had doubled and now
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