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That statement put a damper on the conversation, and everyone went painfully silent. It had been big news in town back when the accident happened. Leo’s family had just moved to Archwood six months prior so his grandmother could get into the oncology center one city over. His parents had felt guilty for being employed at Lydia’s Grocery at the time because though the man who’d caused the accident had barely touched his own business before his death, they had still legally been his employees. There seemed to be a mass community of guilt associated with Cole and Paisley Hartrick’s death because Jeff Cohen had always been a drunk, and no one had stopped him from doing the unthinkable.
“You should invite her for dinner.” Leo’s mom finally broke the silence, plaguing the table with the absolute last thing Leo wanted to do.
He dropped his fork. “¿Pero por qué?”
“As a thank you for driving you down.” Now that his mom had gotten started, Leo could see that her eyes were backlit with the spark of an idea she wasn’t going to let go easily. “She has no mother or father, Leonardo, and everyone could use más familia.”
“Mamá, no creo—”
“I will make tamales!” Abuelita chimed in with a level of excitement Leo knew he couldn’t curb.
“No, no,” Leo waved his hands around. “Mira, she hates me. Really, really hates me.”
“Mm-hmm. ¿Por qué? ¿Qué hiciste?” Abuelita cocked her head with her eyebrows arched. The fact that she thought he had done something to deserve Piper’s torment wasn’t surprising, but her next question said she knew exactly the nature of his and Piper’s weird relationship, and that terrified him. “You had no fun on the drive?”
Leo swallowed. “It wasn’t… no fue tan malo.” It was far from horrible. He’d never come so hard before, and he would probably use the memories from that one night alone to fuel all his sexual fantasies for the rest of his life. The horrible part was that he couldn’t stop thinking about it or about Piper, and inviting her anywhere near him while he tried to tamp down his thoughts was a bad idea.
“It’s settled, then.” His mother smiled. “Text her and let her know to come tomorrow.” Leo just stared back at her, still trying to find a way out of this. “¡Ya!” Lucia pointed her finger at him in a direct command to get the ball rolling.
“You said no phones at the table, and—”
“Leo,” his father warned.
“Fine,” Leo muttered, whipping his phone back out of his pocket. He tapped out a message to Piper somewhat aggressively.
Leo 5:58 PM
Dinner tomorrow at 6. My house. I’ll pick you up so you don’t have to drive. Cover up.
The three little dots indicating Piper was typing popped up immediately, and Leo held his breath, waiting for her response. Meanwhile, his family had moved on to harassing Alvaro about his grades in college, and no one noticed that Leo’s life was flashing before his eyes. The text bubble disappeared and reappeared three times before he finally got a response.
Princesa 6:00 PM
Excuse me?
Leo scrunched his eyes shut, then peeled them back open to stare down at the message for several long seconds before tapping out a follow-up.
Leo 6:01 PM
My mom decided you needed a thank you dinner. Cover the mark before I pick you up.
Princesa 6:02 PM
Oh, you mean the hickey you didn’t give me? I think I’ll leave it uncovered.
Leo 6:02 PM
I’m sorry, okay? I got a little carried away. Please cover it.
Princesa 6:03 PM
See you at 6.
Leo had enough mental forethought to recognize that Piper did not altogether agree to his terms, and he let out a long, anxiety-ridden sigh.
Thirty-One
LEO
