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I lowered my voice and smiled. “Me too. You don’t think less of me, do you?”
He gave me a puzzled frown. “Why would I think less of you?”
“For… you know. Doing what we did.”
“I do not understand. I was also there, doing what we did.”
“It’s different for a woman,” I explained. “Guys can do whatever they want and nobody cares. Or they get high-fived for it. But when a woman is a little promiscuous…”
I heard my mother’s voice in my head, accusing me of being a slut after sharing a kiss with Jake Collins on my front porch when I was sixteen. What would she say if she knew what I was doing now?
No, I thought. I won’t let her torture me now that she’s dead.
Mateo put his hand on my shoulder. “Alyssa. I came to America to be free. Every kind of freedom, including sexual freedom. There is nothing shameful about what we did. It was beautiful. I hope… I hope that we can do it again.”
That last part seemed to be a difficult admission from him, and he immediately cast his dark eyes downward. I reached out and caressed his bronze cheek with my thumb.
“Me too. Although your help here at the store might help me finish quicker than I expected. But I’ll make sure we find some time to have more fun before I leave town.”
“Oh, yes. Of course.” He cleared his throat. “I will continue sorting through these papers while we wait for the next pickup. There are so many in here.”
I laughed. “This is after a week of going through them. You should have seen it when we first started.”
I went out to see if Jack needed any help moving the fabric, but he was already finishing up. He wiped sweat from his brow, then ran his fingers through his sandy-blond hair. For a moment, he looked just like he did at that pool party all those years ago, although he was wearing a tank top instead of being shirtless. That memory was so strong it surprised me.
Then I remembered something else he had said recently. Something I had overheard.
“Hey, about the fire at our mother’s house,” I said. “There’s no reason they would suspect arson, is there?”
Jack rounded on me, eyes alarmed. “Who told you that?”
“It wasn’t arson,” I insisted. “It was negligence by a woman with dementia, but it wasn’t intentional.”
Jack turned to look inside the store. “The fire inspector’s investigation is supposed to be confidential until the results are released. If Mateo or Liam told you, we could all get suspended. Or worse: fired.”
“Neither of them told me,” I quickly said. “I overheard you telling them…” I trailed off, realizing my mistake.
“When did you overhear that?” Jack asked. Then his face darkened.
He just realized it.
“You were there,” he whispered. “At Liam’s place.”
I nodded.
Jack chuckled and shook his head. “I knew they were acting strange that morning. Mateo never crashes at a friend’s place. He’s a light sleeper. Does this mean…”
I could see the gears turning in his head.
“Did the three of you…?” he asked.
I took a deep breath, then nodded once.
I waited to see how he would react to the news. Mateo might think our threesome was beautiful and free, but not everyone was so understanding. Especially someone like Jack who had an interesting history with me.
Instead, he said, “You’re not supposed to know about the fire investigation. Seriously, we’re fucked if you let anyone know that you know about it.”
“Wait a minute,” I said. “Did you tell them about my mother’s issues? How she had messed around with the fuse box?”
