“Livie, what is it?”
“There you are. We’ve been looking for you.” We turn to see Ada standing nearby.Oh, great. there’s no way we’ll finish up the conversation now.
“Sorry, Ma. I had to talk to Daisy before the rest of you swarm her. I’ve been waiting for this girl to be my sister all my life.” Livie turns my way and winks at me.Thank you, sweet angel. Thank you.
“Don’t spook the girl,” her mom adds. “You need to head back. The games are about to start.”
“Games?”
“So many games. It’s part of the tradition. Come on.” Ada walks ahead of us, and we follow, allowing some space between us so we can breathe. So I can breathe.
“Just do me a favor,” Livie whispers.
“Yeah?”
“Be careful. I don’t want you to get hurt. The line between pretend and reality can get blurry sometimes, and if you need me, I’m here.” She holds my hand and squeezes it, smiling softly.
“Will do,” I reply, squeezing back.
We make it back to where chairs and tables are set up near the bar and pool. These people have zero issues claiming all this space while the resort is buzzing with other guests. Mateo smiles as soon as he sees me, and I let go of Livie’s hand.
He pulls me into his arms, engulfing me in his spicy scent, wrapping me up in him and completely messing me up for anyone else. “Everything okay?” he asks with a low voice.
“Mm-hmm. She knows,” I whisper.
“Good. Now let’s make sure nobody else does.” He kisses the top of my head as we turn to face Jaime.
5
Poking The Bear
GIRLFRIEND BY AVRIL LAVIGNE FT. LIL MAMA
Mateo
We’ve been playing games for the past two hours, and if there’s one thing you can count on with the Sanz family, it’s that we take competition way too seriously. Nothing says family reunion like shouting, competition, and at least three aunts threatening to disown whoever starts flipping game boards.
We’ve done trivia. We’ve done a relay race that left my little cousins crying, and now they’ve gone to take a nap. We’ve done tug-of-war, charades, and even a dancing competition with the resorts staff’s help. When Mom said we were picking this resort for our family reunion and that Violeta’s uncle owned it, I didn’t think we’d have any excitement—that girl is the opposite of fun—but it’s been amazing. Now, it’s time for the finale: volleyball. One last game before we scatter until dinner.
My dad has ten siblings; they all live in different parts of the world, and they all have kids of different ages. Jaimeand I are the oldest cousins, so naturally, we get to be captains. I’ve been waiting for this all afternoon—not just because I like winning, but because I know exactly who I want on my team.
My girl.
No. Not my girl. What am I thinking? She’s not mine. Not only do I not trust Violeta with Daisy, but Daisy is an athletic powerhouse. She was involved in all the sports our town offered growing up and excelled at all of them, volleyball being one of them. I’m sure she still owns it. But more than that, she loves it. I would give what I don’t have to make sure she’s having a good time.
So yeah. My first pick is obvious.
My dad steps forward with the coin for the toss.
“Heads,” I call before the coin even leaves his hand. It spins, glints, and lands in the sand. My dad snatches it, peeks, and grins.
“Dale, mi hijo,” he says, smiling like he’s just made my whole year. “You go first.”
I leap up, arms in the air like I just won the lottery. “Daisy,” I say immediately, no hesitation, not even blinking.
Violeta grunts and crosses her arms. “Seriously?” She’s been dripping venom since we started playing today, but somehow, she finds a new level of irritation just for this moment. “You’ve had her on your team for everything.”
I smirk. “What can I say? I like to win.”
