I drop my food on the plate. “Jaime, as in your cousin Jaime?”
He nods.
“Jaime your cousin, the one dating the evil witch?”
“Daisy,” he sighs.
“What? It’s true. I hate her and she hates me, so I don’t even feel bad about it.” Violeta—Mateo’s ex, who he proposed to two years ago, who said no and then started dating his cousin.
“She doesn’t hate you.” Mateo, the forever peace maker.
“She hated me. You can’t lie about that. But back to the problem at hand… What did your mom say?”
He clears his throat. “Well, Jaime is getting married. He proposed last week, I believe. She said yes, and since the whole thing is a family reunion, they decided to get married there. Her uncle owns the resort or something.”
“On Christmas?”
He nods.
“Your favorite holiday?” I ask.
“It’s not.”
“Why are you contradicting me on everything today, Teo? You fucking love Christmas.” I take a sip of my drink and smile fondly at Ms. Kim and Ms. Anna, who look at us with concern. “You’re not going, right?” This time, I whisper.
He lets out a breath while he traces his face with his hand. “I have to. I don’t have a choice. It’ll be miserable, but I’ll be fine. I’m gonna miss you, though. First Christmas without you since we were, like, seven.”
“You were seven. I was four, thank you very much. You’re not going to miss me because I’m going.” What? Sometimes I surprise myself with the shit that comes out of my mouth.
“You can’t go.”
“Are you telling me you don’t want me to go?”
“No, not at all. I just…the tradition is that the only plus ones are spouses or significant others. I’m not gonna drag you to the Dominican Republic just to spend a bunch of time by yourself. I know how much you hate that.”
He’s not wrong. Even when I want quiet time, I like to be around him and our friends. I hate feeling alone, even if I’m not lonely. And I never feel alone when I’m with him.
“What if I come to the actual wedding too?” I take a sip of my sweet tea.
“I already told you, it has to be a spouse or significant other. It’s ridiculous, but still, I can’t just be like, oh yeah, I’m bringing Daisy as my plus one and we’re dating now.”
Aaaaand the sweet tea goes down the wrong pipe, making me cough.
Mateo’s eyes go wide. “Are you okay?” He stands and pats my back as if I were a baby—like that’s going to help.
“I’m fine.” I clear my throat.
“I was kidding, obviously.” He goes back to his seat, taking the last bite of his food.
I toss the idea around my head. Could it work? Could we pretend we’re dating so we don’t spend our holidays apart and so he doesn’t have to go to the wedding from hell by himself? But what does Mateo want? His family never asks him. His job never asks him. He’s never putting himself first, always trying to keep others happy instead.
“What do you want?” I ask.
“Right now? To not talk about my ex’s wedding.”
“I know, I know, but you have to. What doyouwant?” I press.
He thinks about it, searching my eyes. Maybe he’s searching for answers, but I have none. I want him to tell me whathewants. He sighs. “To spend Christmas with my best friend, as usual.”
