Dad:Understand. Thanks for reaching out.
Unease creeped up on him, but Jaime couldn’t focus on his father now. He walked over to Alma, who was sitting at a table, eating tacos and chatting with her cousins. She snuck a piece of meat to Tequila, who was snorting and begging under her chair.
She smirked. “Good to see you survived your chat with my father. Sorry, he can be intense.”
“Nah, it was good.” Jaime paused, fork halfway to his mouth. “I’m sure he’s nice to all the men you bring around.”
“Ha!” her cousin snorted from the other side of the table.
Alma shot daggers at him.
“What?” Jaime asked.
“She’s not brought anyone home since you, bro,” Carlos filled in the blanks. “Ow! What was that for?”
Alma shrugged innocently, and Jaime had to smile. She still had that fire alright.
“Have you really not dated since me?” he asked her.
She doused her taco with some Valentina hot sauce and took another bite. “Datedis a strong word.”
“Got it.”
A bitter taste filled Jaime’s mouth, and it wasn’t from the lime he squeezed over his meat. She saiddated, notfucked. Of course, Jaime wasn’t delusional enough to believe that his sexy-ass ex had been celibate since he left her. He most certainly hadn’t.
But the thought of Alma naked, riding some other man, screaming his name, was almost too much for him to bear.
He forced himself to come back to the present. After their horrible reunion, she was not only speaking to him but was sitting next to him eating tacos at her parents’ house. That was major progress. He had to focus on the present.
She shoved the last bit of food down her throat and then licked her lips. “I’ve got to run. Need to be at the bar at four.”
Jaime positioned his knee to rub against hers, and she didn’t move away.
“So, can I get your number to set up brunch next Sunday?”
She gazed into his eyes. The space between them was ripe with tension.
“Sure.”
He handed her his phone and she typed in her number.
“You’re really a good man for doing that fundraiser for Leti. I mean that.”
“Thanks. I love Leti. It’s a prom—I’m not her date, but I’m her host to make sure she has a good time. Every girl should have a prom. She has a great date, per Santi. Another boy she goes to school with.”
Her face crinkled, and she leaned into him. Her voice lowered to a whisper. “Why, Jaime, do you have to be so sweet? It makes me remember why I loved you.”
“When was I ever sweet?”
“When we first fell in love. You were always going out of your way to do kind stuff for me. Rubbing my feet when I studied, taking me to expensive restaurants you knew there was no way I could afford, so I could taste the wines on the list, believing in me.”
“I still believe in you, Alma. What you’ve accomplished is so inspiring.” He paused and pushed a lock of her hair off her face. “You don’t need me. You never did.”
She pursed her lips. “That’s where you’re wrong. I did need you then.”
Jaime was careful to notice that she did not say that she needed him now in any way, shape, or form.
“I’m going to bounce. But you can come and take me to brunch next Sunday. Pick me up at my bar at ten.”
