Page 109 of XOXO

It looked good, really good. Ru leaned over, watching me look through it.

“Vi, this is amazing,” Ru said. “I know many people who struggle to learn English and other languages.”

“I used all my experiences learning languages and tried to make this to help people,” she beamed. “My partner got in touch with an investor and I really think this might be it.”

“I’ll invest,” I said, handing her phone back. “I can draw up a contract and⁠—”

“No, I couldn’t possibly ask that of you.” She shook her head. “I have someone interested, and this will be all I need. Come on, let's go on this tour and we can celebrate afterwards. Drinks on me!”

She walked to her purse with excitement written all over her face, and I couldn’t help but feel so fucking proud of her. If her investor backed out, I knew I would give her anything she needed. I rubbed my chest as we left the house; I felt the same way about Levi. Was I falling in love with Vi?

28. Ruwon

Hiding under a rock wouldn’t help me.

“If you need us, just call,” Levi said, kissing her forehead. “Or you can wait for us and just veg here for the day and I’ll take you out tomorrow?”

“Oh my god,” she said, pushing him away. “I can tour a city on my own. You're spoiling me too much.”

“Yeah, but it’s better with us,” Matteo said, pulling her in for a kiss.

This whole morning fell oddly platonic.

Last night, my plan to get her to sign the NDA went out the door. I tried to keep my distance, but her allure and excitement were too hard to resist. She was carefree, laughing, enjoying the tour and our dinner afterwards turned into heated stares. We barely made it home before our clothes came flying off and I fucked her till she screamed our names. One time didn’t satisfy me. I had her again slow and hard after Matteo and Levi fell asleep.

“Call us when you’re done so we can figure out what to do for dinner or a late lunch,” Levi said, grabbing Matteo’s hand. “Have a good meeting, Ru!”

“Good luck!” I yelled back from the kitchen, as Vi walked them to the door.

Violeta bid them goodbye as I served us the breakfast she had cooked. It was American style with bacon and eggs, my mouth watered the entire time she was cooking and I missed having those hearty breakfasts in America. She came into the kitchen as I set everything up on the table, gnawing on her lip as she glanced at me.

“Coffee?” I asked, serving myself.

“Please,” she said, sitting down. “A splash⁠—”

“One cream and two spoonful’s of sugar.” I finished her sentence.

“Oh, thanks,” she said, studying me.

She stayed quiet as I finished our coffees, biding her time before she started asking questions. My heart raced, wondering how bad the interrogation would be. We had been off since the boat and I could only imagine what she was thinking.

I set our coffees down, bracing myself for her to say something. She said thank you, digging into her food immediately. I picked at my food, waiting patiently, wishing she would put me out of my misery.

“This is delicious,” I said, when I couldn’t take the silence anymore. “I don’t realize I've missed an American breakfast until I have it again.”

“If we had potatoes and some jalapeños, I could have cooked you something better,” she said, taking a sip of her coffee. “I could have made flour tortillas too.”

“Do you cook a lot when you’re home?” I asked, feeling better that we were talking.

“Mmm, sometimes when I get the craving for something,” she said, scraping her plate. “It’s kind of hard to cook when you are just cooking for you. Plus, I end up making way too much food.”

“What’s your favorite dish to make?” I asked.

“Oh, that’s too hard,” she smiled. “I make a mean milanesa torta. I could also eat posole verde all day too, but only when my tía makes it because mine never turns out the same.”

“What are those dishes?” I asked, feeling a little more tension leave me now that we were finally talking.

“Oh, milanesa is kind of like tonkatsu, but it's thinly sliced beef. Then you put that in a sandwich with avocado, tomatoes, jalapeños and some lettuce. I mean, you could put whatever you want in it,” she sighed. “And posole is hominy with some braised pork in like a salsa verde sauce. It’s so damn good.”