Page 160 of Down Bad

Locked on. Listening.

Eyes turning soft.

“I stayed with my tía and tío for a week. Fold-out couch in the den. You would love it there. They’re very happy, by the way. Tía and tío send their regards.”

He keeps listening. Staying with me.

“Tío said I could stay as long as I wanted. Had work for me. A room. My tía’s delicious food. She was even reorganizing part of the hall closet for my shit.”

“Sounds nice,” says Wyatt automatically.

“It was.”

He tilts his head slightly. “So why’d you come back?”

I swallow.

Then lift my phone up, unlock it, swipe open my texts, and lift the screen toward him.

His eyes fall on the last text message he sent: SOS.

“That’s a week old,” he says.

“I know. Didn’t see it until … way, way later. Dead phone for a couple of days. But here’s the thing: I get pissed with myself when I break a promise. And I told you, didn’t I? I told you I’d come if you sent one.”

“Tad late, don’t you think?”

“Definitely.” I lower the phone. “But that’s not why I came.”

He frowns, not following.

“From what I’ve heard through my tía and her … group chat … sounds like you don’t need to be rescued anymore.” I rise to my feet. “Maybe … I’m the one who needs a little rescuing.”

His eyebrows lift up.

“Maybe … I didn’t come back … entirely for you.” I come down a step. “Maybe …” Down another. “I came back …” Another. “… to see if it was just some fucking fluke.”

“Fluke?”

“What I was feeling … in my heart. That maybe deep down … I actually missed Whitaker Auto … and Joel, even if he bugs the shit out of me most days.” I’m off the porch. “And the way everyone in this place is always up in my business. Whole time I was here, kept assuming leaving was the plan. Then Tío showed up at my hotel and asked me where I was going.”

“And?”

I look at Wyatt. “Turns out ‘away’ isn’t a real place.”

His eyes detach.

I pocket my phone along with my hands, standing in front of him now. “Didn’t matter how hard I pushed the town away. Kept creeping back under my skin every second I spent away from it. I was scared, Wyatt.”

He presses his lips together. Fighting something inside.

My voice softens. “Scared to love something else that’d just … disappear from my life eventually. Like everything and everyone else I ever loved has. So I left. Before it could hurt me. Before I fell in love with this place.”

“Diego …”

“But no matter how peaceful it was in that beachside house … with my tía’s love, even my hard-ass tío … didn’t have what I really needed.” My eyes return to his. “Most of all … I missed the way my neighbor would check up on me … way too fucking often.”

His eyebrows pull together. “Wasn’t that often.”