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I clear my throat and nod. The tension between us dissipating and I relax.
“Why didn’t you tell me you had a girlfriend?” I ask him. From the way he flirts with me every time he comes in, I wouldn’t have thought he did. Maybe it’s just his personality, a serial flirt who can’t help himself, or maybe he’s a serial playboy.
“You never asked,” he answers, relaxing his stance.
“She doesn’t mind you hanging out with me?” I ask.
“She doesn’t mind sharing.” He winks.
“Are you so sure about that?”
Gabriel lowers his gaze on me. “I’m sure.”
The way he says it causes a shiver to run down my spine.
“A Romeo,” I tease.
“Except this Romeo ain’t taking poison for no woman, no matter how hot she is,” Gabriel laughs.
“Gotcha.”
“Don’t worry,cariño, I got more than I can handle,” he says, tipping his chin.
“Then why flirt with me, if you have more than you can handle?” I ask him.
“I like messing with Cash.” He steps back, crossing his arms over his chest, the muscles flexing, showing off his tattoos. I wonder if he designed them himself, but I won’t ask about them again.
He pulls the shirt from his back pocket and throws it over his head, signaling that our photoshoot is over.
“He’s wound tight when it comes to you.” Gabriel turns to me, piercing me with a look when he says, “And he hates it when I call youcariño.” His cocky smile is back, lighting up his face.
I have to admit, thewayGabriel says ‘sweetheart’ makes heat rise to my cheeks.
“I see.” I nervously tuck a stray piece of hair behind my ear. “Well, maybe you shouldn’t do that anymore.”
“Whatever you say,cariño.” Gabriel winks at me and I shake my head, laughing.
I look back at the octopus and the mouth looks like it will swallow me whole at any moment.
12
WHEN I MOVE, YOU MOVE
CASH
Movement by Hozier
The tension between us is my fault. It’s been a few days since she left with Gabriel and she’s been quiet since, not her usual snarky self. I should have kept my mouth shut, except I couldn’t. She doesn’t know Gabriel like I do. She doesn’t know how he changed when his brother was killed in an accidental shooting on this very block.
The blame Gabriel carries is rotting him from the inside out. There are pieces of him left, but the sixteen year old I used to know who would stop by after school before heading over to the thrift store to help out his uncle, is gone. He was smart, still is, and had a future. He was going to be the first one in his family to go to college, but that was all beforethatday. He’s not a bad kid, but he has a chip on his shoulder and that makes his judgement flawed.
I pass by Sasha at the counter, her laptop open as she edits some photos and I can see some of the pictures she took of Gabriel displayed in her editing app.
“What are you going to do with those?” I ask.
She startles from my voice and her ponytail swings against her back. “I don’t know yet.” She places her finger to her lips, thinking, and I watch more closely than I should. “Maybe I can use them for my final project at school.”
“I thought school hasn’t started yet.” I get nervous thinking about summer being over when I won’t see her anymore.
