Rules Of Attraction (35 page)
Read Rules Of Attraction Online
Authors: Simone Elkeles
He cups her cheek and swipes her tears away. Without a word, I
hear Alex choke up as he pulls her close and doesn’t let go.
A half hour later, Alex, Brittany, and my parents have escaped to
the hospital cafeteria. Tuck walks in with a big vase filled with hot pink
carnations and a balloon attached that reads ‘FIFTY PERCENT OF ALL
DOCTORS GRADUATE IN THE BOTTOM HALF OF THEIR CLASS—
HOPE YOUR SURGERY WENT WELL!’
“Hey, amigo!” he says.
“Oh, hell.” Carlos snorts in fake annoyance. It makes me feel good
to know he hasn’t lost his fighting spirit after what happened today.
“Who invited you?”
Tuck sets the vase down on the window ledge and smiles wide. “Oh,
come on. Don’t be such a grump. I’m here to cheer you up.”
“By bringin’ me pink flowers?” Carlos says, gesturing to the vase.
“Actually, the flowers are for Kiara because she has to deal with
you.” He pulls out the balloon and ties the string to the hospital-bed
handrail. “Consider me your candy stripper . . . I mean striper.”
Carlos shakes his head. “Kiara, tell me he didn’t just call himself a
stripper.”
“Be nice,” I tell Carlos. “Tuck drove all the way here because he
cares about you.”
“Let’s just say you’ve grown on me,” Tuck admits, then brushes his
long hair out of his face.
“Besides, if I didn’t have you to annoy, my life wouldn’t be the
same. Face it, amigo . . . you complete me.”
“You’re loco.”
“And you’re a homophobe, but with Kiara’s and my guidance you’ve
got potential to be a decent and tolerant human being.” Tuck’s cell
starts ringing. He pulls it out of his pocket and announces, “It’s Jake.
I’ll be right back.”
He disappears into the hallway, leaving me and Carlos alone. Well,
we’re not entirely alone. Brandon is in the chair in the corner of the
room, busy playing one of his video games.
Carlos grabs my wrist and pulls me onto the bed with him. “Before
today, I was plannin’ on leavin’ Colorado,” he tells me. “I figured it was
better if I wasn’t a burden to your parents or Alex anymore.”
“And now?” I ask nervously. I need to hear him say he wants to stay
here for good.
“I can’t leave. Did your dad tell you my ma and Luis are comin’
here?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s not the only reason I’m stayin’, chica. I can’t leave you any
more than I could walk out that door right now while my leg is busted
up. I was just thinkin’ . . . should we tell your parents now or later?”
“Tell them what?” I ask, eyes wide.
He kisses me softly, then says proudly, “That we’re in a serious,
monogamous, committed relationship.”
“We are?”
“Sí. And when I get out of here, I’m gonna fix the door to your
car.”
“Not if I fix it first,” I tell him.
He bites his bottom lip and looks at me as if I just turned him on.
“Is that a challenge I hear in your voice, chica?”
I take his hand and weave my fingers through his. “Yeah.”
He pulls me closer to him. “You’re not the only one in this
relationship who loves a challenge,” he says. “And just so you know for
the future, I like my double-chocolate chip cookies warm and soft in
the middle . . . and without magnets glued to them.”
“Me, too. When you decide to bake me some, let me know.”
He laughs, then leans his head toward mine.
“Are you guys about to French-kiss?” Brandon blurts out.
“Yeah. So close your eyes,” Carlos says, then pulls the blanket over
us, giving us as much privacy as we can get right now. “I’ll never leave
you again,” he whispers against my lips.
“Good. I’m never letting you leave.” I lean back a little. “And I’m
never leaving you either. Remember that, okay?”
“I will.”
“So does this mean you’re going to learn to mountain climb with
me?”
“I’ll do anythin’ with you, Kiara,” he says. “Didn’t you read the note I
put in your locker? I’m yours.”
“And I’m yours,” I tell him. “Forever and always and then some.”
Carlos Fuentes watches as his wife of twenty years tallies up the
day’s receipts. Business was good at McConnell’s Auto Body, which they
bought when he got out of the service. Even during the slow years
they’d gotten by just fine. His wife always appreciated the simple
things in life, even when they could afford more. Hell, hiking near The
Dome made her smile more than anything else—that hike had become a
weekly ritual for them. Now skiing or snowboarding, that was another
thing altogether. Carlos took Kiara and their kids to the resorts in the
winter, but he watched from a distance as Kiara taught all three of
their girls to ski, then snowboard. They especially liked it when their
uncle Luis came along, because he was the only Fuentes brother who
was crazy enough to race them down the blackdiamond slopes. Carlos
wipes his hands on a shop cloth after changing the oil on his old friend
Ram’s car.
“Kiara, we gotta talk about this kid your dad coerced me into
letting stay with us.”
“He’s not a bad kid,” Kiara says, looking up at her husband and
giving him a reassuring smile. “He just needs some guidance, and a
home. He reminds me of you a little bit.”
“Are you kiddin’? Did you see how many piercings that delinquent
has? I bet he’s got ’em in places I don’t even want to know about.”
As if on cue, their oldest daughter, Cecilia, drives up to the garage
door with the delinquent in the passenger seat beside her.
“His hair is too long. He looks like a chica who needs a shave,”
Carlos says.
“Shh, be nice,” his wife reprimands.
“Where were you two?” Carlos questions accusingly as the two high
school juniors simultaneously hop out of Cecilia’s car.
Neither of them answers.
“Dylan, follow me. We need to have a man-to-man.” Carlos catches
the delinquent roll his eyes at him, but he follows Carlos into his
private office in the corner of the body shop. Carlos closes the door
and settles into the chair behind his desk while he motions for Dylan to
sit in the guest chair opposite him.
“You’ve been stayin’ with us a week already, but I’ve been so busy at
the shop I haven’t been able to go over house rules,” Carlos says.
“Listen, old man,” the kid says lazily, then leans back and plants his
dirty shoes on Carlos’s desk. “I don’t follow rules.”
Old man? Doesn’t follow rules? Damn, this kid needs a good ass-
kicking. Truth be told, Carlos did see a bit of his old, rebellious self in
the kid. Dick was the best stand-in father Carlos could ever ask for
back when he’d first come to Colorado . . . Hell, he’d called the
Professor ‘Dad’ even before he married Kiara, and couldn’t imagine how
his life would have turned out without her father’s guidance.
Carlos pushes Dylan’s feet off his desk, then thinks back to the
time Kiara’s dad recited a speech similar to the one about to come out
of his mouth. “Uno, no drugs or alcohol. Dos, no profanity. I have three
daughters and a wife, so keep it clean. Tres, curfew on weekdays is ten
thirty; on weekends it’s midnight. Cuatro, you’re expected to clean up
after yourself and help around the house when asked, just like our own
children. Cinco, there’s no TV unless you’re done with homework. Seis . .
.” He couldn’t remember what his father-in-law’s sixth rule was, but it
didn’t matter. Carlos had his own rule he wanted to make sure was
stated loud and clear.
“Dating Cecilia is out of the question, so don’t even think about it.
Any questions?”
“Yeah, one.” The delinquent leans forward and looks Carlos straight
in the eye with a mischievous smirk. “What happens when I break one
of your fuckin’ rules?”
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