Page 130 of Embriagado

I frowned at her. “Didn’t you once say he’s a sweetheart?”

Not lifting her eyes off the cutting board, she shrugged. “Well, yeah, but it’s not like he’s interacting with me or any of the other staff unless it’s work related. He’s polite, beautiful, and charming, but also extremely inaccessible. In fact, until you, he didn’t bother to hire an assistant manager. I just assumed he preferred doing all the work himself.”

Well, he still did all the work himself, considering he gave me nothing to do. And even though I knew the only reason I got this promotion was due to him wanting to keep a close eye on me while I fought for him in an underground fight club, Imani’s words still made me feel a bit of self-satisfaction. Knowing I was different in his eyes—even if for the wrong reasons—was real fucking sweet.

Well, you can’t be picky. I’ll hurt you however I please.

Just remembering that dinner we shared last week made me smile from ear to ear, and I couldn’t wait for Saturday’s fight so we’d have another date. Fine, so maybe it wasn’t a date, but it was still something. I mean, Imani herself just said Ariyan was extremely inaccessible. And while she was absolutely right, it did seem like, slowly, he was opening up to me.

“Oh no,” Imani sighed.

“What?”

“That smile.” She pointed at me. “You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?”

I got up from the barstool I was sitting on until now. “Have no clue what you’re talking about.”

“I’m talking about you and your dumb crush. I thought you were over him.”

“Again, no clue what you’re on about.”

Shaking her head, she began collecting all of the lemon slices into a metal container.

“Why can’t you just give up on this hopeless love? I mean, you have that sexy, cute ex of yours. Why not just go back to him and save yourself the heartache?”

Thinking about it, Gabe did text me the other day. Only I didn’t bother to text him back.

“You date him,” I told her.

“If only. Unfortunately, I’m lacking the right parts.”

“Who knows, if you make a move, he might just go for it. I might have.”

“Yeah?” She challenged me with a raised brow, but the flirtatious smile she gave me made me crack.

“Nah, too gay.”

She hit me with a wet towel in return.

“But hey, Gabe might not be⁠—”

“Just go away,” she groaned, but the smile on her face gave her away.

“I was just about to.”

We both exchanged goodbyes before I went on my way. Since I literally had no tasks on my plate, I just wandered around the hotel for a while, killing time until I could go off to the boxing gym for some training.

First stopping in the hotel’s kitchen to grab a bite, I then went down to the hotel’s private beach. Nothing felt as good as the sun this time of the year. That was one of the perks of living in Miami Beach—perfect weather in winter. Most places got blizzards and snowstorms, but not us. Sure, it rained sometimes and got a bit chilly, but having a break from the humidity and heat was a nice change. Thinking about it, Christmas was just around the corner.

While most people were hyped over the holidays, Nacio and I weren’t so much. Those were times to spend with family, but when you’d lost half of what you once had, that empty space felt even bigger than usual. Still, even though we didn’t have our parents with us, we still celebrated. I mean, Thanksgiving was kinda nice, as Dolores invited us like she always did. Having to sit next to Gabriel the whole evening was a bit awkward, but it was nothing a plateful of his mom’s cooking couldn’t make up for. Maybe I should reply to his text… or maybe not.

Closing my eyes, I shrugged the thought away and instead enjoyed the sunrays warming my skin. With the sound of the ocean in the background, all I could think of was him glancing at me over his shoulder, his pale neck exposed, daring me to leave my mark on it. He really has such a pretty neck. Although he could use a bit of a tan. But then again, with such fair skin, he was probably the kind to get burned fast. Did he even go to the beach? I should ask him that. Actually, I should ask him what he liked to eat, too. Last week, he didn’t seem interested in burgers, so maybe on Saturday, we’d hit a restaurant he enjoyed. I bet he had a sophisticated palate. I mean, everything about him was sophisticated, so it only made sense.

Without noticing, an hour flew by, and seeing how it was time for me to go home, I got off the sand and began making my way back to the hotel. I’d clock out first and maybe stop at his office before leaving. Sadly, I’d hardly seen him this week. But that wasn’t new. Whenever we were at the hotel, he was so busy.

Why did I seek him out so hard?

I sighed at the thought because clearly, I hadn’t changed one bit since being a kid. I’d always wanted what I couldn’t have. Only back then, it was a puppy for Christmas, and now… yeah, there was nothing puppy-like about that crazy white-haired psycho. The guy was vicious, cruel, mean, and violent—the complete opposite of the guys I was usually attracted to.