Page 34 of High

I bit the inside of my bottom lip. I wasn’t sure if Thio was doing it on purpose, but he seemed to think I needed to eat more than I actually did, or maybe he thought I was skinnier than I should be? I was probably overthinking this.

“Yeah? I’d like that a lot. Thank you, Thio.” I couldn’t help the way I sounded like I’d been punched in the gut. I wanted to be myself, but myself had been far out of reach for a long time.

When he’d asked me if I wanted to go on vacation, I’d expected it to take a few days for that to happen, but no, only a few hours later he’d whisked me out of the house I’d barely settled into, past his Mamá, who had kissed my cheek with a confused frown, and out into the back of a spotless white Rolls Royce. Before, we used to drive around in a convertible, but this Rolls model had a top that seemed like it was reinforced when we got inside, and I wouldn’t have been surprised to learn it was bulletproof. Thio never mentioned it. In fact, he’d sat in back with me and been on phone call after phone call during the drive. He’d given me frowns of apology, though that hadn’t stopped him from ignoring me.

About an hour later, we’d pulled in here, and some of Thio’s men had hauled our luggage upstairs. And now we were blissfully alone, although I wasn’t stupid. There were probably men lurking on the ground floor near the staircase to the apartment, guns ready to draw.

Thio put a finger under my chin and tilted it so my face was angled more toward his. He stared at me for what felt like forever but probably wasn’t long. “Yes, I’ve got definite plans for you.” He slid his hand down my back in a lingering touch that had excited tingles skittering around in my stomach.

“Get ready to go.” He jerked his chin toward the balcony door that led inside. “I have a couple of things to see to before we can—”

“Take me now?”

“What?”

I glanced over my shoulder at the beach. The waves rolled like glass, and for a shocking moment it seemed like the entire ocean could shatter and fall away. Some fear churned in me, which I hated. “I won’t get over anything sitting around inside. I want to go out.” I forced myself to meet his gaze and hold steady under the searching look he drilled into me.

Thio sucked in a breath, then smiled and nodded. “Okay, anything you need, hermoso.”

So we got ready to go out. I showered fast to freshen up and then put on jeans and a soft yellow V-neck shirt. I tried to fight off my nerves at the simple act of spraying cologne on, something I always did before I left the house. The brown bottle fit in my palm and had me awash in memories. The scent was the brand I’d worn as a teenager, and while I wasn’t surprised to see the products I’d always liked at Thio’s house—my new home, if he was to be believed—it was weird that they were in the bathroom here. Was Thio paying that close attention to all of the things I might want? My hand trembled a little as I sat the bottle down on the bathroom counter. All this scrutiny was overwhelming since, until recently, I’d been only a little better than a forgotten piece of furniture.

I shook off my morose attitude, tried to convince myself I wouldn’t have the weird anxiety problems I’d been having if I just didn’t want to have them, and went out into the nautical-themed living room to meet Thio. He hadn’t changed, but he’d messed around with his hair so it was perfect again after the drive. He darted his gaze down my body, and I had an immediate visceral reaction, my stomach tightening and nipples peaking. He let out a soft little grunt and I smiled at him.

“Ready?” I asked.

“As ever.”

He grinned and opened the front door for me. I bumped my hip on the arm of the plush bone-white couch and rubbed at it as I went. Outside were the guards I’d been expecting all along, but I was surprised when they didn’t follow us down the stairs.

“They’re not going with us?” I asked.

“No need here.” He had the same smug smirk on his face he used to get when we were up to no good as kids, but it smoothed away fast as he gave me a charming smile. “Besides, I thought maybe you would enjoy the chance for us to be… ourselves. Unobserved.”

I swallowed so hard it hurt. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

We went down the stairs together, the backs of our hands brushing and our arms bumping. I wasn’t sure where we were going, and I expected to get back in the car; however, when we reached the ground level, Thio just wrapped his arm around my waist in a possessive way that sent streaks of soft heat bubbling through me. After one lingering, toe-curling kiss, we walked. It felt good to stretch my legs, even on the hardscape of the sidewalk while walking past the faux cannons and historical placards that littered the area. I couldn’t get over the warmth of the setting sun on my face and the cool wind in my hair. My heart kicked up and raced for a while, far beyond what it should have been doing for an easy stroll, but I just leaned against Thio and tried not to stress. We meandered through a residential neighborhood and came out of a side alley onto a small street lined with businesses. The window signs were bright, and the entire place had a definite seaside-tourist-spot vibe.

“Where would you like to eat?” He knocked his hip against mine. He bumped me again, and then once more until he had me chuckling. “There’s a very nice—”

“Oh, a taco truck!” I pointed at the rust-trap vehicle that was on the corner of the next block with a huge crowd of people surrounding it. “They’re eating there! It has to be good.”

Thio scowled at all the people and then raised an eyebrow at me. “That’s what you want for dinner? I was going to take you somewhere nice. Since….” He winced. “Since we haven’t shared much time together.” He sounded lame, and he must have known it, too, because he flushed a ruddy red that had me laughing.

“Thio, lighten up.” I whapped him on the gut with the back of my hand and he let out an overblown “umph,” though I doubted I’d actually hurt him. Happy to see something so stupidly familiar like a goddamned taco truck, I walked faster until I was almost sprinting. He huffed and raced to keep up with me.

We stood in line while Thio glared at anyone who stepped too close to me, which was over the top but had me snickering. We ordered tacos and stood there on the sidewalk eating them, dropping toppings on the ground while we shared a bottle of Coke back and forth between us. Some brave seagulls squawked their way over to run off with anything they could reach near our feet and we laughed at them. The food was excellent, and so far outside of the orbit of what I’d been eating recently that I moaned my way through most of it, which had Thio beaming dirty, half-lidded looks my way about every two seconds. That did the opposite of discouraging me.

He seemed fine with the situation.

We kept laughing at each other for no good reason, other than it was nice to be together again. This easy time alone also made me a little sad because I could see more of my Thio, the one who’d let me follow him around and had spent time with me, time that apparently he didn’t have to waste even back then. He used to burn entire days on the beach at my side. I liked this Thio better than the one he needed to be in order to act as eljefe.

Stuffing the last of my taco into my mouth, I sighed happily at the final burst of spicy sauce and crumpled the wrapper. Somehow I had smeared myself with hot sauce, and Thio must have noticed my dilemma because he snatched a pile of napkins from the truck. He shook his head and gestured to me to hurry up as I tossed the garbage into a nearby trash can.

“What are you doing?” I asked, and snickered as he snagged one of my hands.

“Quiet.”

Thio wiped my fingers clean for me, something that was strangely intimate. When he was done, he kissed me, and I sighed into the touch. The sweetness of the Coke lingered in his mouth, and I swiped my tongue across his lips, searching for it.