Page 27 of Fixed Up Ever After
“Just my papá. We don’t have any immediate family close by and Camilia’s maternal grandparents live in Puebla so they don’t see her much.” There was a story there, one that Lola was not yet privy to. She wanted to know and wondered how much Javi would tell her, but she didn’t feel like this was the place to bring it up.
She moved their discussion into what she hoped was more neutral territory. “Have you always wanted to be a father?”
His features softened, eyes crinkling in the corner. There was a soft peacefulness in his expression and not for the first time Lola wished she could catch a glimpse inside his mind. “I knew I wanted to be a papá, but Camilia was an unexpected blessing. My fiancée at the time, Estella, and I had just fallen in love and were starting our lives together when we found out she was pregnant.
“When Camilia was born, I knew that this is what God, or fate, or whatever you believe in, had in store for me. I was chosen to be her papá and I take my job very seriously. She’s been my greatest gift and it’s so fun to watch her grow into her big personality.”
The love behind each of his words when he spoke of his daughter, tugged on her heartstrings. Every child deserved a father like Javi. “She is a special little girl. I hope she comes around to the bookstore more,” she said and was surprised to find that she meant it.
A man with a greasy off-white apron soon approached their table, cutting off any reply Javi might have said. He said something in Spanish that Lola didn’t understand, but it made Javi laugh. He then placed down the tastiest-looking tacos in front of her, with a side of broth for dipping. Like a dog, she salivated, nearly panting from the meaty aroma.
Maverick reached across the table and placed a large pile of napkins down in front of her. “You’re going to need these.” And he was right. The first bite she took after dipping the tacos into the broth, sent juices straight down her arms, all the way to her elbows.
Before she could grab the napkin to clean herself up, Javi beat her to it. He trailed the napkin down her forearm, making sure to soak up every last drop. Heat blossomed on her skin where he touched. There was no hiding the physical reaction her body had for him.
“Careful, preciosa, wouldn’t want you to ruin that beautiful dress.” Javi’s voice sounded right in her ear and butterflies erupted within her belly. Her cheeks reddened and if Javi noticed, he didn’t comment—thankfully. She took another bite, more carefully this time, and kept the mess at a minimum.
The music soon died down as a female voice came over the speaker. “Señoras y señores, welcome to another night of bingo!” Loud cheering answered the woman’s voice and Lola found herself cheering alongside them. “We will be getting started in just a few minutes. Make sure your cards are out in front of you and your markers are working. Any problems and one of our employees will come to help you. Just raise your hand.”
The music turned on after that and begrudgingly, Lola pushed her food to the side to spread out her cards. She must have looked nervous because Javi placed a hand on her thigh and Lola had to squeeze her legs together. “Don’t worry. I’ll help you. It can be a lot to look over at once.”
“Just don’t try to cheat me out of my prize.”
The man’s cocky smile made her forget his sister and her husband were sitting right in front of them. “Oh, I would never.”
Her cheeks ached from all the damn smiling she was doing around him. No man had the right to be this smooth. Neither one of them addressed the hand on her leg and she wasn’t in a rush to move him away. He brought her comfort and she wasn’t one to turn that down.
After a few minutes and once the employees of the parlor made sure everyone had the necessary tools, the woman came back on stage, dressed in a metallic silver dress that reminded Lola of a disco ball. She once again wondered what she had gotten herself into, but since everyone else seemed to be chill with the talking disco ball lady, so was she.
Disco Lady didn’t hold back. As soon as she started calling numbers, it was a mad dash to mark them off, and multiple times Javi had to take over one of her cards to make sure that all the numbers were scratched off. She had gotten so close to bingo multiple times and groaned when someone called out a bingo while she was one or two spots away.
The only time Lola had to eat and enjoy her margarita was between passing out cards, and even then it was only a minuscule amount of time. They didn’t fuck around with their games here.
The next round of bingo started off slow. None of her three cards had much of anything and she muttered a curse under her breath. She didn’t know where this newfound competitiveness was coming from, but apparently, bingo brought out the need to dominate her opponents.
After a few more calls, Lola looked down to realize she was only one away on all three of her cards. Her excitement took over and she accidentally elbowed Javi in the ribs. She ignored his grunt of pain and grabbed his arm, the nervous-excited energy getting to her. Her body buzzed as Disco Lady called out another number. “B-19!”
Lola scoured her three cards and found the number on one of them. She blinked once, then twice, because… “You won!” Javi beamed, causing both Ofelia and Maverick to look over at her cards.
Ofelia gasped the moment she saw the bingo. “You won!” she repeated what her brother said. “You have to say bingo, Lola. Get your prize!”
If she hadn’t just been guzzling the largest margarita known to man between games, she probably wouldn’t have been comfortable raising her hand and screaming, “Bingo!” at the top of her lungs. But the alcohol coursing through her veins brought out her extrovert side and she didn’t mind all the eyes on her, even some of the pissed ones because she called out bingo before they did.
“We have ourselves a bingo! Let’s go check.” Disco Lady said, sauntering off the stage and walking over to Lola’s table. She shimmied her way between Javi and her, leaning down to check out her cards. Less than a minute passed before Disco Lady grinned and straightened her posture. “A winner!” she announced and the crowd erupted into cheers, Javi and Maverick whistling as if she had just performed an amazing stunt, while Ofelia whooped.
Digging into her chest, Disco Lady produced a gift card. “Here you go, muñeca.” She winked, handing over the card that was once nestled between her boobs. Lola tried not to think about that and dampen the moment.
“Congratulations, preciosa!” Javi smiled and then as if acting on instinct, leaned in to place a soft kiss on her cheek. It happened so fast that neither could react. She felt the moment Javi realized what he did because he tensed, slowly pulling back. “Uh, sorry. I wasn’t thinking—”
Before he could pull further away and finish his sentence, her own instincts kicked in and she grabbed his wrist, pulling him back and placing a soft kiss on his lips. Just like that. She didn’t even second-guess herself. At least not much because it felt right.
“Here, I want you to have this.” She handed him the gift card. His smile instantly vanished and it took her a moment to realize how that might have looked. She didn’t want him thinking she thought he needed the money more than she did. “For Camilia,” she clarified, “let her buy a toy or two. That’s a far better use of the money than what I could use it for.”
Hearing his daughter’s name made him relax. “That is very sweet of you. Thank you. She is going to love it.” He tucked the gift card away in his jacket pocket, securing it with his zipper.
“This calls for a celebration. Next round of drinks on me. Lola, another margarita?” Maverick asked, standing up and stretching his tall body.
“Yeah, but maybe something a tad smaller? I still have to drive home.” She laughed.
