Delgano: A Dark Contemporary Interracial Romance

“I don’t want it.”

She cocked her head to the side. “You said ‘it,’ but I heard ‘you.’ You don’t want ‘me.’ Is that it?”

“Do attachment issues make you hear words people didn’t say?”

“No man in his right mind would stop head freely being offered. Good head, mind you.”

“Then I’m not in my right mind.”

He looked at her hand.

She snatched it away. “Is it because Sayeda’s a virgin? I know some guys are into that whole ‘deflowering’ mess, but I’m clean.”

“And what does a dirty person look like? I’m sure, to some people, my mother was dirty.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Pick a different word. And no, that’s not why I like her.” If that had been the case, he would have stopped liking her a few hours ago. Instead, he peered at the convenience store, wondering what the hell was taking Trevor so long. He and Sayeda didn’t have a way to communicate, and he didn’t want her to think he wouldn’t return to her.

“I’m glad we were wrong,” she said.

“About what?”

“Look at you.” She pointed to his leg. “You’re fidgeting. You can’t wait to get back.”

He calmed his knee. “I miss her.”

“You should’ve told Trevor to pick something up you could take back for her.”

“Nothing from here.”

Trevor laughed as he left the store, a paper bag tucked inside his elbow. Fighting the urge to start fidgeting again, Adrían pressed the back of his head against the seat.

Trevor climbed inside the truck and extended two glass bottles over the middle console. “Here you go. It was either sodas or candy, but I don’t know what you two like. I’ve only just adopted you, and I’ve never been a dad before.”

Hannah swatted his arm before taking the bottles. She placed one in the cupholder and twisted the top off the other.

“Everything okay, kid?” Trevor asked.

“He’s restless,” Hannah answered. “Wants to get back to Sayeda.”

“Really? See, I know I liked you, kid. Word of advice? Just let whatever twitch or fidget wants to happen, happen. When I first started missing Lilly, I used to do the same, and it made missing her worse.”

Adrían turned to the window.

His toe tapped in his shoe.

Someone must have told Sayeda they were on their way back because she was ready and packed when they arrived. He barked at Hannah to return to the front seat—she didn’t deserve his ire, but he was in a particular mood—and Sayeda slid in next to him.

When they were halfway, he took her hand and slid their fingers together, finally, after thinking about it since she entered the truck. She responded with a firm squeeze.

At the villa, they gave her a room on the second floor, one door down from the boys. He showered, even though he, Trevor, and Hannah had little to no blood on them. And before he could go to her, Sayeda waited for him when he left the bathroom, the room shrouded in its familiar darkness.

As much as he wanted to make love to her again, he knew she had to be more tender than if it had been their fourth or fifth time. So, he dressed, climbed into bed, and kissed her until she lay on her back.

Shortly after, she fell asleep.

Sleep called for him, but he lay awake for a moment, his thoughts like a sports car zipping through the streets of Monaco.