"Are you sure you want to do this?" June asked her friend quietly as they entered the apartment of the two brothers.
"Diving into bed with that hot guy? Absolutely," she smirked.
June couldn't shake off the unrest she was feeling. She knew her friend wasn't as careful as she was, but she still wanted to protect her from more pain. What if she would fall in love with Mateo now, instead of Emilio? That was just as hopeless. Maybe Mateo would be more clear about what he wanted — or especially about what he didn't want — but she still might get hurt. June couldn't imagine such an intimate act wouldn't create a bond, and that they would still be able to see each other in they way they did now.
"Don't worry Junie," Jordy winked. "I can handle him."
Excitedly she walked further into the room. With a gnawing feeling in her stomach June followed her. It sounded like madness; that her friend would sleep with Mateo to make Emilio jealous. Jordy believed it was an amazing idea, June however was much more skeptical. She however didn't know what else to say. It was Jordy's choice, and she couldn't do much but accept it and hope that Jordy wouldn't regret it too much. Even if this was some magical eyeopener to Emilio, she couldn't imagine this was a good base for a relationship, and she couldn't shake off the feeling that Mateo was taking advantage of the situation, even when they were both honest about their intentions.
Let it go, she told herself when she wished the others a goodnight and headed to Juan's room. He followed not much later.
"I asked E to hang out tomorrow morning," Juan smirked, closing the door behind him. "Can't wait to see his face."
June couldn't care less about his face. "As long as we won't hear them," she muttered. She couldn't think of anything more distasteful.
"I'll put on some music." Juan crossed the room, opened the cd player and a second later Motörhead blasted out of the speakers.
June took her nightie from her bag, freshened up in the bathroom and slid under the blankets. The bed was twice as large as Juan's former bed, although she still had to get used to the mattress. She had slept here only one time before.
Juan crawled next to her in bed and turned his face towards her. Softly, his lips touched hers and he smiled at her. She laid a hand against his chest, across his heart.
What was going on in his head? Did he hate the fact that his brother would get from Jordy what he wanted from her for so long? June was still in the middle of forgiving him for what he had done to Erik. They hadn't gone further than kissing the past weeks, but Juan never pushed for more and she was glad about it. He gave her the space she needed, even though she knew he missed the intimacy. She missed it too, but things were still a little strained between them .
Snuggling up to him, she looked into his eyes. "I love you," she told him — for she never doubted her feelings for him.
He smiled, planting a kiss on her nose. "Love you too."
It had been a night she would always remember. It felt like Mateo had needed only one kiss to know what fantasies she secretly had, and he had made them come true in a way that still made her breathing falter.
She woke up by his fingers stroking her hair, a tender gesture she had never expected from him. Actually, she always thought he would barely look at the girls he slept with next morning. Or were things different now because she was June's friend?
"E's already inside," he said with a wink. He leaned towards her, pecked her lips and got up to clothe himself.
Jordy sat up straight too and took some time to watch his body before it disappeared underneath his clothes. If Juan was a little like his brother, June never needed to complain about her sex life. She put on her clothes too, and she was still putting her striped stockings on when Mateo left the room.
"Mornin' E," Mateo's nonchalant voice sounded. "You had a good Thanksgivin'?"
Jordy bit back a smirk and left the bedroom.
"Morning," she said to no one in particular, without aiming her eyes directly at Emilio. Once she did, she feigned surprise. "Hey. Didn't expect to see you here."
Emilio's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. "You didn't expect me here? What the hell are you doin' here?"
"Jordy was my company for the night." Mateo winked at the younger boy, moved closer to him and whispered something Jordy couldn't hear.
Emilio's eyes grew even wider while he stared at her, and she even thought to see him blush. Quietly chuckling she headed to the kitchen, where June was preparing breakfast.
She greeted her with a short nod. The look in her eyes was still concerned, maybe even a bit disappointed. Jordy wondered what was really going on in her head. Did she believe it was a desperate act to use Mateo — or to let him use her — to attract Emilio's attention? Well, maybe it was. But she thought Mateo was hot, and if there had been anyone to whose skills between the sheets she'd been curious, it was him. And he hadn't disappointed her — not at all.
"Did you sleep well?" Jordy asked. "Or did we keep you awake?" She couldn't hold back a teasing grin. There were already too many things June worried about, this shouldn't be an addition to that list.
"Juan put on some music," June muttered.
"I thought you might have made your own music." She wiggled her eyebrows.
June dropped her eyes, her cheeks turning red.
"Not yet," she said almost inaudible.
Jordy nodded slowly, she didn't want to rush her friend. She shouldn't do anything she wasn't absolutely sure of. June had told her she and Juan had been in a serious fight, a few weeks ago. She hadn't been willing to share any details, and Jordy hadn't insisted. She knew it had something to do with Erik, so that might be the reason she hadn't said too much about it.
"So... Where can I find bread?" Jordy asked, changing the subject.
June opened a cupboard and pointed to the top shelf. Jordy took out the basket, buttered the bread and took the strawberry jam from the shelf, then she sat down with the guys at the dinner table.
The weather was good today, so they decided to go to the park. Mateo decided to stay at home, he had to make some arrangements for the company he was starting. The boys had taken a ball with them which they were kicking towards each other now while June and she were sitting in the grass. She wouldn't mind to join the guys, but she knew June hated ball sports and she didn't want to leave her on her own. Furthermore it was entertaining to see how the two were showing off their skills, and every time Emilio's eyes shot to hers when he did some trick, her stomach tickled. Would one night with Mateo really have changed his opinion about her? It sounded so far-fetched, but at the same time she knew that Mateo was his role model. If the guy told him to jump in the river, he would do it without hesitating.
"Yesterday was nice, hmm," she said to June. "You found it hard to introduce Mateo to your family?"
June had pulled up her legs and wrapped her arms around her knees while she watched the boys, although she turned her face aside now.
"I was nervous. I'm not sure why; I didn't think he would cause trouble or something. But I haven't seen him around other people a lot and I thought he might scare my sisters." A smile crossed her lips. "But I guess he's more of a family man than I always thought."
"And than he probably thought," Jordy chuckled.
The two boys flopped down next to them, pulling the bag close in which they'd put some soda cans. Almost synchronously, they moved the cans to their mouths.
"What about you, lazybones," Emilio said. "You're gettin' some exercise today or will you sit on that lazy ass all day?"
"I've had my exercise tonight," she answered, moving her eyebrows up and down. "And I have a judo match by the end of the day."
"Judo," Emilio huffed. "With that skinny body of yours?"
"You think you'll stand a chance against this skinny body of mine?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.
"I would be afraid to break you in two."
She laughed, it sounded mocking. "Sounds like the lame excuse of a boy who's afraid to lose to a girl."
"I'm not," he huffed.
She got up. "Show me. Try to get me down on the ground."
His eyes shot to Juan, as if his friend needed to give him permission first.
"Go ahead," his friend smirked. "Give us a good show."
Emilio muttered something she couldn't hear, then he got up. Taking a few steps away from the others, they turned to face each other. The expression on Emilio's face told her he had no idea what to do. When she tried to grab him, he didn't do much more than slapping her hands away.
"This is not boxing," she laughed. "Stop slapping me."
He seemed a little stunned, and she quickly grabbed his shoulders and tackled him. Before he could blink his eyes, he was on his back on the ground.
"We had barely started!" he objected.
She held out a hand to help him on his feet, but he ignored her and got up himself. Once again they positioned themselves across from each other. This time he grabbed her shoulders too and tried to push her over. She looked in his eyes, which told her he still had no idea what he was doing. She tried to hook her foot around his again, but this time he responded on her move and stepped aside, trying to disturb her balance.
Laughing, she turned aside, wrapping an arm around his shoulders to force his head closer. With a hip swing she got him back on the ground, while she ended up on top of him to hold him there.
"And? You admit that I'm better than you thought I'd be?"
He pulled a face; suddenly there was a sly smirk on his lips. Clutching an arm around her, he rolled her over so she was the one at the bottom.
"Maybe I just wanted to end it like this," he answered.
"Yeah? You like to be on top? I can tell you that I —"
She couldn't finish her sentence; suddenly his lips were upon hers. She was so blindsided she didn't respond immediately, but once her own tongue glided across his bottom lip, her own tongue came to life too and she kissed him back. Her hand glided to the back of his head, afraid that he only wanted to tease her and would stop soon, her other hand was still on his back.
But he didn't pull back his face; he deepened the kiss and his fingers even stroked her jaw in a way causing goosebumps. She felt all wet inside — it was hard to believe that Emilio Sanchez was really kissing her in the middle of the park.
As if he had heard that thought, he let go of her lips. Instead of pushing her away, he moved them to her ear and whispered: "You've never been this quiet."
Before she could answer, he pressed his lips on hers again. Teasingly she tugged his bottom lip with her teeth, then she tightened her grasp around him and rolled him over so she was on top again. She didn't continue the kiss; instead her face floated above his while she stared him in the eye.
He looked back in a way that was new to her. Not in a judging or mocking way; he actually looked sweet.
"I'm going to regret this so much," she muttered.
And then, she kissed him again.