Page 62 of Fall For Me
Sean sits down beside me, the paper bag crunching as he pulls out our tacos, handing a couple of them to me before unwrapping his and taking a bite.
“Oh my god. Mmm,” he says, covering his mouth with his hand as he chews. “This reminds me of home. I didn’t think anyone could beat my mother’s tacos but this? Holy fuck. Don’t you dare ever tell her I said that. I don’t want to lie to her face, but I will.”
“Your secret’s safe with me.” I giggle, taking a sip of my beer. “Just wait till you try the menudo.”
“Now that’s where I draw the line.Nobodymakes menudo better than my mom. It’s a family recipe.”
“What’s your family like?”
“Mine? Umm . . . they’re crazy. And when I say crazy, I mean certifiably insane.”
“Really?”
“Eh . . .” His hand tilts side to side and he laughs. “With seven of us, there’s bound to be one or two that’s a little crazy.”
“Seven?! How did I not know that?”
He wipes his mouth with a napkin and falls silent for a second before his eyes meet mine, regret shining behind them.
“You’d be surprised to learn that out of all of us, I’m the asshole of the bunch.”
“No way.” I gasp in mock surprise, pulling a laugh out of him.
“Kind of had to be if I wanted to be heard. My older sisters; Isabella, Sofia, and Victoria, are loud as fuck. They talk ninety to nothing and never shut up. My baby sisters, Viviana, and Ashley were always fighting over everything, and I had to play referee. Then there's my younger brother, Mateo. He goes by Matt or Matty. I had to domost of the talking for him because he never really spoke at all . . . now I can’t get him to shut up.”
Growing up as an only child, I always wished that I had brothers and sisters. Someone to tell my secrets to or play with when the days and nights at the arena became long and boring.
“Matt plays for California, right? If I didn’t know hockey, I wouldn’t know he’s your brother.”
“Probably because we don’t look alike at all.”
That’s not why. It’s because he’s never spoken about his family to me. Every time I broached a subject about anything to do with his life, he shut that shit down . . . but I don’t say that. Instead, I keep my mouth shut and let him continue.
“He looks more like Dad. So do Sofia and Ashley. The rest of us look more like Mom. Well, I say that, but Viviana is an exception; she’s this perfect blend of them both with the most beautiful green eyes. Matty reminds me so much of Aiden. I think that’s why Aiden and I are so close.”
“Then I bet he kept your mom on her toes.”
“My mom kept him onhistoes. Still does.” He laughs, shoving our trash into the paper bag and setting it off to the side. “She’s like this five-foot-tall package of dynamite.”
Sean finishes up his tacos, and as he lies back, his head resting on his hand; his shirt rides up, showing off those delicious abs.
“What’s your dad like?”
“Dad’s a quiet, gentle giant of a man. I guess that’s why he and my mom work so well together. They’re completely opposite. Anyway, they met during the winter Olympics. She was a figure skater, and he played hockey for Team USA. The figure skaters and the hockey players don’t usually practice at the same rink, but I guess the facility his team was supposed to practice at had a maintenance issue and the ice was being resurfaced. Mom and Dad had some kind of run in about the team cutting her practice short, and she chewed my dad’s ass. As if he could do anything about it. He says it was love at first sight. She wanted the ice, and he wanted her, so he made a deal with her. If he couldn’t do a quadruple axel, he’d give her the ice, and if he could,well then, she owed him a date. Mom had no idea what she was getting herself into because Dad trained with a figure skater.”
“So, I take it he pulled off the axel?”
“He did.”
“That’s romantic.”
“If you think that’s romantic, you should hear my dad tell the story.”
I smile down at him, and he holds out his arm. “Come here.”
I lie down beside him, placing my head on his chest. With the traffic below as our playlist, he squeezes me a tighter, and God, it feels so good to be wrapped up in him. Why do I keep doing this to myself? To him? Tears well in my eyes, and before I can blink them back, one trickles down my temple, dripping onto his shirt. I never stood a chance.
“Sean?”
