Page 159 of Embriagado

“Well, I’ve already got a record.”

“Who cares⁠—”

I grabbed his shoulders. “I do, dumbass.”

He rolled his eyes, so I gave him a little shake. “Hey, what did I tell you about trouble?”

Averting his stare, he muttered something under his breath. Having none of that, I cupped his jaw and forced him to look at me.

“Ignacio.”

“You said to stay away from it.”

“Damn right I did.” I pointed at him. “And you better listen, or I’ll kick your fucking ass.”

He still seemed upset, with that cute little pout on his lips, but he’d always been this way. Ever since he was a baby, he followed me wherever I went, throwing the biggest tantrums when he couldn’t.

“Hey.” I moved my hand to the back of his neck. “One day, I’ll take you with me to a real fight, I promise.”

He scrunched his nose. “Whatever.”

“Come on, Nacio… don’t give me that look.” I stroked his cheek. “Besides, you have too much of a pretty face to get it fucked up in some lame fight, yeah?”

He lifted his stare off the floor to meet me, a hint of a smile on his lips.

“You’re right… I’m not ugly like you,” he muttered.

Smiling, I pulled him into a bear hug. “Watch who you’re calling ugly.”

“I can’t breathe,” he whined, tapping on my back until I finally let him go.

“How about we grab some dinner after my shift today?”

“Will you pay?”

“Don’t I always?”

He grinned like the greedy little brat he was.

This kid… I swore he’d end up marrying some old sugar mama in the end.

“Yeah, I’ll pay. But only if you help me clean the house.” I glanced around the place. “It looks like shit.”

“It always looks like shit.”

“Watch it.” I slapped his chest—just as a tease—and he winced. My brows pinched together because no way had I hit him that hard, and the way he immediately reached over to rub the spot awakened my suspicion.

“Nacio.”

“What?” He played dumb.

“Why did you jump like that?”

He shrugged. “Don’t know what you mean.”

I pointed at him. “When I touched you, you jumped like a little bitch.”

“Oh, that… Mhmm, I pulled a muscle. Anyway, I’ll go start cleaning up my room⁠—”