Breaking Down (The Breaking Series)

by Smith, Calista

  “Mmkay.” I patted his hand and left to get Natalia.

  “Mind if I borrow her a second?” I barged into Nat and Aiden’s sweaty dance.

  “No, go ahead, I got to take a piss.” Aiden laughed.

  Nat and I walked back to the table. She kicked her heels off . “What’s up?”

  “So, Dante and I are going to go— talk.” I said.

  “Talk?” She asked, her eyes worried.

  “Yea.” My nerves were on edge as the butterflies took flight in my tummy again.

  “Where?” I couldn’t read her mood. I pointed like I had with Dante. “Oh.” She seemed to be thinking it over. “Hold on.” She went to her purse and grabbed something. “Here, just in-case.” She pushed the condom into the palm of my hand. I was trembling. “You sure about this, Rock?”

  “It’s time I tell him the truth. It doesn’t mean that things are going to change. I just think that if I don’t, I’ll regret it more than if I do.”

  “Do you love him?” She asked.

  “I do.” I said without hesitating.

  “Things are going to change. It’s a big step, Raquel. You can’t take it back once it’s over.” She said.

  “I know.” I nodded.

  “Ok. Be careful.” She put her hand on my heart as her eyes grew glossy. “Awe, my little girl is growing up.” She laughed. My eyes began tearing up too.

  “What are you two over here crying about?” Aiden put his arms around us.

  “Nothing. Dante and Rocky are going to get back together.” She smiled at him.

  “No shit?” He sounded excited. “What about Malachi?” I could tell he genuinely liked him. I pointed to the dance floor, where Val and Malachi were back at it again. “Aaaahh.” He laughed. Nat made a little worried look and I knew she was worried about how he would react once she told him she had been keeping that secret for me. “Where’s Dante?” He looked around.

  “I don’t know, he told me to wait for him here.” I looked around.

  “I’m right here.” He walked up between Nat and Aiden.

  “You, come with me.” Nat put her finger to his chest and drug him off with her.

  “Uh Oh.” I looked at Aiden.

  “Get him, babe!” He encouraged her. “So, you guys finally came to your senses?” He turned to look at me.

  “I wouldn’t go that far.” I laughed.

  “Yea, well. Whatever you two are up to, I hope it works out.” He hugged me.

  “Me too.” I felt bad we hadn’t told Aiden the truth before this. But there was no way he would have gone along with our stupid operation fake boyfriend.

  Nat returned Dante to me, putting our hands together. “Ok you two, go. Get outta here. But if your butt doesn’t come to Aiden’s tonight, there is hell to pay. Do you hear me, young lady?”

  “Yes Mom.” I hugged her.

  Dante and I linked our pinkies and walked towards the lobby of the hotel. He looked at me and smiled. I wasn’t nervous at this point. I was actually at ease, surprisingly. I was carrying my heels in my other hand and when he started to walk towards the door to leave I hesitated.

  “What’s wrong?” He looked at me.

  “I thought, it’s just, I thought.” I looked back towards the check in counter.

  He looked at me. The look on his face, when he realized what I thought, was priceless.

  “Oh, oh, well, I thought you wanted to talk.” He said, stumbling over his words a little.

  “Talk? Well, yea, I want to talk, but I thought you wanted to go up there to do it.” I was completely embarrassed now. Welcome back nerves. “I don’t mean do it, it. But to—”

  Saving me from myself, he said, “Let’s go to Aiden’s.”

  “Ok.” I didn’t want to look at him, I felt so stupid.

  “Come here.” He pulled me into his arms and hugged me tight. Before letting me go, he placed a kiss on my forehead. I felt much better. “My dad’s here.”

  “Your dad?” I got all awkward again.

  “Yea, I called him. We couldn’t exactly take the limo.” He explained.

  “But your dad?” I worried.

  “Its okay, Rock. You have stayed the night at my house before, it’s not like he’s going to worry if we are alone together.” He laughed at how embarrassed I was. “Let’s go.” He pulled me by the hand and walked to the car, where Mr. King was waiting in the circular drive of the front of the hotel.

  “Miss Garcia.” He dipped his head at me.

  “Mr. King.” I practically croaked, climbing into the backseat.

  He laughed lightly. “Too much dancing, huh?”

  “Yea, she’s quite the dancing queen.” Dante teased.

  I smacked the back of his head. I suddenly felt his hand on my ankle. He reached back between the passenger door—behind his seat— and was rubbing it. I leaned forward grabbing hold of his hand and rubbing his fingers with mine. My stomach was turning and my nerves were completely heightened. We pulled up to Aiden’s house a while later and I slipped my heels back on while Dante thanked his dad.

  CHAPTER 25

  “You hungry? We can order some pizza.” He smiled.

  “No. No thank you.” I fiddled with my fingers in front of me.

  “You thirsty?” He asked.

  “Water, please.” I walked over to the couch and removed my heels again, placing them neatly to the side of the couch. I was so worried about how he would react once he knew the truth.

  He grabbed two water bottles and came to sit next to me. “So.” He looked at me, his eyes intense.

  “So.” I smiled.

  “You look absolutely beautiful tonight.” He said softly.

  “Thank you.”

  He embarrassed me when he looked at me like that. Reaching forward, he moved my hair behind my shoulder. “I could not believe my eyes when I walked into your house, tonight. You shocked me.” He gazed into my eyes.

  “Shut up.” I looked down, avoiding his eyes. He lifted my chin moving closer, bringing his lips close to mine, but not touching.

  “May I?” I nodded. He gave me a gentle kiss. I felt his soft tongue graze across my lips. I parted them, inviting his kiss to deepen. He swiftly swept his tongue along mine and then pulled back. “What did you mean earlier tonight?”

  “When?” I quickly tried to think back on the things I had said.

  “When you asked about getting out of there? You shocked me.” He said staring at me.

  “I shocked myself.” I said.

  “You know we don’t have to go there. I mean I’m all for it, but I don’t want you to think we have to. I know its prom night and it’s kind of the cliché thing people talk about, but it’s not necessary.”

  “I know.” I pause a bit as I work up the courage to say what I need to. “Dante, there’s something you should know. Something I’ve been lying to you about.”

  I could not distinguish exactly how he was feeling after I told him the truth about Malachi. He sucked in his bottom lip and a small hissing sound came from his mouth. He stood quiet for a long while and I had to take a gulp of water to keep my throat from closing. He reached back rubbing his head and then sat forward, his elbows on his knees. I watched him rub the neatly trimmed goatee that he allowed to grow in. Finally he sat back and looked at me, his eyes searching my face.

  “I forgive you.”

  My heart dropped. Did he say he forgave me? I didn’t know what I expected. I looked at him, the tears overwhelming my eyes. “I love you, Dante. No matter how much I tried to deny it, to will it not to be true, I couldn’t stop. I know it was stupid and childish of me. It’s the only way I thought I could get you to move on.” I repeated what I said to him before. “But it was wrong. No matter the reason, it was wrong. I shouldn’t have lied to you. All this time I didn’t know if I could forgive you for lying to me and I never realized I was doing the exact same thing to you. I’m so sorry.”

  “I know. I’m sorry too.” He grabbed my hands and twisted his fingers w
ith mine. Meeting his gaze, I realized in that moment that all along my heart had been full of Dante. He had taken up the space in there and it belonged solely to him, forever and always.

  I scooted closer to him and then readjusted my dress. The bad thing about wearing a strapless dress is it wanted to fall down. “Leave it.” He swept his fingers along the tops of my breasts. I felt a trail of blazing heat glide across where his fingers had been. I stared at his lips, willing him to kiss me again. “Don’t look at me like that. You have no idea what you do to me when you look at me like that.” He strained.

  “What?” I faked innocence, knowing all too well what I was doing.

  He closed the gap quickly, taking me into his lap and kissed me with so much passion and hunger as our bodies collided, as if making up for lost time. He lifted my hair and ran his tongue from my ear down my neck to my collar bone then bit lightly. That sent shivers all over my body. I felt his hands fumble with the zipper at the back of my dress. The front fell slightly, revealing my hardened nipples. He took one of my breasts into his hand— it filled his hand perfectly— as he bent down and took my other into his mouth. The heat pooled up in my belly and below.

  “Dante,” I said breathlessly. He looked up, lips still busy. “What about Aiden and Nat—”

  “I texted, in the car, he’s going to stall, go eat.” He gave me a clipped explanation, as he worked his tongue.

  “Mmkay.” I wrapped my hands around the back of his head and threw my head back. He was driving me crazy. We kissed and touched and moved together; our bodies teasing and tantalizing one another.

  “Raquel,” He pulled back, exhaling loudly. “I don’t have— I need to go to Aiden’s room.” He began to lift me off his lap.

  “Wait!” I didn’t mean to shout, but I remembered Nat in that moment. I spun to the side and grabbed my purse reaching in and pulling out what she had given me. I placed it in his hand.

  His eyes narrowed. “Why do you have that?”

  “Nat gave it to me.” Realizing what it looked like, I explained quickly. “Before we left, when she knew we were going to leave. She wanted to make sure I had it, just in case.”

  He visibly relaxed. “Oh.”

  “Oh.” I mocked him kissing him again. He quickly returned to kissing me. After a few minutes he began to lay me back onto the couch. I instead slipped off his lap and stood up, wiggling slightly, allowing my dress to fall to my feet. Embarrassed I immediately jumped back to the couch to lie down. He laughed at how silly I was and then grabbed the throw blanket that was on the back of the couch.

  “Are you sure about this?” He looked into my eyes. I nodded, nervous. He leaned in again to kiss me, this time his hands wandered. When he found my panties he moved them to the side exploring my reactions to what was happening. I was sure he wouldn’t be disappointed. I had never been so worked up in my life. As I suspected, he was pleased. He groaned into my mouth as we kissed. I concentrated on kissing him, every now and again I would open my eyes and look at him, because I could feel him maneuvering around and I was curious. Eventually his moving stopped as he hovered above me.

  He kissed me softly once, twice, and then looked at me, “You’re sure?” I nodded again. “I need you to say it, Raquel.”

  “Yes, I’m sure, Dante.” I smiled shyly. He leaned in a little pulling down on my panties. I moved my legs around, wiggling and helping to get them off. They were almost off, but stuck to one foot. I used my toes to grab at the material and pulled, kicking them somewhere on the ground.

  “I love you.” He smiled. I was going to reply, when I felt him entering me. I opened my legs a little further, urging him forward. He moved gently taking his time and I tried to speed it up, wanting to get over any initial pain, but he stayed steady and so I squeezed my eyes shut.

  “Are you okay, baby?” He placed gentle kisses on my lips, forehead, eyes and nose. I nodded as he rested his forehead to mine. “Did I hurt you?”

  “A little bit.” It hurt a lot more than I expected. Nat was right, when she described it in detail to me after her first time with Aiden. Thankfully she also said it got better. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him to me.

  “You are so beautiful.” He kissed me again. I nuzzled up to his mouth, taking in the moment. He let his head fall lazily onto me, “Do you regret it?” He asked, as he lay on my chest.

  “Not at all.” And that was the truth. I didn’t regret it. I was happy that it was Dante. It was right. It was perfect.

  “I got to get up. You probably want to use the restroom. I’ll grab you something to change into, if you want. You can, uh, grab a shower.” He seemed concerned.

  “Okay.” I felt awkward, exposed. How silly, I just had sex with him, but I didn’t want him looking at me fully naked.

  I wrapped the blanket he tucked under me, around me and sat up as he got off of the couch. He pulled on his boxers and hurried off to the restroom. I immediately got up and grabbed my clothes and headed upstairs to the shower. Walking felt awkward, I was a little sore.

  I found the towels and started the shower. Once the water warmed I removed the throw and dropped it to the ground. That’s when I noticed a small smear of blood. Oh my God! I was bleeding! On Aiden’s throw! How embarrassing. I hope to God it didn’t get on the couch. I picked up the blanket folding it quickly, placed it back onto the floor and hurried into the warm shower. Once I was in there I began to cry. I had no idea why. I hadn’t been pressured into it. It felt right. I was happy it was Dante. I knew he loved me and I loved him too. Suddenly, I realized the enormity of what we had done. I was no longer a virgin. I slept with Dante. I couldn’t take it back. It’s not that I wanted to; it was the knowing that I couldn’t. No, I didn’t have any regrets in that moment, but I was worried I could develop some later. Hell, we hadn’t even talked about what this meant for us. Were we actually boyfriend and girlfriend now? The school year was about to end and we had plans that didn’t include each other. What now? I washed myself and then silently cried a little more but stopped when I heard the door open.

  “Rocky?” He asked.

  “Yes.” My voice cracked.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yea I’m fine.” I smiled, he was worried.

  “I, uh, got you some things to change into. They’re mine, so don’t worry okay? Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “Yes.”

  I heard him walk in further. He peaked into the shower and I immediately tried to cover up. “Are you really sure?”

  It was silly to hide myself from him, I know, but I was so embarrassed. “Yes, I’m sure, Dante.”

  “I love you, Raquel.”

  “I love you too Dante.”

  ***

  Once I got dressed. I walked out with my dress and the throw folded, “Uh, Dante—”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “The um, the throw, it has um—” I looked down, not knowing how to explain.

  Realizing what I was trying to say, he reached for it. “Oh, okay, don’t worry about it, that happens. That’s why I put it there, just in-case. I’ll take it with me.”

  “Thank you.” I smiled. “Can I put this with your stuff too?” I handed him my dress.

  “Yea here, my bags in Aiden’s room,” He grabbed it from me, leading me down the hall. We linked our pinkies and walked back down stairs. Dante walked over to the couch again. He seemed nervous. I wasn’t sure why since he had done this before.

  “Everything okay?” I looked at him.

  “Yea. I’m worried about you.”

  “I’m fine.” I reassured him.

  “But you cried.” I knew he caught that.

  “I got sensitive.” I looked down.

  “What’s wrong?” He grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at him.

  “I don’t know. I wish we discussed things between us, before I did it. Don’t get me wrong, I was going to do it either way. I wanted to be with you. I wish I knew where we stood, before.”

  �
�What do you want, where do you want us to stand?” He asked, waiting for my reply. Noticing my hesitation he pressed me, “Rock? Talk to me … please?” He grabbed my hands in his.

  “Are we together now?”

  “I sure hope so.” He was serious.

  “Okay. That’s all. I didn’t know.”

  “I would not have done that with you otherwise, Raquel. I respect you more than that.” He pulled me to him. “Look, I know I messed up before, but things are different now. Okay? I promise. I’m going to do right by you, Rock.”

  I hugged him, throwing myself onto his lap. “I love you Dante.”

  “I love you too, Rocky.”

  ***

  Our friends arrived soon after. Nat made a beeline to me linking our arms and marching me straight to Aiden’s room. She told me Aiden wasn’t mad. He understood her reasons and in light of his secret about Melanie and Dante, before, he really had no room to get upset. I gave her all the dirty details about Dante and me. She laughed at how silly I behaved about him seeing me naked. When she was satisfied I had left nothing out, she hugged me.

  Dante and Malachi talked things through and Malachi eventually won him over, like he had everyone else. After everyone went home, Aiden and Nat headed up stairs. Dante and I pulled out the bed from the couch in the living room and got comfortable.

  “Tired?” He pulled me into him, moving my hair off of my neck.

  “Kind of.” I scooted myself as close to his body as I possibly could.

  “Me too.”

  I totally felt him, hard against my back. Turning over I faced him and pulled him by his ears to my lips. We kissed slowly. “Did you … get more?” I was hesitant.

  “Yea, but if you’re too sore, it’s okay. We can wait. I brought it just in case, so we didn’t have to wake Aiden and Nat.” He said.

  We spent the rest of the night, into the morning, with our bodies tangled. We had ran out of condoms, since he only brought one other. But in the heat of passion, we didn’t let it stop us.

  The next morning, when Dante and Aiden made us breakfast, I told Nat what I had done. “Crap!” She gasped.

  “I know.” I grimaced.

  “You need to get on the pill, girl.” She seemed worried. “Well, don’t stress. I’m sure nothing will happen.”