She had hung a full-length mirror on the back of the bedroom door and she had looked at herself the other day in just her bra and underwear. She had gained weight and gained a bit more since leaving the clinic but standing there, looking at herself, she couldn't stand the thought of Yuriel seeing her like this and seeing him cringe. Her breasts were nothing but bumps, most of her ribs were visible and her hips stuck out in severely beneath her skin. There was nothing sexy or womanly about her and Yuriel would take one look at her and look away. She knew he would. There was no way he would still be attracted to her if she took her clothes off for him.
As planned, Martin closed the garage down at noon for the day and Rosita went to her Jetta as Alison waited for a moment for Yuriel beside his bike. She smiled as he crossed the parking lot towards her and he smiled a little, too.
"You and Benny won't mind sharing your lunch with us?" Alison asked.
Yuriel just shook his head. "I think we'll be just fine," he said. "Where you headed after eatin'?" He asked.
"I was going to take Rosita home. She wanted to see the trailer," she said. "If that's alright?" She asked.
He shrugged. "'s your trailer, too."
And he said it so casually, as if she should have known that already, Alison couldn't help but bounce up on her toes and throw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. His hands were on her back, lingering there, and she closed her eyes, breathing in his scent for a moment. When she pulled back, she smiled at him and his lips twitched in a smile in return.
"You two are disgustingly cute," Rosita commented as Alison got into the car and Alison blushed and smiled down to her hands in her lap. "And you seem happy. Are you happy?" She asked.
Alison nodded and looked to her closest friend. She and Rosita were the same age but Alison always felt so behind in everything. There were still some days where Alison didn't feel like a young woman but rather still a little girl. Rosita embraced her femininity out of the womb, it seemed. Alison would listen to Rosita's stories about men and relationships and she would wonder if she would ever have that for herself. Even when it came to recovery, Rosita was released before her.
"I've never been this happy before," Alison confided in her and Rosita smiled at her as if relieved with her answer.
There was only one pizza place in the small town – Rhee's – and by the time Alison and Rosita got there, every table was taken with the lunch crowd. Alison's eyes scanned the crowd and she saw Benny already sitting at a booth along the middle of the room and he spots her at the same time, smiling at her. Alison took Rosita's hand and tugged her towards the table and Rosita gasped when she saw Benny sitting there.
"You gave me a ticket," she frowned, letting go of Alison's hand so she could cross her arms over her chest, her frown deep and fierce.
"You were going seventy in a fifty-five," Benny said, looking as if he wasn't at all surprised to see the particular speeder from this morning joining him for lunch.
Rosita slid into the booth next to him, pushing him towards the wall, making herself quite comfortable. "What kind of stupid county drops the speed limit by ten and doesn't put up a sign to tell the drivers?"
Benny raised an eyebrow. "I pulled you over next to a speed limit sign."
As Rosita and Benny kept going back and forth, Alison looked around, wondering what was taking Yuriel and she slowly slid into the seat across from Benny. She liked Benny and she loved the friendship he shared with Yuriel. They had grown up together and Yuriel had been a part of the Kerry family throughout most of his life, helping him through things that he hadn't told Alison about yet but what she had been able to guess about on her own. The way he would sometimes flinch or his seemingly disdain towards all people or passing comments about his childhood. She didn't know and she wasn't sure she wanted to know but if he told her, she would listen.
Over the noise of the people, she heard the bell tinkle above the door as someone opened it and Alison turned her head, smiling as she saw Yuriel enter. He spotted them immediately and within seconds, he had approached the booth and had slid into the seat beside Alison.
"Everything alright?" She asked because she had seen him leave the garage before she and Rosita had.
He nodded. "Yeah. Just went to go pick up somethin' for you that I've been lookin' at and I took it home real quick."
"For me?" She asked as if she didn't understand and Yuriel just kept staring at her, his eyes intently focused on her. "What is it?" She asked.
He smirked at that and shook his head. "You'll find out when you get home."
"Can you give me a hint?" She asked, leaning into him, looping both of her arms through his one, pleading with him as if she was a little girl asking for a sweet.
And she knew they weren't generally affectionate like this with one another in front of others but there was something about today. Maybe it was the way he smirked or she was happy to have Rosita there with them or the way he had slid into the booth beside her as naturally as if they had been doing it a thousand times before.
What she had told Rosita was true. She had never been this happy.
"Just a little hint?"
Yuriel just kept on smirking and shook his head again and looked to Benny and Rosita across from them. "We decide what kind of pizza we gettin'?" He asked.
And Alison couldn't help but grow more and more excited as they ate their pizza and Rosita asked Yuriel all sorts of questions as if she was Alison's self-appointed bodyguard and even though Yuriel gave one-word grunts as he usually did when faced with any type of conversation, Rosita seemed pleased enough with his answers. She gave Alison all sorts of these smiles from across the table throughout the meal that made Alison blush because even though she couldn't read Rosita's exact thoughts, she had an inkling of what they were.
Alison couldn't help but her foot down on the gas pedal of Rosita's car as she drove them through the trees of the woods, down the faded dirt road that led to the trailer. She couldn't help it. She had absolutely no idea what to expect but knowing Yuriel, she knew it was going to be so sweet and incredibly thoughtful. She looked back on when they were first courting one another and exchanging gifts. All of his to her had been so perfect and meaningful and he hadn't even know her then when they had begun doing it.
She parked the car and didn't even wait for Rosita before she hurried up the steps of the trailer. She knew she was acting silly and slightly ridiculous and she almost wanted to laugh at herself but she couldn't help herself. It was Christmas morning and she was a young girl all over again, hurrying down the stairs in the farmhouse, eager to see the Christmas tree and all of the presents for her beneath it.
And when she unlocked and opened the door, she stopped so suddenly, Rosita bumped into her from behind.
Alison's mouth fell open and her hand lifted to cover it. She could hardly believe it. Standing in the middle of the room, in front of the couch, was a keyboard. A black keyboard and a stand and where on earth had he gotten this from? Why had he gotten her a keyboard?
She walked towards it slowly as if worried that if she rushed to it, it would disappear. Her fingers reached out and they brushed down the white plastic keys. He had gotten her a keyboard. Yuriel Salas had gotten her a keyboard and had brought it here for her to have.
Rosita was standing near the door, her arms crossed over her chest and a slight smile across her face. Alison slowly sat down at the couch and the seat was a little too low but she didn't care as she rested her fingers over the keys. She didn't turn it on so there was no sound but that didn't stop her from playing the first few bars of the first song that popped into her head.
She played the keyboard and almost felt like crying, overwhelmed with a barrage of emotions slamming into her all at once. But in the center of it all, she knew one thing for absolute certain and with absolute clarity.
Yuriel Salas loved her. And she was in love with him.
Chapter Twenty-Two.
It was damn strange – spending his free afte
rnoon spying on his best friend's wife. He wasn't hiding behind trees or following her two cars behind. Instead, he walked right up to the front door and Helen answered, looking surprised but smiling and inviting him inside where he asked if he could hang out with Little Asskicker for a while. If Helen was suspicious with his sudden appearance, she didn't act like it or if she had plans to meet someone else, she didn't act anxious or ask him to leave.
And when Yuriel finally did leave, he went to the Sheriff's station and met with Benny and told him that Helen wasn't up to anything. Benny nodded but didn't look completely convinced and Yuriel wasn't too sure what to say. Benny was just convinced that Helen was cheating on him and Yuriel wasn't going to argue. He just supported Benny as the man had supported him with things throughout most of his life. It didn't matter to Yuriel if Benny was right or not. If this was what Benny needed him to do, he would do it.
Rosita was staying at the farmhouse with Alison's family for her visit and by the time Yuriel got back to the trailer, her car was gone and he heard music coming from inside. He smiled to himself as he locked up his bike in the shed for the night. He had seen the keyboard at the pawn shop for a couple of weeks now – the pawn shop next door to the garage and he would slip away to look at it every now and then. He didn't know shit about keyboards or music instruments in general. All he knew was Alison could play the piano and was damn good at it and thinking about her playing the piano at his brother's house, Yuriel knew he wanted her to play in theirs, too.
He climbed the steps and opened the door and stepped inside but the playing didn't stop. Alison was sitting perched on the edge of the couch, her back straight, and her fingers were curled over the keys, hitting each one flawlessly and with purpose, and he didn't know if the song she was playing had any words because she wasn't singing but she hummed along and he stood there for a moment, just watching her.
She had on just a couple of lamps and the entire place felt warm and cozy and it was because of her. She had done this and he had expected to feel claustrophobic, living with another person in this tiny space but this was Alison and he should have known better because she was the one person he found himself always wanting to be around.
He didn't ask her to move in with him. They didn't have some big conversation about it. They didn't have any conversation about it. It was just one of those things that happened. One day, she was just spending the night there and the next, he bought a few more hangers for the closet and told her to hang her dresses up.
She finished the song and lifted her head and for the first time, she saw him standing there at the door. Her smile was instant and it damn near knocked him back a step that someone smile at him like that. Like he was actually someone who mattered to her. And maybe he did. Maybe he was someone special to her because he was still getting to know her but he knew that Alison just didn't smile like that for anyone.
She stood up without a word and came rushing around the keyboard to him. She threw her arms around him and she still didn't say anything as she hugged him tightly. Yuriel didn't say anything either. He just wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tightly to him, nearly lifting her off her feet, her toes skimming the carpet. She smelled good. She always smelled so damn good and tonight, it was buttercream and… he couldn't help but turn his nose into her neck for a deeper sniff. She giggled softly when she felt his nostrils burying to her skin.
Chocolate. Buttercream and chocolate and he wondered what she and Rosita had been doing for the past few hours.
But before he could even think about asking her that, Alison moved her head and cupping his cheeks between her hands, she pressed her lips to his in a light kiss. It was soft and almost hesitant – as if she wasn't sure if he wanted her kissing him – and Yuriel wanted her to know that he wanted nothing more than her lips on his.
He lifted his hands and framed her head, his fingers tangling in her hair. He tilted her head gently to the side and listened to her moan softly as he kissed her deeply, his tongue slowly thrusting into her mouth.
He had never really liked kissing that much. The girls at the dark bars who he had kissed when too drunk to even think about what he was doing always tasted like smoke and ash and cheap vodka and they always wore too much damn lipstick.
But Alison tasted as sweet as she smelled and for the first time in his life, Yuriel found someone he wanted to kiss and touch for hours and do nothing but that. Of course, if she was looking for more to happen, he wasn't exactly going to say no. He would try but that was only because of Lawrence and wanting Alison to still stay good. He couldn't fuck her in the back of his trailer – take her virginity in the back of his trailer – and look at her dad in the eye again.
Alison's hands slid down his chest and his fingers tightened in her hair as he kissed her a little harder. She was wearing it down and he had never cared about a girl's hair or had even noticed it before but he noticed everything about Alison and he really found himself a fan of her hair. He didn't know what it was. Maybe because it was so long and so thick and the color of sunshine and always smelled so good and he loved his fingers in it.
He froze though when he felt her hands sink lower and then her fingers were tracing the band of his jeans. He couldn't help but rip his lips away from hers and stared at her. She looked at him, slightly out of breath, and then she lowered her eyes and he noticed that her cheeks were stained a pink.
He cleared his throat, trying to keep his body from reacting to her touch. "You like the keyboard?" He asked in a gruff voice and he coughed a little to clear it.
Alison lifted her eyes to him and her smile was soft and slow across her lips. "I love it so much, Yuriel," she said. "I can't thank you enough."
Yuriel rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, glancing to the keyboard before back to her. "Guy at the store said a couple of the keys didn' work," he said.
Alison kept smiling faintly as she shook her head. "That doesn't matter to me. It's absolutely perfect."
He couldn't help but smirk. "Got low standards, girl," he said.
She just kept looking at him with those big eyes of hers and she lifted her arms, winding them around his neck. She stood so close to him, the front of her body was pressed to his, and Yuriel was able to ignore the growing hardness in his jeans for the moment as he lifted his hands to rest on her hips. He noticed immediately the slight flinch throughout her body and he was quick to drop his hands. Alison shook her head and dropped her hands to his, twining their fingers together.
"I'm sorry," she was the one to apologize.
"Why?" He couldn't help but look at her with a frown. "I'm the one touchin' you-"
"I want you to touch me," she was quick to interject, squeezing his hands. "I just…" she paused and visibly swallowed. "I'm just really awful looking beneath my clothes," she said and she said it so softly, Yuriel felt himself leaning closer to her so he could hear her and when he did, he pulled his head back quickly so she could see his confused and now surprised expression.
"You're crazy," he stated bluntly.
Her lips started to turn upwards in a smile. "I'm not," she shook her head. "I'm the one who sees my naked body every day. I just know, Yuriel."
He shook his own head. "You don't know nothin', Alison."
He hadn't gotten the book from the library on anorexia and he wasn't going to pretend like he knew the first thing about her illness or what she went through – or what she was still going through – but he knew that he was attracted to her. He thought about her naked probably more than he thought about anything else. He wanted her. Her. Alison. And it didn't matter to him what she looked like beneath her clothes because no matter what, she would still be Alison.
He pulled his hands from hers and raised them to her cheeks. She was staring at him, obviously waiting for him to say something or to make a move and he had never been one for talking anyway.
He kissed her – probably a little too hard – but Alison didn't seem to care as her own hands cupped his cheeks and
it was as if whatever had been holding him back completely fell apart and he couldn't hold it back. He opened his mouth against hers and she moaned, her fingers sliding back into his hair, as his tongue tangled with hers. He began pushing her backwards, gently and yet with urgency, and her arms clasped around his neck, moaning again. Every time she moaned, it shot right down to his crotch and he just wanted to shove her dress up and pound into her.
Instead, he gently pushed her onto the bed and knelt on the floor in front of her. His hands slid over her knees and up her thighs, beginning to push her dress up but Alison's own hands quickly covered his, stopping him.
"Wait," she said, panting.
Yuriel immediately stilled his hands and looked up to her face. He didn't say anything; just waited for her to say something else.
"I love your fingers in me," she said, her cheeks tinting pink as she did. "But I want to try something else."
Yuriel felt his heart drum a little faster in his chest. "What do you wanna try?" He could hardly believe that he had actually been able to form the words and get them out.
She looked at him for a moment and didn't say anything. Instead, she pushed her head to his, her hands on his cheeks as her lips pressed to his. She moved her mouth slowly against his as if she was acquainting herself with his lips and his taste and Yuriel sat there on his knees, letting her do whatever she wanted to do to him. When it came to Alison Silver, he was pretty sure both of them knew he was completely fucked. He was powerless against her as any junkie would be and anything she wanted from him, she could take.
But then her lips were gone and he opened his eyes to see her hands moving behind her. He stared into her face and she stared into his and slowly, she pulled the zipper of her dress down and he swore that it was so quiet in that bedroom except for their heavy breathings, he could actually hear the hiss of the lowering zipper.
Alison never moved her eyes away from his face as she pulled her arms through the small sleeves and brought the dress down. He could see her trembling as she sat there with her dress bunched around her waist and in a simple white cotton bra. She was no longer looking at him and he couldn't look anywhere else but her.
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