He really hated that they had to go to Carlos and Annie's for dinner that night because right now, all he wanted to do was go home with Alison and make her second time better than her first.
Alison was the one to pull her lips back and she looked up at him with the twinkling in her eyes and the faint smile across her face. "We can't be late," she said.
"Carlos's never been known to be exactly punctual," he said but he climbed onto his bike nonetheless and Alison smiled as she slid on behind him, adjusting herself and her arms around his waist. He felt her lips brush against his shoulder blade and again, he felt like this girl was making him want to shiver again.
At his brother's house, Annie hugged Yuriel and Alison as always and then taking Alison's hand, she pulled her right into the kitchen, calling over her shoulder to Yuriel that Carlos was in the backyard.
"Son of a bitch," Carlos was swearing as Yuriel stepped through the sliding door onto the small back concrete patio. He looked at Yuriel with a deep frown. "Annie told me that it'd be a good investment. Piece of shit is what it is," he said and with that, he gave the gas grill a swift kick with his foot.
Without a word, Yuriel moved past him and went to the fire sand pit that Carlos had set up in the backyard, surrounded with bricks. Carlos followed him and the two brothers had a fire roaring in no time.
Both turned their heads when they saw Annie coming out and then Alison, Annie carrying a tray of meat and she rolled her eyes when she saw that the grill had been abandoned in favor of the fire pit. She looked back to Alison.
"Get used to this," Annie told her. "Salas men do not believe in doing the easy thing."
"Nah. We just don't believe in relying on pieces of shit when we know a better way to get things done," Carlos corrected her, taking the tray of rabbit they would be cooking that night. "'sides, rabbit's better over an open fire."
Alison smiled, coming up to Yuriel as he stood up, and handed him a can of Coke. She knew that he didn't like to drink when he was driving her around on his bike and he smiled his thanks to her, liking that she knew that about him. He wondered how she had already become the one person in this whole world who knew him better than anyone else. Better than Benny. Better than Carlos. It didn't make any sense because what was it about her that had been able to scale the walls he usually kept around himself? But he just knew that if it was anyone who was able to slip in, he was glad it was her.
Annie cleared her throat. "So, there is a reason why Carlos and me wanted you two to come over for dinner tonight."
"Yeah," Carlos nodded, stabbing the pieces of rabbit onto the spit. "We got tickets for the roller derby again at the end of the month. You two wanna come?"
"Oh, yes!" Alison exclaimed a little. "I loved it so much last time. Thank you!"
Annie slapped her husband in the stomach. "That is not why we invited you two over tonight." She took another deep breath. "We're going to have a baby."
"Oh my gosh!" Alison exclaimed again and threw her arms around Annie's shoulders, both women laughing and hugging and crying and Yuriel didn't understand how women could do all of that at the same time.
Yuriel looked at his older brother and Carlos was smiling in that way that he did – smiling like nothing bothered him – but Yuriel knew he was probably freaking out. And Yuriel didn't exactly blame him for that.
"Congratulations," Yuriel said, knowing that Salas men didn't hug but he slapped a hand onto Carlos's shoulder. He then smirked a little. "Can't really believe it."
"Me, neither. But Annie swears it's mine," Carlos smirked, looking to Yuriel. "Thanks."
Yuriel looked at him for a long moment. Carlos Salas was married and was going to have a baby; was going to be a daddy. It was unbelievable to say the least and he remembered a conversation him and Carlos had had years ago about how the Salas line should just die with them. No one needed or wanted another Salas in the world. And though they hadn't said it, Yuriel knew that deep down, both men were wondering if they would be no better than their old man when it came to children.
But Yuriel knew that this next Salas would never go through what he and Carlos had gone through. Carlos would be a good dad. Maybe even a great dad. Carlos had changed so much in his life, Yuriel knew that he could have a child with no problem.
He didn't say any of this though. It was way too many words for him and Carlos would probably just scoff and call him a pussy anyway and he wouldn't want to hear Yuriel saying things like that to him. That's not what Salass did.
So instead, Yuriel clapped a hand on Carlos's shoulder again and Carlos seemed to know what he was thinking but would never say. He just gave a head nod and a smile and Yuriel smiled a little, too.
…
There wasn't anything in this world right now that would get Yuriel to take his lips off of her. She was lying naked on the bed – their bed – and she was moaning softly and panting heavily and she tasted so damn good, he felt like he could hardly stand it. She breathed his name and rubbed her hips against his face and he closed his eyes and inhaled her scent, knowing he had never smelt anything in this world that crashed into his brain like this and made him feel like he was falling even with feeling his knees firm on the ground.
She came loudly with an "Oh my god!" and her fingers tightened in his hair and pulled hard but Yuriel didn't lift his head as he licked her up, nearly groaning at how damn good she tasted. He might just find himself doing this to her every night from now on, having loved it as much as she obviously did.
He finally lifted his head and looked up her body, seeing her lying there as if she was boneless, and her chest was heaving up and down.
"Wow," she breathed out on an exhale of air and Yuriel found himself smiling a little. She rested a hand over her heart. "I've never felt my heart beat this fast."
And that one comment made his smile vanish just as quickly as it had formed. He swiftly cursed himself as he pulled himself onto the bed, coming up beside her with a furrow in his brow, lying on his side.
"You a'right?" He asked, looking at her.
She opened her eyes and he looked at her flushed face and her slight smile but all he could see where her lips parted and her breath heavy. That was it. He couldn't do this to her again. Her heart was weak and he was not looking to give her an actual heart attack while they did things like this together. Maybe they should do things like this anymore. They had done it once and maybe that would be enough times.
She nodded. "I'm fine," she said but she was still panting and her hand was still over her heart and he couldn't call himself an idiot enough times. "That was amazing."
Yuriel let out a grunt but didn't say anything, still staring at her closely. And he didn't know what she saw on his face but whatever it was, it made her smile fade slowly.
"What's wrong?" She asked him in a quiet voice and her breathing started to sound a bit more normal.
He shook his head as if he wasn't going to answer but he did nonetheless. "I've been readin'," he admitted to her. "I got a few books out from the library… I just wanted to understand more," he said and found himself having a hell of time meeting her eyes as he said that to her, unsure of what her reaction to that would be.
She was quiet for only a moment but it might as well have been for an hour as Yuriel imagined her getting up and getting dressed and walking out. She didn't though. Alison remained lying there and her hand slowly lifted from her chest, going to his cheek, her thumb brushing back and forth along his chin.
"You can ask me, Yuriel," she said. "Anything you want."
Yuriel looked at her for a moment as if trying to decide if she was tricking him or not but she just kept looking up at him, waiting, and he exhaled a soft breath.
"Your heart," he said but he didn't know how to form the rest of the question and thankfully, Alison didn't seem to need him to.
"It's weak," she said with a slight nod. "But each day, it's getting stronger. It won't ever be as strong as it was. As strong as it's supposed to be but it's ok
ay."
She took his hand then and pulled it to her chest, resting it over her heart, and his fingers twitched against her skin as he could feel the heart beat beneath his palm. They were both quiet, Alison looking at him and him looking down at his hand and he couldn't help but begin to count the beats.
"Still beating," Alison said. His eyes moved to her face. "And it's not going to stop beating for a long time. I promise."
"Can't promise that," Yuriel shook his head.
"No, that's true," she agreed. "But it's not going to stop beating because I'm not eating enough." Yuriel exhaled a breath at that he hadn't realized he was holding. She lifted her head back to his head, brushing some of his hair back. "Have you really been reading?" She asked and he nodded, keeping his eyes on hers.
"Yeah…" he answered slowly. "Wasn' sure how you would react though so I've been hidin' the books from you."
"You don't have to hide anything from me, Yuriel," Alison said.
And he knew that she was talking about the books but he stared at her and suddenly, he felt like maybe her words were talking about so many other things. And why did he have to hide things from her? They lived together, were almost always together. He was in love with her and had sex with her and… he loved her.
He kept his eyes locked with her for another moment more before he sat up then.
"Yuriel-" she began to say his name when she saw what he was doing but he ignored her and tugged his tee-shirt off over his head, leaving him bare from the waist up.
He tossed the shirt towards the floor and then laid down beside her on his side again. She looked at him and he wondered if she would say anything but she didn't and he was grateful. He didn't want to talk about it. The scars on his back, it had all happened so long ago but they were still a part of who he was and there was no escaping it. And he didn't want to escape it because those scars were one of the reasons why he was here, right now, with Alison. He had gone through a lot of shit to have this life for himself and have this girl in this life with him.
But he didn't explain all of that to her and Alison didn't say a word about the back she still couldn't see but if she wanted to sit up and look, he would sit there and let her.
Alison remained lying down and she lifted both hands now, framing his face. "I love you," she said in a whisper, gently pulling him closer to her.
"I love you, too," he responded instantly and naturally and he brushed his lips against hers.
"Thank you for trusting me," she whispered, breathing against his mouth.
He shifted over her, his hand running down her side, his eyes never leaving hers. "I don't wanna hide anythin' from you."
And she smiled at that and he then lowered his lips to hers, slanting his mouth, kissing her deeply, and he felt Alison's hands move slowly around to his back, her fingers making first contact with the strips of scars that covered the skin there. She didn't yank away as she felt them and he didn't even flinch.
He had never had such a gentle touch on any of his scars before and he couldn't stop himself from sinking completely down on top of her as if he was melting.
Chapter Twenty-Nine.
"Yuriel's almost done with his pen and when he is, this little guy should be ready to go to his new home," Alison said as she watched as the lamb walk ahead of her through the grass. It was like having a dog – the lamb looking back every few steps to make sure that Alison was still following him and he would come back when she called out for him if he got too far ahead of her.
Lawrence walked beside her. He had recently gotten a new prosthetic leg from the doctor and he was walking as much as he could, trying to get himself adjusted to it as quickly as he could. Shawn was getting himself ready to move back to Savannah – Lawrence proving to all of them that he didn't need his children to take care of him and he told them that they had their own lives to see to and it was time they got back to living them.
Vicky was still seeing that boy and Lawrence had mentioned to Alison that Vicky was thinking about moving to Atlanta to be closer to him, where he was a college student. Alison couldn't help but be surprised at that – not only that she was still seeing the same boy but also that she was wanting to move closer to continue seeing him – but she didn't ask anything about it. She didn't really think she had any right to. She was out of Vicky's life just as Vicky was out of hers.
As for her, just a few months earlier, she would have loved to return to Atlanta and being Rosita's roommate but now, so much had changed and she now had no desire to leave. Daddy was here and her job was here and Yuriel was here and she was never going to want to leave. She had made a life for herself here. This was home.
Lawrence looked to Alison and gave her a smile.
"It'll be good for you and Yuriel to have an animal to take care of together. Might be good practice for any other little living thing that may come along."
"Daddy," Alison sighed softly and she watched the lamb trot a couple of steps ahead, almost tripping over his still slightly clumsy legs. "You know that probably will never happen," she said.
"You don't know that, Alisony," Lawrence responded. "You're getting stronger and miracles happen every day."
Alison just shook her head. "I think you're getting way too ahead of yourself right now." She looked to him and he was still smiling despite the heavy turn of the conversation and Alison couldn't help but feel her own little smile begin to form. "Yuriel and I aren't looking to have babies. We're not even talking about marriage. Right now, we're just… us and that's all we want right now. And don't go talking to him about marriage and babies neither."
Lawrence just kept on smiling.
She was telling the truth. She wasn't thinking about babies with Yuriel or marrying Yuriel. Right now, it was just them in this relationship of theirs and she had never been happier. She didn't need anything more than what she had with him right now. She had learned to think things one day at a time and that was what she was going to do with this relationship and Yuriel. One day at a time. They were here and together and that was all that mattered to her.
And if the day came where Yuriel wanted children and she couldn't have any, they would cross that bridge when it came time to.
"What are you going to name him?" Lawrence asked, switching the topic.
"I have no idea. I've been trying to think of one but I was thinking Harvey for some reason," she said and then laughed a little. "I've never been good at picking names."
"I think Harvey is a fine name," Lawrence said with a chuckle.
"Harvey," she tried out on her tongue. "Harvey!" She called out then and the lamb actually turned towards her as if he knew, all along, that that was his name. She smiled brightly and clapped her hands once. "Let's start heading back," she said as if he understood every word that she was saying.
The lamb let out a quiet "bah" and turned, heading back towards her. They began heading back across the field towards the barn and both Alison and Lawrence looked when they heard a car approaching. Alison lifted her hand to her brow, shielding her eyes from the sun overhead to see if she could make out who it was.
"It's Yuriel," she said as she saw his pickup truck near the house, the tires kicking up dirt from the road behind it. Instead of the barn, she headed towards the truck and Harvey followed behind. She wondered if she should get him a bell for his neck.
Yuriel parked the truck in front of the house and stepped out, turning his head and smiling when he saw her. Alison swore she felt a skip in her step as she came to him and bounced up on her toes, smacking her lips to his in a quick kiss.
"Hey," she greeted with a smile. "I didn't know you were coming here."
"Your pops called," Yuriel said and his eyes slid past her to look behind her and she turned her head, smiling as she saw Harvey standing there. Yuriel formed a small smirk. "You tell him he's goin' home soon?" He asked, looking back to her.
"Yep," she smiled. "As soon as the pen's done."
"By this weekend, I figure," Yuriel said and sh
e smiled as she felt his hand lightly slide onto her hip and she shuffled a step closer to him.
She hadn't thought it possible but something even more had shifted between them – ever since the night where he had taken off his shirt. He didn't talk about it and she didn't ask questions. She supposed the many scars upon his back were all self-explanatory and she would never ask him to talk about them just as he didn't ask her about her starving herself. They both knew that if the other ever wanted to talk about it, the other would always be there to listen.
And with that shared knowledge between them, they had grown even closer. There were so many touches now, light and fleeting but always there. His hand brushing across her back as she was at one of the filing cabinets and he came into the office to use the bathroom. Her fingers brushing along his hand as she passed him in the kitchen in the morning as they went about their usual routine. It was as if now, there always needed to be some form of contact between them and Alison only felt her happiness grow with each passing day that she had with him.
"His name's Harvey," Alison informed him with a smile.
Yuriel smirked again. "Harvey, huh? It ain't the worst name I've ever heard."
She began to laugh. "I'm going to take that as a compliment."
"Thanks for coming, Yuriel," Lawrence approached the couple, a smile on his face and a visible twinkle in his eye. "Was needing your help with the generator in the back. Neither me or Otis can make heads or tails out of what the problem is."
"Yes, sir," Yuriel nodded and broke away from Alison to collect his toolbox from the back truck bed.
Lawrence gave him a stern look. "What have I told you about calling me that?"
"You talk to Annie?" He asked Alison as they all began walking towards the generator in the back shed at the back of the house, Harvey now walking right behind Yuriel.
"No. Why? Is there something wrong?" Alison felt a panic begin to rise in her stomach.
"Nah," Yuriel shook his head. "Carlos called and told me she's lost her damn mind. She's been craving strawberry jam but she threw the jar when Carlos bought the wrong one," he said.
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