Redemption (Reunion Book 1)

by Adrienne Ruvalcaba

  “What do you mean?” she asked.

  He bent down to collect their clothes, and pulled her back towards his parents’ beach house. “I mean I’ve liked you ever since high school… since you hated me,” he said with a chuckle.

  “No you haven’t,” she returned in disbelief.

  “Yes I have. When you and Cheryl showed up to that mixer a few years ago, I knew exactly who you were. I was just trying to ease into flirting with you. As soon as you walked in that night, it felt like my entire body came alive with the same feelings I had for you during our senior year.”

  “Are you joking?” she asked.

  “Not at all. Didn’t you ever notice that I always sat right behind you?” he laughed.

  “I did, but it never occurred to me to draw a conclusion from it. I thought you wanted to be close to the front, but you didn’t want to block my view, because you’re taller than I am.”

  “No, Delilah. I sat right behind you so I could be close to you. I wanted to smell your hair and look at your ass when you sat down in your desk. I just wanted to be near you as much as possible, but I never found the nerve to talk to you,” he admitted. “I’m surprised the fire alarm didn’t go off from the amount of pheromones coming off me when you were around,” he joked.

  “Why? I was a nobody and you were Mr. Handsome! Everybody loved you.”

  “I was intimidated by how smart and mature you are. Plus, and don’t hit me when I tell you this, I found one of your journals on the last day of school junior year. Over the summer, I read it multiple times and sort of fell in love with you. That summer was the first time in my life that I voluntarily pulled out the dictionary to look up words without being forced,” he chuckled.

  Delilah whipped around to look at him. “I remember losing that journal!” she exclaimed in acute embarrassment. It had contained some of her most personal entries, thoughts on life, and a ton of love poems. “Why didn’t you give it back to me?”

  “You dropped it on the last day of school, and I didn’t see you again until the next school year. At first, I tried not to be nosey, but I was fascinated by you back then. Then I read the journal, and suddenly, you were all I thought about all summer. I kept hoping to run into you somewhere, so I could try to get you to talk to me. To this day, every time I see the word ebullience, I think of you.”

  Lilah smiled as she remembered using that word in one of her poems. “I’d forgotten about using that word,” she confessed. “I think that was one of our vocabulary words in language arts that year.”

  “If it was, I should have paid better attention,” he said with a laugh.

  “I don’t recall anything about the poem, other than the fact that I used that word.”

  “Let me jog your memory,” he said as he turned to her in the moonlight.

  She looked up at him, and was rendered speechless by the burning intensity in his eyes as he began to recite her long forgotten poem to her.

  “Shooting star you’ve come so far

  To show your glorious light

  Shooting star you’ve come too far

  To fade into the night.”

  His hand rested against her cheek as he finished the first few lines. She opened her mouth to make some lighthearted comment, but he shook his head at her and went on.

  “Allow me now to lift my face

  And seek your illumination

  Not caring for this shadowed place

  From which there’s no vacation

  Allow me now to speculate

  Not heeding limitation

  That you are part of a magical race

  Exceeding all expectations—”

  “Diego,” she tried to interrupt quietly. She grew self-conscious hearing her own words wash over her tonight. She remembered writing that poem now. She had been a jaded kid, losing faith in the world because she and her mother lived in unrelenting poverty. On the night she had conceived that poem, she had been walking home from work. It was past midnight on a school night, and she still had her backpack and all her school books weighing her down when she’d heard footsteps behind her. Once the footsteps caught up to her, she had been forcefully knocked to the ground. For a few beats of absolute panic, she had been sure she was about to be assaulted, but the man who hit her had grabbed her backpack and run off. She lay in the ditch, and looked up at the sky as his footsteps faded away in the night. Suddenly, a shooting star had crossed her vision, and she had made the most fervent wish of her young life. She had wished for a happy future.

  Diego ran his hands down her bare arms and went on.

  “Allow me now to watch you soar

  As I begin to dream once more

  That my hasty wish has opened a door

  Shooting star you’ve come so far

  To light up this dark night

  Shooting star you’ve come too far

  To become a fading wisp of light

  Once a source of ebullience and endless fascination

  Not just another fixture,

  Like some ancient constellation

  You punctuated the moment

  With glittering trails of light,

  But now you are a mere memory…” he paused and leaned down to plant a kiss on her forehead before delivering the last line.

  “Fading into the night,” they finished together.

  “That’s the only part I don’t like,” he confessed. “I looked at that poem again after you left me at the reunion. I felt like you were the star, and I didn’t like the part where you faded into the night.”

  “Diego, I wrote that poem when I was a kid. It wasn’t even about anything,” she said quietly. He implied that he wanted her to stay longer, but there were just too many unknowns to consider. They still barely knew each other. She still had no idea where she stood with him. It was apparent that her body absolutely adored him, but, beyond that, she didn’t have much to go on when making plans for her future. Sure, she was a little lonely, but she had a stable and rewarding life back in Illinois. She felt like two separate people were living in her head, competing for control of her brain tonight. There was the responsible, mature Lilah who could enjoy his company and move on with her life when their fling came to an end. But then, there was the impetuous, sensual Lilah who wanted to dive into whatever this was and convince him to try loving her forever.

  “That’s one of the things that make poetry so great; it’s open to lots of different interpretations. I think I like mine best,” he replied.

  His parents’ house now loomed in front of them. They both shook the sand out of their clothes and dressed. Lilah made a halfhearted effort to avoid staring at him, but she failed miserably. Every time he caught her looking at him, their eyes met and he grinned at her. There didn’t appear to be a self-conscious bone in his body.

  They listened to the radio on the drive back to Bay City. When he finally pulled into the garage of a house, she snapped back to attention and asked, “Where are we now?”

  “My house,” he said as he turned to her in the darkened car. “I should have asked first, but I’ll take you back to the hotel if that’s what you prefer.”

  Impetuous, sensual Lilah shook her head and said, “We can stay here.”

  A slow smile spread across his face, and he raised her hand to his lips. There was such promise in his expression; she couldn’t help smiling back at him.

  He showed her to his guest room and offered to wash her sandy clothes while she showered. Lilah happily took him up on his offer and stripped down right in front of him. She delighted in the way his face lit up when he looked down at her naked body. His complete lack of inhibitions helped her to release the ones that had been holding her back for most of her life. She had always been critical of her body, but Diego seemed to think she was perfect just the way she was. It was liberating to be with a man who openly adored her body so much. James had never once looked at her the way Diego did—like he was a starving man, and she was the only item on the menu.

  H
e kissed her once before leaving her to her shower. A short time later, he came back and joined her. “I thought you might need help scrubbing your back,” he said as he pulled the shower door closed.

  Twenty minutes later, they emerged from the steamy shower clean and sand free. They immediately fell into bed, where he lavished attention on all the parts of her body he had missed at the beach. Lilah thoroughly enjoyed his exploration of her body. She caressed all the hard planes and angles of his chest, and reveled in the way he responded to her touch. Impetuous, sensual Lilah took over for the remainder of the night, and poor Diego got very little sleep.

  The next morning, she awoke to Diego’s hands on her breasts as he kissed his way down her abdomen. Her overwhelming arousal from last night came back instantaneously, and she whimpered his name into the quiet room.

  “You’re not sore from last night, are you?” he asked as he parted her legs and settled with his face between them.

  “No,” she breathed with a smile. He had been incredibly gentle with her all night as he showed her a side of him that she hadn’t expected.

  She ran her fingers through his soft, black hair and he smiled at her. It was the same slightly wicked little smile that he’d given her multiple times last night as he gave her incredible pleasure over and over again. He gently parted her, and ran his tongue slowly over her clitoris. Her body was still sensitive, so she responded immediately. He continued caressing her with his tongue, his manner so loving it was like he was making out with her. She writhed against him as her pleasure built in intensity, and she tried her best not to scream too loud this time. “Oh!” she called out softly as she had an orgasm against his lips.

  He didn’t give her body a chance to calm down before he pulled her astride his lap and thrust into her. As they sat on the edge of the bed, he held onto her ass and she rode him with wild abandon. They were both panting and sweaty, and nearing another explosive orgasm when Lilah heard a scream from Diego’s bedroom door.

  They both froze, and Lilah looked to see two women staring at them in shock. The older one with the dark hair was screaming multiple curses in Spanish as the younger one looked aghast and averted her eyes.

  Diego quickly grabbed the sheet and wrapped it around Lilah to cover her nakedness as he released a stream of curses. “My mother,” he mumbled in her ear before he turned away and yelled something in Spanish at the older woman.

  His mother tossed an ugly glare Lilah’s way before slamming his bedroom door.

  Mortified, Delilah could do no more than stare.

  “Fuck!” he cursed as he looked at the door. “Lilah, just stay here while I talk to my mom. I’ll be right back.”

  He left the bed and threw on some clothes as she wondered if she would ever recover from the absolute humiliation of this moment. She wanted to bury her head in the sand and never see the light of day again. He barely glanced at her as he ducked out of the room to talk to his mother.

  Lilah didn’t have to strain at all to hear the shouting match that occurred on the other side of the door. She didn’t understand a word of what was said, but she heard her name pop up a few times. She cringed each time she heard it. Just before the front door slammed, she heard a calmer female voice say, “It would have been nice if you had just told me you were seeing someone instead of leading me to believe that you were just too busy with work to go out with me. I can’t believe I fell for all that bullshit about work being too hectic when we talked the other night!”

  And just like that, Lilah’s little fantasy world came crashing down around her.

  “So, you’ve already got someone lined up for when I leave town,” she said quietly when he opened the bedroom door.

  “Lilah, it’s not like that,” he insisted as he approached the bed.

  “Well, it sure seems like it is,” she fumed.

  “My mother has been trying to set me up with her for a few weeks now, and I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. I called her the other night and told her I was too busy for dating, but that doesn’t mean I’m guilty of what you’re thinking,” he said.

  “Right. You expect me to believe that you were just going to put your love life on hold after I fly back to Illinois… I don’t even know why I’m so upset about it. What you do after I leave is your business,” she replied.

  The look he gave her just then reminded her of the night of the reunion. He looked stricken as he said, “I should have known you’d say something like that. Little miss holier than thou! All you ever see when you look at me is the summation of your assumptions about me. Why don’t you try opening your eyes to the fact that you are not right about everything, and you certainly aren’t right about me!”

  He stormed out of the room and returned a moment later with her clothes. He thrust them at her, and turned his back so she could get dressed. Lilah stared at the rigid line of his back and fought the urge to apologize. He was the one who was lining up dates for when she left. He was the one who saw her as just another woman in a long string of women to sleep with. She should have known better.

  She pulled the dress on over her head, and realized it must have shrunk in the dryer last night. When she finally wrestled it on, it was too tight across her chest for her to zip it up all the way. A little growl of frustration popped out as she tried yanking on the zipper and ripped the dress.

  He spun around and asked, “Do you need help with the zipper, Delilah?”

  “I think you’ve helped enough. Didn’t you read the tag before you dried it on high heat?” she groused as she looked away from his face.

  He stomped into his closet and returned with a t-shirt.

  She wanted to refuse, but she knew she needed something to cover herself. She couldn’t very well walk through the hotel lobby with her bra showing. “Thanks,” she said as she slipped the shirt on over her head.

  The ride back to the hotel was agonizing on every level. She felt Diego’s seething anger coming across the car in palpable waves, but she was too angry and hurt to address it.

  Once she was safely behind the door to her hotel room, she curled up on the bed and wept. When would she ever learn to stop getting her hopes up? Diego’s scent still clung to her as she clutched the pillow to her chest and wallowed in her heartbreak. To think that she had been on the verge of falling completely in love with him and possibly moving back to this godforsaken little nowhere town to be near him.

  ***

  Lilah spent all day Sunday with Cheryl and her mother. Just as she had expected, Cheryl drove into town with a massive list of directives. The final fitting for her wedding dress had to be attended by all ten bridesmaids, which led to pandemonium at her mother’s house. For the most part, Lilah just stayed quiet and did whatever Cheryl wanted. Cheryl wasn’t exactly a bridezilla, but she was more bossy than usual.

  Lilah was sitting alone in the dining room, staring at one of the wedding invitations when Cheryl’s mother joined her at the table.

  “You look like something’s wrong,” Heather observed. “Is there going to be a problem with the bridal shower this Friday?”

  “Not at all. I just talked to the event planner a few days ago. Everything we discussed is a go,” Lilah answered.

  “Where have you been staying since you got to town?” Heather asked.

  “Motel 6,” Lilah answered.

  “Why don’t you check out of there today and come stay in one of the guestrooms here?” Heather offered.

  Lilah sat back in surprise. Cousin Heather had never reached out to her before. Lilah’s mother had been nothing more than Heather’s unwanted, poor relation. “Are you sure?” Lilah asked.

  “Of course. Now that Cheryl is in town, you two are going to be busy with all the last minute little things that no one else has thought of yet. It will be easier if you girls are under the same roof. I know Cheryl would like it better that way.”

  Suddenly, the invitation made perfect sense. Heather just wanted her around for convenience. “Thanks, I’ll go check o
ut as soon as this meeting with the bridesmaids has wrapped up,” Lilah said with a smile that did not feel genuine at all. She guessed that Heather could barely stand the thought of having her here, but she would put up with her for Cheryl’s sake. Back in high school, Lilah had never been allowed to spend the night at Cheryl’s house. Of course, it had been out of the question to even think of asking Cheryl to spend the night in the projects with her. Heather wouldn’t have dignified the request with a response.

  Later that night, Lilah lay in the luxurious guestroom and tried not to think about Diego. She bristled every time that man crossed her mind, because she still had not managed to suppress her physical longing for him. She had a meeting with him and the city attorney scheduled for Monday. They were supposed to discuss the details of the city of service proclamation, but Lilah searched her mind for a way out of that meeting. She wanted to get through the wedding without seeing him again, so she could fly back to her boring, emotionally safe life in Illinois.

  ***

  Diego knocked on the hotel room door again, and this time he was rewarded by the sound of the bolt opening. The door was flung open, and a very old, and very ugly, man glared up at him. “What?” the man snarled.

  “Sorry. I think I have the wrong room,” he said as he backed away.

  The man slammed the door, and his heart sank. She had checked out of the hotel. It wasn’t yet eight on Monday morning, and she had already left town again. He felt angry and crushed all at the same time. He really thought they would have time to clear up their disagreement before she disappeared on him again.

  Once he reached city hall, he made a beeline for his office without making his usual rounds to greet everybody. Mrs. Horta took one look at his face and snapped her mouth shut as he walked past her desk. He spent all morning and afternoon buried in work. Just when he thought he’d managed to stuff all of his feelings down, Mrs. Horta called to inform him that his five o’clock appointment had arrived.

  He opened the door to the waiting room and felt like he could breathe again for the first time in more than a day when he saw Delilah sitting there. She hadn’t abandoned him again.