Page 126 of That Last Summer

“Or you can tell us,” I say.

“Fine, as long as the wedding doesn’t come up. I don’t talk about anything else lately, damn it.”

“Okay then, you can tell me some juicy stories about your work.”

“You know it’s confidential, Pris.”

“Oh come on. Change the names and make parts up, like you always do.”

“Done.”

My brother’s “quick coffee” turns into more than half an hour of apocalyptic tales. He’s so good at making up stories.

He leaves in a hurry right after witnessing my defeat—because yes, no matter how much I cheated—even despite Marcos’ help—Alex still ends up winning.

“Get ready for tonight,” is the last thing my husband says to me before Jaime appears and sits down at our table. It’s been a day since he came back from Valladolid, his hometown. He needed space after what happened with my brother, and he’d been wanting to visit his parents for weeks.

“Tequila,” he says to Alex. “Double.”

“Do I have ‘waiter’ written on my face, or what?”

“Your husband is such a jerk, Pris. Tequila,” he asks me then. “Double.”

“I don’t know if they have tequila in here.”

“What? Isn’t it a fucking bar?”

“It’s more like a brewery. But I’ll ask,” I add when I see the look he’s giving me.

I get up, kind of afraid to leave them alone, and go to the bar to ask Pedro for tequila. Turns out he does serve tequila.

Jaime’s been pretty upset for the last few weeks. He had a massive fight with Hugo when he ran out after him that day, and since then they haven’t spoken. They just look at each other. They do that a lot.

I return to our table with two shots of tequila. Doubles. Both of them.

“Fuck, it burns like hell,” my friend exclaims after swallowing the first one. “Aren’t you going to join me?”

“Who do you think I brought this one for?” I say, pointing to the other glass. Jaime doesn’t like to drink alone. Well, I guess no one does.

“You get me like nobody else, Cabana.”

“So, what’s new?” I ask, referring to my brother.

I don’t like that they’re angry. I’m sad for them. Jaime looks sad too, and Hugo wanders around like a confused zombie. I think they really like each other. I have to admit I was shocked when I heard they’d hooked up, but they’re both adults, and single—they can do whatever they want.

“Hugo’s so pissed off, Pris. He doesn’t want me anywhere near him. Firstly because he says that I’m into his little brother and he’s just ‘the only thing I had left’—which is not true, by the way, no matter how much he wants to throw it in my face that I started flirting with him when I was drunk. And second—”

“Wait, wait,” I cut him off. “When was that?”

“The day of the martinis. You were busy throwing stones at your husband’s window and I, it seems, tried to score with your brother. Big time. I do remember asking him about Christmas 2011—I really wanted to know what happened—but from then on... there’s just fog in my head.”

“Okay, and second?”

“Right. Secondly, I slept with his little sister. He doesn’t understand it was just an experiment. Doesn’t bode well, does it?”

“Well, nope, it doesn’t. If I were you, I’d go back to Boston immediately,” Alex says, still staring at the television.

Jaime gives him a dirty look, but Alex ignores him. And I ignore Alex. Sometimes he can be a real jerk.