Page 99 of That Last Summer

“Don’t you dare mention her in front of me,” I warn, getting out of bed and as far away from him as possible. I walk over to the window.

“Who?” he asks, confused, from right behind me.

I turn around and face him. “Your friend the redhead.”

The redhead you chose to end the first part of my life with. The part before Boston. The part that ended us.

“My friend the redhead? Yeah, she’s my friend. You got a problem with that?”

A problem?

“No, I don’t have a problem, Alex,” I tell him wearily. “And I’m not going to keep going at it. I’m leaving now.”

I try to walk past him, but he stops me with his arm.

“Hey, wait, where are you going?”

“I don’t know, I’ll think about it on the way. I don’t care about the where part. I just need to get away from all this.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. You can’t just walk away, just like that. Not when your brother’s getting married in two fucking months. And of course you can’t leave Adrián without any explanation. You’re not a child anymore, Priscila. Stop acting like one. Be an adult, once and for all. It’s about time, don’t you think?”

“Cut me some slack, okay? I’m not leaving the country, Alex, I just want to be away for a day or two. I have to deal with this, and the last thing I need is to see Adrián. I don’t want to say something I might regret later. Not to him.”

“Okay, that I understand. Come to my place then.”

“Your place?”

The idea catches me completely off guard. His place? And what the hell would I be doing there?

“Yes, my place. My house.”

“Why?”

I’m not asking about his house physically; I’m asking why he’s helping me. And he knows what I mean.

“I just told you, I know what you and Adrián mean to each other. I’m not going to judge you, Priscila, not about this. I don’t need to understand why you and your Siamese brother are vetoing each other.” The way Alex refers to us as Siamese twins... I smile weakly, even though I don’t want to. That’s what we are. He smiles too. “That’s between the two of you. I just want you to fix it as soon as possible.”

“Thank you, Alex,” I say, meaning it. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

It’s funny that the way out of this conflict lies with the same person who was the origin of everything.

“Is that a yes?”

“That depends. Are you willing to not tell anyone where I am?”

The last thing I need is for the rest of my brothers to come sniffing around.

“You’re asking me to lie to your brothers. And maybe you didn’t notice, but they’re important to me.”

“Yes, I know.” I knew it from day one, and I’ve accepted it now. Unbelievable, but I’m okay with it. And not only that. I think... I think I like the fact that they’re so close. “That’s why I said it depends. The last thing I want is to cause you trouble with them.”

“And where would you go if I say no?”

“I don’t know. Sad, isn’t it?” I admit. “My whole reality revolves around the Cabanas. I have no one else aside from them. Not even Jaime.”

“It’s not sad, Priscila. You tend to include people, everyone who comes to you is included in your family nest. It’s nice. Now, let’s go.”

“To your house?”