Chapter thirty

I don't know how I feel about this chapter. Hmmm, I guess I will come back and edit it if I feel like changing it!

Anyways, here it is! Enjoy!

NickyMb <3

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“What happened?!”

I lean against Julio’s bedroom door and sigh. Mia, who was on the other side of the phone call, doesn’t wait for me to answer. Instead I hear her reach for something, most likely her brothers keys, and then a door shutting.

“You don’t even have to say anything. I am on my way to get you.”

I bring my hand to my temple and start to rub circles, the beginning of a headache blooming. When Julio woke me up, by tickling me with a feather no doubt, I knew I had to call Mia as soon as possible.

The whole time I was worried about what would happen. What if she moved back in with Aiden? I didn’t want to ask her to move back in with her mom for the rest of break because I had nowhere to go. I let out my breath, dropping my hand.

I was so lost right now. I had no home to go too, my sister has no idea I have left, and my mother hated me. The headache I was fearing finally sets in and I want nothing more than to throw back a thing of advil and sleep forever.

But, I wasn’t one to run away from my problems. I knew I needed to address the problem head on and figure it out the best way I could. And right now that was asking Mia if I could stay with her.

“Uh, Mia?” I suddenly start, closing my eyes.

“Yeah Kelsey?”

“Theres no need to come and get me. I already have my car and I’m, um, not home.”

Even though no ones here to see it, I blush. Last nights events come rushing back and it takes all my will not to smile and hurl at the same time.

No, I didn’t regret it. At all. What I was worried about is what if last night meant more to me than it did for him? I know I’m falling in love with him. I care about him more than I think I have anyone before and that scares the living hell out of me.

Last night I gave a part of me I could never get back. I opened myself up to him and told him everything about me. Everything from my deepest secrets to what I was scared of.

Even if he didn’t know it, he could seriously hurt me if he wanted too. All he had to do was tell me last night was a mistake, or that he didn’t want to see me anymore, and everything I have worked for, all those months of guarding my heart, would be for nothing.

I know Julio wouldn’t hurt me initially, he has told me as much, but what if I was willing to actually make something out of this? What if he wasn’t? Was I being naive to think he was falling in love with me too?

Thankfully Mia pulls me out of my inner monologue before it could get too far ahead. “What do you mean you are not home?”

Her voice has suddenly gotten quite. I open my eyes and move away from the door. I go to my bag that was sitting on Julio’s bed and start to go through my stuff.

“I might be at Julio’s.” I start, pulling out a jacket. Even if it was warm in Julio’s house, the cold outside was giving the heat a run for it’s money.

Yeah, welcome to Michigan.

“What do you mean ‘might’? It’s not like you sleep walked there!” Before I can talk, I hear her gasp on the other line. I already know what she is going to say before she says it.

“Wait just one minute. It’s seven in the morning. There is no way in hell you just showed up there this early. That meant you slept over. Oh my god! You don’t even have to tell me what happened. I can hear it in your voice.” She actually sounded happy about it.

I bring the phone to my other hand and shove my arm through my jacket. She might have been happy now, but I didn’t tell her about my mom or her kicking me out yet.

“That’s not the point Mia.”

“What do you mean that’s not the point! The only reason you would have sex with the guy is if ....” Her voice trails off and I hold my breath, waiting for her to say it. Finally, for what seems like forever, she talks.

“You love him.”

I don’t even have to think about what I am going to say.

“I’m on my way.”

It’s not that I don’t love him. It was just that I was already halfway there. I don’t know what that says about me, but when I hear a sudden bang somewhere in the house, most likely Julio, I know I have to get to the point with Mia before she distracts me again. Swallowing my feelings, I tell her about what happened with my mom.

The whole time I tell her she doesn’t say one word. Half way though my story I realize I had to call Kayla. It didn’t seem right that she had to stay with our mother, someone she didn’t even want to be around, and deal with the repercussions to what I did.

Finally, I let the question slip out. “I know it’s a lot to ask Mia, but do you think I can stay with you for the rest of the break? I-I have nowhere else to go.”

I could have called my father, but I did not want to deal with that conversation. I could have asked Julio... ah, definitely not.

“Kelsey are you serious? Of course you can! You always knew what I thought of your mom. I’m just glad you finally stuck it to the old prune. So are you sure you don’t need a ride?”

“I’m sure.”

I hear her suddenly laugh and I know she was going to say something totally obnoxious. “Is Julio going to give you a ride?”

“No?” I question, wondering where she was getting at. I hear her break out into laughter again and before she hangs up, she says rather loudly, “I suppose not. He already gave you a ride last night.”

I press the end button on my phone and roll my eyes. Go figure Mia would make an inappropriate comment at a time like this.

I push my phone into my back pocket when another bang shrieks through the house. I raise my eyebrow and make my way to the door, opening it a little.

When I woke up Julio told me he already got my stuff for me. Of course this was after he laughed at my hand gesture for waking me up with a feather.

He told me he would wait for me outside while I got dressed. That was the last thing he said to me before he shut the door behind him.

Now following the sound and the smells coming from the kitchen my stomach pinches up with nerves. What if he didn’t want to see me?

Usually when I went this far with guys they would either still be in bed when I woke up or show me out. Soon after leaving they would send me a text saying they didn’t think it was going to work out. It happened every time and I sometimes wondered if there was something wrong with me.

Was I that bad to be around? Mia told me it was because most guys only wanted one thing and once they got, they didn’t really care about the rest. Apparently guys hated commitment and the minute they see a girl wanting it, they run.

I bring my hand behind my back and cross my fingers. Please let this be different. If Julio decided this was it, I would be heartbroken. But I knew I could handle it.

Maybe the best way to approach this was to just get it out in the open. Ask him what he wanted out of this and that way, if he wanted to leave, I would know ahead of time.

When I enter the kitchen, I have my whole speech ready, but I stop at when I see. Two plates lay on the counter, full of eggs, bacon, and toast. Julio hovers over the plates, a slight frown on his face. He has a thing of purple jam smudged over one cheek and he was shirtless.

With an apron.

An apron, might I had, that had tacos all of it.

I clear my throat and when his head jerks up and he sees me standing there, his lips tip up at the side. I nod toward the plates, an eyebrow raised in a question. He picks up a spatula and spins it in his hand.

“I figured,’ He starts, throwing the spatula in the air and catching it. “That the only thing that could top last night was breakfast.” He winks at me and I laugh, leaning against the wall.

“Do you take anything seriously?” He suddenly throws the spatula on the counter and pulls the apron over his head.

“A lot of things. Life, cigarettes, beer, Mexican food,” He stops and his smile vanished as he looked me up and down. “You.” He finishes.

My breath catches and before I can find it, he’s suddenly in front of me. Shirtless, tan, and down right hot. He brings his fingers to my chin and brings my face up so that now I had his full attention.

He searches my face before he finally talks.

“I know you are scared. I can see it written all over your face.”

I don’t say anything and he doesn’t expect me too. His fingers move from my chin and soon he cups my cheek. He pulls me toward him and he lays his forehead against mine as he closes his eyes.

“Last night was one of the best nights of my life and don’t you dare say it wasn’t for you too. Last night meant something and I’m still trying to figure out what it all means.”

He suddenly pulls back, his eyes opening. He narrows them a little before continuing. “I know you think I am going to leave you, but like I said before, I’m nothing like those fuck ups before. I promise you.”

When I still don’t say anything, he slowly drops his hand and runs it over the back of his neck.

“Uh, Kelsey?” He says, looking up at me in between his eyelashes. “This would be a really good time to say something.”

What he doesn’t understand is that if I wanted to, I couldn’t. I spent the whole walk here wondering what to say to him and here he was washing away all my fears.

At that moment I didn’t think I could care for him more than I did. I really should stop underestimating his abilities to make my heart feel like it was going a hundred miles a minute.

Of course, though, what I say is nothing close to what I want to tell him.

“You have Jam on your cheek.”

He raises an eyebrow at me, his hand stalling on his neck.

“What?”

I reach forward and bring my finger over the jam on his cheek. I bring my finger up and show it to him, the purple stuff smeared on my skin.

“I said you have jam on your cheek.”

He looks at me, confused, and I decide to drop the whole thing. I already made myself look like an idiot. I realized then that words weren’t the way. I needed to show him how much his words meant to me and how I felt.

Before he can say anything, I drop my hand and my eyes go to his lips. “Yeah, forget this.”

I hook my finger over the waistband of his jeans and pull him toward me. He complies and soon my mouth meets his and his hands find their way to my waist.

I show him with every move of my lips, every touch of my fingers, how much right now meant to me. How much that right now I could have been the happiest girl in the world. I don’t even think Mia could top how I was feeling.

Julio runs his hands over my thigh, hips, and his hands find their way under my shirt. He runs his fingers over my stomach, my ribs, and suddenly his hands find their way to my bra.

“If we don’t stop, we are going to have a repeat of last night.” He grunts against my lips and I have enough sense to pull back.

He drops his hand and takes a step back, running his hands through his hair. I straighten my shirt out, pulling my jacket closer to my body. When were both done letting the moment pass by, Julio smiles and reaches for my hand.

“Let me introduce you to the best damn food you will ever have.”

He tugs me toward the counter and when we reach the food, he does a little bow, his hair falling a little in his eyes. I shake my head before grabbing a fork and letting it hover over the eggs.

“And if it isn’t the best damn food I ever ate?”

I stab the eggs, bring them up, and wait for him to answer me before I take a bite. He straightens and gives me a little smirk.

“Then I’m your prisoner for life.”

“I kind of like the sound of that.”

“You would Angel. Any chance you have to torcher me.”

I smile before I bring the eggs to my mouth and take a bite. When I’m done, I lay the fork on the plate and rub my finger across my chin. “Well, they certainly aren’t the best eggs in the world.”

“That’s it then,” He says, coming forward and capturing me against him. He lays his hands on the counter by my hips and flashes his body with mine. Heat shoots through my body and the way he was looking at me just then was making me kind of want a repeat of last night.

Yeah, lets just say, Julio was that good.

“I’m yours.” He whispers before leaning forward and kissing my neck lightly. I turn my head to the right as he trails kisses up my neck and ends the whole thing by laying a small kiss on the corner of my mouth.

“You are bad for me Kelsey Mays,” He says, pulling away. I meet his dark gaze and swallow.

“What do you mean?”

“You make me want things I shouldn’t be allowed to want.”

My heart picks up a little and his eyes move to my lips. He leans forward, no doubt to show me what he wants, when a sudden voice stops his advance.

“That’s my boy! Show her just what the Hernandez blood is made of.”

I freeze, my breath catching, and I look over Julios shoulder to see who it was that was talking. Julio tenses above me but he doesn’t move.

When my eyes meet the man behind Julio I know who it is without even asking. They have the same dark hair, the same tanned skin, and while the guy has more tattoo’s, there was no doubt in my mind.

My breath comes out quicker and Julio finally turns around, blocking the mans view of me with his body.

“I didn’t know you were going to be here so early. Mi madre called earlier and said you guys might be all day.”

All I see his Julio bare back as the man talks.

“Ah, fuck those pigs. They knew better that to make me wait all day. Your mother’s outside with the rest of them. Now, are you going to show me who you’ve been fucking?!”

There's humor in his voice and Julio reaches back and grabs my hand, giving me a little squeeze.

“You don’t talk about her like that.”

Julio’s voice is calm, but I can hear the warning underneath it. I peek behind Julio to see the guy raise a pierced eyebrow. They stare at eachother for a moment before the guy finally smiles.

“Find then, I will respect your women. Now may you introduce me to who I will be respecting?” Julio stays in front of me for a few more seconds before stepping out of the way.

His hand is still in mine and he says in a quiet voice, “Kelsey, this is Julio, my father.”

The guy smiles and then I realize why Julio was so worried about becoming his father.

Same name, same face, same language.

The man Julio feared of becoming was standing right in front of me and the more I looked at him, the more I saw little pieces of Julio in him.

When I look over at Julio I realize he must be thinking the same thing. He refuses to look at me, his jaw locked tightly, and at the moment I come to the conclusion that I was wrong. Julio might have this mans blood and his name, but Julio would never become what this man has.

Julio wasn’t a monster.

This man was.