see her open her gifts. I had to bring my gym duffel with me because I got a little carried away with presents for both of them.”
“You’re such a good brother, Rocco.”
“I feel like it’s all too little too late.” I scoffed, thinking of those years when I’d been at Columbia and barely made time to see Sofia.
I heard her click her tongue on the other end of the line. “Baby, no. You were doing what you needed to survive. To make your own way. It was not on you. No matter how much you felt that responsibility, it wasn’t yours. You’re a good man, and I know how grateful your sister must be for you.”
“I’m not so great, but I can buy them a few presents.”
“You’re too hard on yourself, papi.”
There it was. That word. She seldom used it, but when she did my dick went hard as a rock and it was all I could do not to beat my chest like a fucking caveman. I lowered my voice when I spoke. “You know I get a little wild when you call me that. How am I supposed to get through an airport thinking about how you moan that in my ear, when I’m inside—”
“Rocco, stop. My grandmother is literally five feet from my bedroom door.” I would take her a little more seriously if I didn’t hear the heat in her voice.
“Are you still coming over for dinner day after tomorrow?”
I wanted to say more sexy shit, get her more revved up, but I had to go.
“Yeah, that’s the plan. Are you staying over at my hotel one of the nights I’m there?” I sounded extremely desperate, but at the moment I was more concerned with luring her to my hotel. I’d always been disconnected from the women I casually dated. I liked them well enough, wanted them too, but I never felt a need for more. With Julia I could not get enough.
“My parents are going to ask a million questions if I do, and I’m not sure I have the bandwidth to explain what we’re doing.”
I almost asked her if she could enlighten me, because the more we were together, the less I knew how I was supposed to go back to New York and leave her in Dallas.
“Okay, I get that. I still want to see you though.” I growled that out because even if I was confused about a lot of things, wanting Julia was not one of them.
“I want to see you too. Text me when you get in.” There it was again, us doing things that were not at all what people did when they were just hooking up.
“I will. Say hi to your family for me, okay?”
“Okay, papi.” I could tell she was smiling as she said it.
“Why do you torture me?”
“It’s not torture if you like it.”
I chuckled at her smart-assness, “Touché, talk soon.”
I ended the call and headed for the terminal. I’d been a ball of nerves before Julia’s call and would probably get myself riled up by the time I landed in LaGuardia. But I could not deny that her presence felt like everything I needed.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Julia
“Well you look relaxed and...flushed?” Alba said, before tapping my shoulder. “Move over, we can’t fit in this bed like we used to.” We maneuvered for a few seconds until we were both sitting up on my bed like we’d done so many times over the years.
I looked over at my friend, her brown skin so similar to mine, her black afro big, like a big fluffy halo around her head.
“Albita, that dress looks so good on you.” She was wearing a cobalt-blue wrap dress I’d brought for her that accentuated all her curves. “The colors are gorgeous, friend.” Alba preened as I admired her outfit. My friend was the epitome of body positive. She gave no fucks about what anyone thought about her size and what she looked like. Which made her that much more beautiful.
“Thanks for the gift, babe. I feel so fancy. I’m loving this designer. Yours is gorg too,” she said, gesturing to my red empire dress. Christmas Eve dinner at a Dominican/Puerto Rican household was no joke. No one other than our family and Alba’s was going to be here, but I still had to look like we were going to dinner at the Waldorf.
Alba stared at me a little longer than what was comfortable and then brought her gaze down to my phone, which I