This Boy by Lauren Myracle

Author:Lauren Myracle [Myracle, Lauren]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781536210071
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Published: 2020-05-14T16:00:00+00:00

From that point forward, I spent every second I could with Natalia. I was addicted to that girl. I felt like a traitor for not inviting Roby to join us. He had to know what was going down.

But there it was. I ignored Roby’s snaps and texts, too.

Usually we hung out in Natalia’s room, because Natalia’s mom loves me and also she trusts me. When I come over, she plies me with Mexican Coca-Cola and coconut macaroons decorated with green, white, and red stripes. Those are the colors of the Mexican flag, which at first I didn’t know. But now I do, just like I now know that Mexican Coke is better than American Coke because it’s made with real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup.

So anyway, Mrs. Gutierrez loads us up with snacks and then waves us out of the kitchen, saying, “Be good, you two! I know you will!”

Today, after playing not one but two rounds of Trouble with Lena, Natalia shooed her out of her room and pulled me to her bed.

“I’m going to kiss you now,” she whispered. It was our favorite joke. I loved that we had a favorite joke.

“Not if I kiss you first.” I took her face in my hands and kissed her. Soft. Hard. Warm. Wet. I let one hand drift beneath her shirt. Her skin was silk and honey.

Forget the rest of high school. Forget college. I’d found my calling.

Natalia turned toward me. I felt her hand on my stomach, beneath my T-shirt, and I shuddered. We kissed. We touched. Nothing too serious. We were still pretty innocent in terms of how far things went, but anything and everything was good by me.

“Paul?” she said, eventually pushing herself up. She adjusted her clothes.

I shifted around to conceal my erection, though the deliciousness of wanting more, wanting her, stayed firm.

“Paul, you need to talk to Roby. You’ve got to. Please?”

That did the trick. I blinked and said, “Why?”

“You know why. He’s your best friend. He misses you.”

“No, he doesn’t,” I said, thinking, I miss him, too.

Natalia shoved me. “Paul, don’t be stupid.”

“What if I am stupid?”

“You’re not, so grow up.”

I raked my fingers through my hair. “Chill, woman. Man’s got to work it out for himself.”

“But, Paul,” she said. “Odds are your relationship with Roby’s going to last longer than your relationship with me.”

I stared at her. “Damn, Natalia. Why would you say that?”

“I didn’t mean it in a bad way. Just —”

“Do you think we’re not going to last long?”

“Paul, no. I am not thinking in any way, shape, or form about the end of us.”

“The end of us?” I didn’t want there to be an end of us. I didn’t understand why she was pushing on it or introducing the possibility. I felt a little shattered. It scared me.

I rose from Natalia’s bed, walked to the window, and braced my hands on the sill. I couldn’t see Roby’s house from here, but the grass in Natalia’s yard was the same as the grass in Roby’s yard.

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