See, I was right. Hank was a scary good guy.
“Let’s talk about what Vince said to you.” I sighed and pressed my face in his neck and shoved my arms around him.
“Let’s not.”
“You got to talk about it.”
“Why? It’s over. You deal. You move on. I’m fine, everyone I love is fine, except Dad and there’s hope he’l be fine too. Vince was a jerk. Now he’s dead. The end.” Eddie’s arms tightened around me and he said some stuff softly in Spanish.
My head came back up.
“What? I didn’t catch any of that.”
He did another rol , him getting on top again.
Then, he said, “You don’t wanna talk? We won’t talk.” Then he kissed me.
Then, for the next hour, there were some words muttered, but you couldn’t real y cal them talking.
*
The alarm went off, Eddie touched a button and rol ed into me, wrapping his arms around me and pul ing my back to his front. It was Saturday. Saturday meant there wasn’t even the need for the snooze button.
I nestled my bottom into his groin and started to drift back to sleep.
Then I heard Eddie say, “Wake up, Cari?a, time for our talk.”
Shit, hel and damn.
“I want to sleep more,” I said.
“After our talk and after I make love to you, then you can sleep. First, the talk.”
My bel y did a curl.
I ignored it.
“But I want to sleep more now.”
I was partly trying to avoid the talk, partly trying not to think of Eddie making love to me and partly, I real y did want more sleep.
He moved away and rol ed me onto my back. He was up on his elbow and looking down on me. “Later,” he said.
I threw an arm over my eyes. “I need coffee,” I said.
“Later.”
I wasn’t going to get out of it, I wasn’t going to delay it and I wasn’t going to get more sleep.
I took the arm away and looked at him.
It was a serious look, no attitude, no bul shit.
“I need coffee before we talk.”
He looked at me, registered the seriousness, then rol ed out of bed and pul ed me with him.
I put on one of Eddie’s flannel shirts (thinking I’d steal that too if I could get away with it) and a pair of panties and Eddie tugged on a pair of jeans.
We made coffee.
We used the delicious in-store bakery bread Blanca bought and made toast, breaking the seal on Eddie’s new toaster. We smeared it with real butter (that Blanca also bought) and grape jel y (again, that Blanca bought).
We sat at the dining room table with our coffee and toast. Eddie sat back, his legs out in front of him and his feet crossed at the ankles. It wasn’t a good position because it was a good position and it was a new position.
I hadn’t had the opportunity to be around an Eddie who was relaxed, sitting back at his dining room table, wearing was relaxed, sitting back at his dining room table, wearing nothing but jeans. Al I knew was Eddie at Fortnum’s, Eddie Action Man or at most, Eddie lounging on the couch holding me while watching a bal game. Stil , even lounging on the couch, there was something active about him, alert, aware, focused, whatever.
He was focused now but we’d had a lot of sex last night and I’d agreed to talk. Not to mention, I was sitting at his dining room table eating toast and wearing his shirt.
He was focused but laid-back. He looked real y handsome and both were going to make things a lot harder for me.
He took a bite of toast and watched me.
“You’re gettin’ that about-ready-to-bolt look again,” he said when he swal owed and then he took a sip of coffee, al the while, his eyes on me.
“I didn’t real y think you’d be mad that I moved out. I wasn’t real y moved in. I was just staying here—” I started but he interrupted.
“You weren’t moved in, we’re not ready for moved in.
Stil , you could have told me and you could have stayed awhile. At least until your sister found a place to stay.”
“Mom gave up the apartment. She and Lottie are moving in with Trixie.”
His eyes didn’t leave me but they became active.
“That was fast. Where are you gonna live?”
“They found me an apartment. I’m quitting Fortnum’s and working at Smithie’s until the Credit Union has an opening.
Then, I’m going back there.”
He stil watched me.
“Prefer it to the other way around, you stay at Fortnum’s and quit Smithie’s.”
“Smithie’s is more money.”
“Then you are moving in until you can afford your own place.”
I shook my head.
“It wasn’t an offer, Chiquita. I don’t want you workin’ at Smithie’s.”
“Eddie,” I said, putting down my toast, “You don’t have much to say about it.”
His eyes started changing.
Uh-oh.
I leaned back, took a huge breath and then said it, straight out, “I’m breaking up with you.” His eyes finished changing, quick as a flash.
“I’m sorry?” he asked quietly
“I’m breaking up with you,” I repeated.