More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
“Just leave it alone,” I snap, hands clenching at my sides to hide their faint tremor. I can't keep reliving the worst day of my goddamn life. Not if I want to keep what's left of my sanity.
Fuck. When did I become such a little bitch? I’ve been through tough shit before. Carlos’s suicide. My parents divorce. Real shit. So why the hell is it so goddamn hard to function now? I stare out my bedroom window. The sun is shining. The autumn leaves have turned from green to a multitude of yellows, reds, and oranges. By all accounts it’s a beautiful day. And it’s a lie.
Does he, though? My throat tightens around the bitter lump expanding inside my throat. Cecilia isn’t some casual fling I can move on from overnight. She’s so much more than that. She’s … everything.
He isn’t supposed to be my friend. He isn’t supposed to be my anything.
What the fuck
And I want to meet the amazing woman I know she’ll be after she has time to heal. I want to know every version there is to know of Cecilia. And I want to lay claim to every goddamn one of them. Fuck, I’m going to turn into a stalker or some shit with the way my thoughts are wandering, but I can’t help it. I want to own her. Mind, body, and soul. To strip her bare and memorize every inch of her sun-kissed skin. To get inside her head and know her innermost thoughts. Her secrets. Her fears.
Watching her facial expressions now, she’s not at all annoyed. She’s … happy. Fuck, she’s beautiful when she’s like this. Hell, she’s always beautiful, but seeing her smile. It’s something special. Something she rarely shows the outside world. Which is why I’m so taken aback right now. I’m not used to seeing Cecilia like this. Not out in the open.
Not particularly, but since you asked, “Only that regardless of their bullshit reasoning, none of it justifies what Israel is doing now,” I tell him. “Israel has been violently seizing Palestinian land while also creating an apartheid state. Hamas or no Hamas, you can’t justify that.”
I didn’t speak up to earn his approval. I spoke up because most of the people in this room have never had to deal with being discriminated against. They’ve never had themselves or members of their family oppressed. Language matters. By definition, what is happening overseas right now is a fucking genocide. No one here is going to convince me otherwise. And yeah, the United States and world powers should be getting involved and they are. But they’re helping out the wrong side. They’re supporting the oppressors.
Adriana gives me a patronizing look and starts walking backwards, her eyes still on mine. “You’ve always been true to your namesake, Gabriel,” she says. “You’re protective of the people you love and you love Cecilia. You may as well proclaim yourself her guardian angel. So, it’s fine. Don’t tell me. But whatever you have planned, make it hurt.” She flashes me a dark smile before she turns around, and then she’s gone.
I can't help but feel a twinge of jealousy as I watch them together, knowing I'd be the same way with Cecilia if she'd let me.
His presence, so close, ignites a flurry of conflicting emotions inside of me—longing, uncertainty, and a flicker of desire. But I push them aside, steeling myself against the pull he exerts on me. Play it cool. I remind myself.
Why are you so stupid
