The Viper (Untamed Hearts #1)(78)
“Because these pendejos don’t know how to drive,” he said with a snort of disbelief.
“You are one of those honkers.” Katie hit his chest. “You do that, don’t you? It’s obnoxious.”
“I am obnoxious,” he promised her. “If you haven’t figured that out yet, you will.”
“Will I?”
“You’re living in my house. Yes, you’ll probably notice.”
Katie looked stricken as she glanced around at the boxes again. “Marcos—”
“Dinner.” Marcos turned and grabbed the plates off the dresser. “I don’t have a table. I usually eat with Tía Sofia, but we can sit on the bed.”
She tilted her head, giving him a calculating look. “Are you trying to get me to bed?”
“Yes, Katie, I am,” he said with a smile. “And since I’m a pendejo, and I know you know it, I’ll have to bribe you with food.”
She seemed to hesitate for only a moment before she reached out and took the plate from him and said, “Okay.”
No one could say Katie wasn’t fearless.
It was one of the things Marcos liked most about her.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“The chicken was amazing, but I am very scared of these.” Katie poked at the slices of cooked yellowish fruit on her plate. “What are they?”
“Plátanos. They’re good.” Marcos reached over with his fork and stabbed at one on her plate. He took a bite out of it and said, “They taste sorta like bananas.”
“Cooked bananas. For dinner,” Katie mumbled as she pushed at another one. “Okay.”
“Try it.”
Katie cut it in half and then stabbed it with her fork. She brought it up to her mouth and licked it, gauging the taste of it. Then she glanced up, finding that Marcos had stopped eating and was just watching her. “What?”
“Nothing.” He shrugged. “I just like the way you look when you lick things.”
Katie laughed and felt her cheeks heat. Instead of responding, she took a small bite and considered it for a moment. “It’s pretty good.”
“Yeah, it is,” Marcos agreed, his voice husky.
“Stop,” she warned, eating the rest of the mysterious banana instead of looking at him. “I don’t know where I stand with you.”
“Where do you want to stand with me?” he countered as he pushed at his beans and rice and then glanced up at her hesitantly.
“You left me, Marcos,” she reminded him.
“I did.” He looked at his plate again. His handsome face was stricken, and he reached up and rubbed at his eyebrow, where the scar now gave him a much more dangerous appearance. “I didn’t want to, though.”
“Then why did you?”
He shook his head. “Katie, I was in such a bad place. I came this close to being six feet under or in prison. I still don’t know how I got out of it. I mean, I do know, but it’s still complicated. I didn’t think I deserved you. I’m still not certain if I do or not.”
“But you’re more certain?” she asked curiously.
He seemed to think about that for a moment before he finally nodded. “I’m much more certain.”
“What changed?”
“Well, I’m not a gangster anymore.” He gave her an unsure smile. “Maybe you won’t like me now?”
“What?” Katie laughed. “Why would that change anything? I’m happy about that. Chuito told me. I knew that part, but I’m happy to hear it from you. Why would you think I wouldn’t like you for that?”
“Not so dangerous.” He shrugged, giving her another smile. “Chicas like dangerous.”
“You still look pretty dangerous to me.” Katie reached over and touched his eyebrow again. “That helps. Did it hurt?”
“Ay Dios mio, chica. Yes.” He groaned as if remembering it. “I had Chuito for a doctor. Trust me, if you ever have a choice between my cousin or a hospital, pick the hospital.”
Katie laughed again, struck with how easy it was to be around Marcos, as if the past three months of loneliness didn’t happen. She had missed him and worried about him every single day, though Chuito assured her Marcos was fine and just getting his life together. The sadness had been all the more difficult because the stress over Grayson and Ashley had made school more than a little uncomfortable.
Grayson had gotten charged with trespassing, a misdemeanor. It hadn’t affected his job. Katie could have filed a restraining order, but she didn’t. Chuito had been underfoot a lot, and he worked better than a piece of paper at keeping Grayson away.
Ashley was dealing with the more serious charges of reckless driving and leaving the scene of the accident. She had confessed everything to Sheriff Connor once he started questioning her. Marcos had been right. It was her car. The teachers hadn’t known how to deal with that sort of situation, let alone two of them. Most were kind to Katie, but some hadn’t been, and it had just been an awkward end of the year—especially when Grayson and Ashley started dating.
At least Grayson had lost interest in Katie.
She had been a little too busy nursing her broken heart to think on it too much. Honing her Spanish had been a good distraction, though she had learned quickly that dinner with Chuito every night helped more than hours of studying by herself. She picked up enough of it to feel confident when she made the life-altering decision to move to Miami. Her family thought she was crazy and had argued with her until the day she left, but she simply couldn’t get past what she’d heard from Marcos and Chuito. How certain they were that they’d never had a chance of graduating.