Through My Window (Hidalgos #1)(48)

Ares turns his gaze away from me and starts walking past us. “Come on, we don’t have all night.” His voice is neutral, reminding me of the first time we spoke.

He passes by without another glance. He really doesn’t care. Why does that hurt me so much? Why do I want him to care? Marco gives me one last smile and follows him. I watch them head to Ares’s car, which is parked on the street, to pull out some crates of what looks like beer.

Yoshi grabs my hand. “Earth calling Raquel.”

I stop looking at Ares and focus on my best friend, the guy I just kissed. Shit, what a night!

“I’m sorry, I just … It’s nothing.”

Yoshi caresses my cheek. “If anyone needs to apologize here, it’s me. I’m sorry, I know how you feel about him. I don’t expect you to act like you don’t care overnight.” He adjusts his glasses, and I can’t help the smile that springs to my lips. Yoshi is so sweet, and on top of it, he kisses well too.

“We should go inside.” I don’t want to face Ares again when he comes back with those crates.

Yoshi nods. “Okay, but first I want you to know that this isn’t a one-night thing for me. I really care about you, and I want us to try.”

“I care about you too, but I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I know,” he says with a smile. “Let’s try, and if it doesn’t work, we can just be friends, but at least we’ll know we tried.” He pauses, but I don’t say anything. “Just think about it, okay? You don’t have to answer now.”

I just nod and grab his hand to lead him back into the house. “All right, now let’s go, Casanova.”

Yoshi laughs, and we go inside together.


I tend to underestimate the ability of alcohol to get people drunk in a short amount of time. We’re all pretty tipsy, so to speak, but Carlos is past the point of no return. He’s unconscious on one of the couches in the house, drooling onto a flowered cushion. Apolo, being the nice guy that he is, checks Carlos’s breathing every so often.

I’m having a great time and even manage to completely forget about Ares from time to time. But the more I drink, the more I think about him. I don’t know if it’s a side effect of the alcohol, but it bothers me. I don’t want to think about him, I don’t want to scan the room every now and then to see if I can find him, I don’t want to wonder what he’s doing and who he’s with.

I don’t care about him, I don’t care about him, I keep repeating to myself. Dani gives Apolo a kiss on the cheek, telling him how cute he is, and he just blushes, lowering his head. I shake my head, and then I see him. Ares walks past with a tall, slender brunette with wavy hair. He doesn’t even look around; he just continues on his way through the crowd until he reaches the stairs. He walks up them with her, both of them laughing together.

My stomach drops. I know what people go upstairs to do in those rooms. Judging by the look the brunette was giving him, she really wants him. Jealousy gnaws at me, and then I realize that he really doesn’t care about me. Just seeing him with that girl makes me feel like my heart is going to explode, and imagining him kissing her turns my stomach. Yet he saw Yoshi kissing me and didn’t care; he didn’t even look surprised.

That’s the big difference between him and me. I feel everything, and he feels nothing. I’m the only one in love. It’s always been that way with him. So why am I torturing myself like this? I have to get him out of my mind and out of my heart. I don’t want to feel this way anymore. I don’t want to feel hurt and disappointed.

I take Yoshi’s glass and drink until it’s completely empty. Everyone looks at me in surprise. So much alcohol all at once makes me dizzy for a second, but it passes, and I grab Dani’s glass and do the same, but she stops me halfway through.

“Hey, calm down, there’s no hurry!”

I hand her back her glass, breathing heavily after drinking so much in one gulp. “I’m sorry, I got excited.”

She gives me a skeptical look. “Are you all right?”

I force a smile, but the image of Ares with that girl is burned into my mind. “I’m doing great.”

My ears get hot, as does my face. Remember the qualities of alcohol? Feeling brave, I take Yoshi’s hand and stand up, forcing him to stand with me.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Yoshi says to me in surprise.

“We’ll be right back,” I tell Dani and Apolo, pulling Yoshi behind me.

Climbing the stairs is harder than it looks, especially if the world is spinning. I hold on tight to the railing, and with the other hand I keep pulling Yoshi, who lets out a confused chuckle.

“Where are we going, Rochi?” he asks. We reach the top of the stairs and find a dark hallway full of doors on either side.

“Let’s have fun, like him—like everyone else,” I say quickly, but Yoshi is so drunk he doesn’t notice.

Inevitably, I imagine Ares behind one of those doors, making out with that brunette, his hands touching her, making her reach a delicious orgasm. My stomach churns, and I gag. I stagger across the hallway with Yoshi following me. I pick a door at random because I know fate won’t be so cruel as to make me enter the room Ares is in.

It’s a small room with a single bed. I don’t bother to turn on the light. The light from the moon is bright enough to see everything. I grab Yoshi by the shirt and throw him on the bed. I close the door, giggling like a fool, playing with the edge of my shirt.