Page 30 of Hate That Blooms
Cora takes a step toward him, narrowing her eyes at him. “Why don’t you get away from my best friend before you do something stupid like hurt her and her sister?”
Joaquín takes a deep breath, visibly calming himself down. “Just watch the kid,” he turns to face me. “I’d hate for you to fuck up again, and she seriously gets hurt, and I’m not around to save her.”
I nod in agreement, tears already brimming in my eyes. Joaquín walks away with his friends, and we all gather our belongings and head back to where we were going to set up. I can’t help but feel immense gratitude towards Joaquín. Gratitude for saving my sister, but I also feel so much shame.
“I am fucking this up.” I let the tears flow and squeezed Mireya tighter to my chest. “Why does this have to be so fucking hard?”
“No, you’re not!” Cora grabs my arm and pulls me into a hug. “You are doing the best you can. Fuck what he said, you’re doing what most eighteen year olds could never handle. I know I couldn’t. Raising your sister, running a household and busting your ass doing it. Seriously, fuck him.”
The tension can still be felt in the air, and I sneak a look over at Joaquín. Mireya waves to him from my arms, and he gives her a smile and waves back. It’s when she turns her head to say something to Nat that he locks eyes with me and flips me off.
Things will never change between us. It’s always going to be my fault. He’s never going to look at me and feel the same things I feel.
Please, let me stop wanting him because all it’s going to do is break my heart.
Chapter18
Joaquín
Fall Semester - October
Gabriela is everywhere I turn on campus, and it’s driving me insane. I haven’t approached her since the beach—I cut all contact, thinking that if I avoided her, I could just move on. Three months of no contact, not even as the stalker. The universe decided for me that would not be happening, putting her in nearly all of my classes. Torturing me with the person I crave above all else. Gabriela is still all I see, all I want.
I’ve missed her so much. Even if it's me being mean to her. I miss her.
Thiago says I’m obsessed, and honestly, I’m not sure if obsession even captures the intensity of the emotions I feel when I look at her. The marrow within my bones needs her—the blood that flows through my veins calls out to her, like it knows that she’s supposed to be mine. Part of me believes she feels it too, judging by how her eyes consistently meet mine. How she will give me a small smile, hoping I’ll do the same in return.
God, how I want to. The lingering hate prevents me from just picking her up, and fucking her against the wall. From kissing her until we both need to come up for air to having her lay in my arms all night long.
Thiago joins me at the back of the lecture hall for English, and I can hear the excitement in his voice as he tells me all about his most recent date with Cora, but my mind is too preoccupied to focus on his words. Gabriela and Cora enter the hall, and immediately Cora waves enthusiastically to Thiago, a wide smile on her face. Gabriela’s eyes meet mine, and I can see the tension building within her. With a deep breath, she allows her best friend to pull her up the stairs, their footsteps echoing through the room.
My heart races as Gabriela’s gaze lingers on mine—this intensity between us is undeniable. It’s as if there is an unspoken connection, a magnetic pull that draws us together. It’s hate and lust, all muddled together, and the love I have for her that burns my soul is desperately trying to dominate over all other feelings.
She consumes me.
I try to focus on Thiago’s words about his date with Cora and how his weekend went, but my mind keeps wandering back to Gabriela. Every fiber of my being longs for her, for her touch, attention, fucking anything.
As Gabriela and Cora climb the stairs, I can’t help but pay close attention to everything she does. There’s tension in her smile—desire and uncertainty. It’s like she’s fighting the same battle within herself, torn between what she wants and what she thinks is right.
The girls situate themselves in the seats in front of Thiago and me, pulling out their laptops to take notes. Before the professor starts her lecture, Cora spins around to flirt with Thiago.
“So, are we still planning to go to the Halloween party next weekend? I hear it’s supposed to be epic! Gabriela was able to get Mireya’s respite worker to take a night shift so she could go.”
My ears perk up at that little piece of information, and even though I wasn’t planning to go to this party, I am now. It’s the perfect opportunity to insert myself back into her life. Thiago looks over at Gabriela and gives her a friendly smile.
“That’s awesome. I bet it’ll be nice to let loose and have some fun.”
Her response is a silent nod, agreeing with him without uttering a single word. It’s like she doesn’t want to speak around me.Is she afraid that if she does I’ll be cruel to her?Right now there is nothing I want more than to hear the sound of her voice. Three months of silence and kind smiles, but no actual words.
It’s torture.
It makes me wonder if she’s doing it on purpose.
After an hour and a half of a boring lecture, everyone gathers their things and heads out of the hall. Cora and Gabriela take off after saying goodbye to Thiago, and once she’s far enough away, I take out my phone and send her a text from the fake number.
¿Por qué mi reina está tan silenciosa?
Sitting down at one of the numerous tables in this quad, I watch as she pulls her phone out of her back pocket and opens the message. I smirk and shove my phone in my jacket pocket. Book in hand, I lean back in the uncomfortable chair and attempt to readBless Me, Ultima. Gabriela stares at her phone, and her fingers fly across the screen. My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I pull it back out, pulling up our message thread.
