Page 62 of Fool Me Twice

He nudged my knee. “Soon people will be mistaking you for a native.”

“I wouldn’t go that far.” We shared a warm smile, and something thumped in my chest.

Tearing my gaze away, I focused on where Sebastián and the other kids were playing with a dog. How long until I stopped feeling this way with Rodrigo? Was I doomed to have these hopeless feelings for the rest of my life?

I hoped not, because they were getting in the way of doing other things. Like everything else.

Lunch over, Sebastián, Rodrigo, and I hopped back on the road and headed south, for home. Sebastián dozed in the back seat, and the wind came through the open windows. With the perfect weather it was almost—just almost—a perfect day.

Catching sight of a town’s sign, I sat straighter. “Aren’t you from around here?”

Rodrigo didn’t respond. Thinking he hadn’t heard me, I went to ask again—but he finally answered.

“Yes,” he said. “Would you like to see it?”

I stared at his profile, unsure whether he was being serious or not. During our five months of dating, he had never once offered to take me to his hometown, and I certainly hadn’t met any of his family.

“Yeah,” I found myself saying. “I’d like that.”

I glanced in the back seat, where Sebastián was still fast asleep, his cheek pressed to the car door. Had he ever seen his father’s hometown?

Rodrigo took an exit, and we slipped into a small and sleepy town. Yellow and blue houses lined one street, and at the end a church reached up towards the heavens.

“It’s cute,” I said.

Rodrigo shrugged, and I noticed his hands tightening on the wheel, his shoulders tensing up toward his ears.

I touched his arm. “Rodrigo. We don’t need to stop here. We can turn around.”

At my words—or maybe my touch—some of the tension left his body. He smiled at me. “It’s fine. I haven’t been here in years. I would like to see how it’s changed.”

“Do you have any family left here?”

He shook his head, his eyes taking on a faraway look. “Everyone has passed or moved away. Even all of the cousins.” He snorted. “You would think this town was cursed.”

Behind his words was a whole novel, but I didn’t expect to hear a reading anytime soon. Rodrigo had never been anything close to an open book.

“Huh. It’s still there.” Rodrigo slowed the car, and I followed his gaze to a field.

Pulling the car to the side of the road, he stared at the grass for a while. “This is where my brother and I played ball as kids. Every day after school we were here.”

He got out of the car and I followed him into the field. He looked like he was in a trance, lost to some long-ago time.

“Where is he now?” I asked.

Rodrigo’s face darkened. “He died a few years ago.”

My chest seized up. “Rodrigo, I’m so sorry.”

Before I realized what I was doing, I reached for his hand. He didn’t shy away, though—in fact, his fingers curled through mine.

My heart sped up, and I tried my best to separate the moment from my personal feelings. This was one friend comforting another, nothing more.

“That’s hard,” I whispered.

He nodded, his jaw flexing. “He overdosed.”

“Oh,” I breathed. “Did he have a history of drugs?”