Fate (14 page)

Vince didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, but he couldn’t help it. He’d held hands with plenty of girls before
,
but he’d never felt the downright giddiness he’d felt when he finally got to hold hers. There was something so sweet about holding her small hand in his. Like him she tried to downplay it
,
but there was no missing the twinkle in her eyes
,
and he knew she was feeling the same way.

It was all he could do to hold back from kissing those sweet lips too
,
but he held back. He had to. She’d already mentioned having to reassure Grace that they were still just friends. Each day they spent together now was better than the last. He couldn’t risk getting his ass thrown back to La Puente. When Sal gave them the tickets
,
he reminded him how apprehensive Grace still was about Rose getting into anything serious. Sal promised him they were all over his past.
Vince
was proving just fine that he’d made a big change. Then in the very next sentence
,
he warned him quite sternly that he didn’t want his pregnant wife worrying about a damn thing. So if Vince gave her something to worry about
,
he was gone. With that in mind he squeezed Rose’s hand and continued to hold it throughout the day but didn’t push his luck with anything more.

Unfortunately
,
because Baloo was a character in one of Disney’s older movies
,
he wasn’t being offered as a prize at any of the games. Vince settled for a medium
–
sized
,
pink bear that he traded up for after winning two smaller prizes in a row.

She took it and hugged it
,
kissing it on the head as soon as it was handed to her. Vince was instantly having stuffed
-
pink
-
bear envy. “It’s not Baloo,” he said with a small frown
,
“
b
ut I didn’t see him anywhere.”

“With the money you spent winning this one
,
you could’ve bought me a Baloo
,
but this one means more because you won it for me.” She smiled at him
,
and he got caught up in her eyes for a breathtaking moment. Once again he had to fight the urge to take her in his arms and kiss her.

“You’re welcome,” he said smiling back and immediately took her hand in his again.

The rest of the theme parks they visited had been just as exciting
,
and except for when his cousins or Grace were around
,
they held hands
all
the time. He was really beginning to enjoy everything about her. He especially loved teasing her. It was hilarious the way she’d scrunch up that cute little nose and get all defensive.

Like the time he teased her about her choice in music
,
only it ended up backfiring on him. They were on their way home after an awesome day at Sea World. She’d connected her iPod to the car
’s
stereo,
and halfway through one of her songs
,
he
had
to protest. The song wasn’t all that bad
,
but she was into it
,
so he had a feeling she’d get all defensive. “Is that one of them washed
-
up boy bands we’re listening to?”

It paid off
;
she was already scrunching her nose
,
and he laughed. “I’ll have you know NSync was one of the biggest things out there in their day.”

“Exactly! In their day
,
b
ut even then they were cheesy.”

“They
were not
!”

Vince rolled his eyes. “Wasn’t that way before your time anyway?”

“Sort of
,
but Grace
loved
them in middle school
,
so their music was constantly being blasted in our room. And this song
…
,”
s
he turned it up and closed her eyes swaying to the music then sang along
,
“
This I promise you
.” She opened her eyes
,
and the way she smiled at him made his breath catch.

The car behind them honked
,
snapping Vince out of it
,
and he realized the light at the stop had turned green. Feeling a little stupid
,
he stopped staring at her and started driving. He’d been totally mesmerized just watching her get so caught up in a song like that.

“This song is probably my favorite of theirs. It’s not all pop and band-boyish as you would put it. It’s
deep
. I think it’s really beautiful. There’s even a Spanish version that’s equally as beautiful.”

“That’s the thing,” Vince said staring ahead still trying to get over what she
’d
done
to him so easily without even trying. “Most of those boy bands probably have pretty good songs
,
but then they go cheese it up with their stupid dance moves and shit. If another artist gets a hold of the same song and does it some justice by toning the cheese down and just working the music
,
it would probably be better. In fact
,
I’ve actually seen
it
done
;
this song
,
for example
,
could probably be badass.”

“It already is
badass
,” she insisted.

Vince decided to just let it go. The song was over anyway
,
and something better was playing now. He’d meant to tease her for his own amusement; instead he’d rattled the shit out of himself. Without knowing it Vince was letting Rose way under his skin
,
an
d that scared him a little.

They never actually talked about it
,
nor did the subject of what their relationship was now ever arise. Vince liked it that way. Talking about it would be admitting that what was happening was the very thing Grace was afraid of—thing
s
were getting serious. Yet Vince made it a point to look her deep in the eyes when he played with her fingers during any of their comfortable moments of silence. He wanted her to see he was feeling much more for her than just friendship. The few times she’d brought up other guy “friends,” Vince tried not to
,
but his remarks always came across a little pissy
u
ntil the day he’d nearly snapped.

They were at Sal’s house.
Nervous every time he saw Grace eye them suspiciously
,
he often asked Rose if his days here were numbered. Usually she’d laugh at his paranoia. This time she went a step further to convince him that everything was just fine. She turned to Grace
,
who’d just walked back
inside
,
as they sat in the shallow end of the pool on the stairs. Grace had brought out some snacks
,
but when she saw them giggling so closely in the pool, she’d seemed unnerved.

“Grace knows we’re just friends. Just like some of my other guy friends
;
she’s got nothing to worry about.

Vince slipped his hand into hers underwater and stared at her. “What other guy friends?”

She turned to him
,
and Vince saw the effort she made to hide her surprise to his question. “I…I have a few friends in school.”

“Friends like me?” He squeezed her hand now. “Because I don’t have
any
friends like you, Rose
,
n
one. You’re the only one.”

“Well.” She licked her lips looking away. “They’re just guys I talk to. But no…not like with you.”

“Good.” He took a few steps off the stairs
,
pulling her with him in the water. “Just so you know
,
”
h
e said as he dipped his head back into the deeper water. When he popped back up she was still holding his hand and still staring at him
,
looking a bit bewildered. “I don’t need any more friends around. I’m fine with it being just you and me all summer.” He tugged her hand, pulling her a little closer to him but not too close in case someone peeked out at them. “If any of these guys show up when I’m around, I won’t be very
friendly
.” He lifted the corner of his lip, as Rose began to get what he was saying. “Don’t get me kicked out of La Jolla
,
Rosie. Because that’s probably what’ll happen.”

As the back door slid open
,
he let go of her hand and dove into the deep end. When he popped up on the other end of the pool
,
Rose popped up next to him. They both held on
to
the side as Grace walked back into the house again. She’d brought out lemonade for them.

“Vincent?” Vince brought his attention back to Rose. He’d been busy making sure Grace closed the door all the way. “I
don’t
have any other friends like you either. You’re the only one.”

Feeling the onset of one of biggest goofiest smiles to date, Vince cursed the fact that he was in Sal’s backyard
,
or he would’ve attacked her with a million kisses. Instead he reached for her hand and squeezed. “Good. That’s exactly what I was waiting to hear.”

***

The end of summer was creeping up on them
,
and Vince had stuck to his promise of remaining nothing more than friends with her
:
f
riends with the understanding he was so glad now that he’d made perfectly clear. They of course still held hands every chance they got. Some things were just too hard to fight. Sal seemed more worried about Grace stressing out than Vince doing anything to disrespect Rose. So if he ever caught Vince holding Rose’s hand
,
he’d
have
to cut him some slack. For Vince to be feeling for Rose what he felt now and not be doing anything more than holding her hand was a show of restraint even Vince didn’t know he had in him
e
specially given all the times he’d had to see her in
a
two
-
piece bathing suit.
T
he risk of his time being cut short here was not one he was willing to take.

Then one night just a couple of weeks before the dreaded end of his summer vacation, as he was getting into his car to go see Rose, he got the text from her that nearly stopped his heart.

OMG! We’re moving to Nevada!

With his stomach taking a sudden dive
,
Vince responded immediately
.

Why? When?

Vince sat in the car
,
wondering if he should just go or wait for her response. He decided he’d wait. He didn’t want to make her wait to have to pull over to respond.
Nevada?
What the hell?
He remembered her telling him about the vacation they’d taken there
at
the beginning of this summer and the friend they knew out there. But why they’d be moving there he had no idea.

My stupid stepdad got a DUI. His class
-
A license
was
taken away. Without that
,
he can’t work anymore. Their friend in Nevada offered them both jobs along with room and board in his
c
asino/hotel. My mom’s already talking about getting my transcripts from school
,
so I can get enrolled over there this fall.

Vince panicked. Sal and Grace were away for the weekend. Rose wasn’t his girlfriend
yet
. But he had every intention of staying in touch with her once he left and coming out to visit her as much as he could. Hopefully
they would
make things official between them in the very near future then
he would come
back next summer. He had to be cool for now. But this could ruin everything.

Do you have to go? Can’t you stay here with Grace?

Since Grace and Sal had announced their engagement
,
Rose’s mom had made an unusual
,
sudden change in her conduct with Rose. From what Rose had told Vince prior to the engagement
,
she’d always been cold and distant, caring more about herself than anyone else. Suddenly she was showing Rose the attention and affection she never had in the past. Sal told Vince in confidence he thought the calculating bitch was up to something. Grace would have a much better life now
,
and if
her mom
wanted to have any part of it
,
the one way to stay on Grace’s good side was through Rose.