This Time I will stay [English version]]

Chapter 1 - Flame

The music around me throbbed decisively, making the cars parked in the square vibrate and prompting people to move at an ever faster pace.

Tight girls in shorts and tight sweaters like second skins swayed their hips and moved sinuously, smiling from time to time at some of the more cheeky guys who stretched out their hands to touch the generous portions of skin left uncovered in a more or less pushed way .

I barely pursed my burgundy-tinted lips, posing them to a crooked smile, observing those smiles of those who thought they were about to hit the mark and finish the evening with one of those provocative street dancers in the bed.

Hormone-ridden kids could be so predictable.

As for me, that was nothing more than a working night like many others before. It mattered little that school was about to restart and that with it resuming work at a fast pace would have become even more tiring than usual.

That summer had paid off a lot and the party looked just as promising given the influx of familiar faces.

Not far away, there were some boys from the football team draining beer and trying to set a tone.

Too bad they were in the wrong area of Riverside County.

Nobody in Corona was impressed just because you were the quarterback of some high school team.

"They'll end up getting cleaned up by the end of the evening," Manny's low, slightly hoarse voice prophesied.

I shrugged, turning to the second in command in the personal hierarchy of power my father had set up over the past twenty years.

He was a little over twenty-five, his long raven hair was ruffled and combined with the gold earring in his earlobe and ripped jeans gave him the air of someone who had just run away from home.

Still, there was something about his gypsy features that attracted girls.

I had certainly not missed the two blondes in the corner, dressed up as if they were returning from a night spent walking on the sidewalk of the next street, staring at him from head to toe as if they wanted to undress him and have him standing there in front of everyone.

And I was pretty sure it hadn't escaped Manny either.

His smile like the son of a good woman spoke too long for it not to be.

- They are first-rate idiots, if this happens I will take care to extend a hundred million to the phenomenon that will lighten their wallets. -

- Let me guess, you don't want to go back to school at all? -

I raised an eyebrow.

No sane person could ever want to go back to school, especially if he was in a high school where everyone looked at you as if you were about to slit the throat of the first one who passed.

I mean, I knew that being Negan Reyes' daughter involved a certain reputation and a certain style of conduct, but to pass for the offspring of Satan seemed a little too much even for someone like me.

- You don't have the back-up question? -

- Oh, come on, you could try joining the cheerleading team and making some friends. You would gather at home to have a sleepover by jumping around the room half-naked and ...-

I raised a hand to stop his mad delirium.

- Please spare me your fantasies about teens having half-naked pillows. -

He chuckled.

- You can't be sure it's not like that. When was the last time you invited a friend over? -

Hit and sunk.

I was a mess at making new friends and that had nothing to do with my father controlling Corona crime.

No, that was a pure and simple socialization problem.

I sucked at talking about this and that and, above all, I had no intention of making an effort to do so.

- What do I need to have friends when I have you? - I raised, blinking and placing a hand on my muscular arm to touch it in a long and slow caress.

I was perfectly aware of my appearance and the effect I had on most of the guys, so I wasn't surprised when Manny briefly followed the hourglass shape of my body before shaking his head as if to banish whatever fantasy he had just had about. of me.

- You know it is not at all nice to deceive a friend in this way. -

- Oh, but who said it was an illusion? -

I tapped the long black nails on his chest, barely touching the triangle of olive skin that the V-neck of the t-shirt left uncovered.

- Now you're definitely being a bitch. -

I laughed.

- My fault, it's just that making fun of you can be terribly funny. -

- And then you wonder why you don't have friends. -

- I have you and the boys, I'm fine like that. -

Manny reached out to ruffle my hair and in response I nudged him in the ribs that made him moan.

- Don't ever try again. -

I was terribly jealous of my raven locks and then it took me forever to fix them that evening, thanks to the damn humidity that had tried to make them swell out of all proportion in every humanly possible way.

- My fault - he admitted, catching his breath and rubbing the affected spot with a grimace on his pretty face.

Suddenly he appeared frowning, peering a few meters from us with a decidedly unfriendly air.

She followed his gaze and it took me about half a second to identify who the newcomer was.

I knew that boy better than anyone else or at least I had believed for a long time that he was, but fairly recent events had proved that I was vastly wrong about him.

The blond hair had been styled with a generous dose of gel to shoot it upward and the sides were neatly shaved, as was the bold face.

The gray irises scanned the crowd and inevitably ended up crossing mine.

Hanging from one of his tattooed arms was a brunette with full lips and too much makeup on her face.

I saw him stiffen just as if he hadn't even expected to see me there.

- She has a lot of nerve to be seen here. -

- It is a free country and this party is in the neutral zone; he can go wherever he wants, with whoever he wants, and do what he likes most. -

Manny gave me a look that said a lot about how he thought about it.

She had never been particularly fond of Eric Murter, much less after she had learned about our previous relationship and why we had separated so sharply and abruptly, and it was more than evident that she did not think at all that I agreed with her. his presence.

- Are you sure ... -

- Let's go find something to drink -, I cut it short, - I'm dying of thirst. -

I took him by the arm, letting him use his six feet to make his way through the crowd that opened up as we passed as the Red Sea must have done with Moses, vaguely aware of Eric's gaze piercing my back.