Him & I

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

We drive to back towards town and see some food trucks. He parks the car and walks around to open my door and helps me out. Lacing his fingers with mine, he leads me to one of the trucks. Pulling me in front of him, he wraps his arms around me and holds me close while we wait our turn. "Ghost?" we hear a woman's voice. "Stella." he says as he stands a little straighter but doesn't let go of me. "What do you need?" he asks her. "Who's this?" she asks. "None of your business." he says and I feel my insecurities slipping back in and I turn my head away from him. "Ah. Another one of your little play things." she says and he tells her "Fuck off. You don't know what you're talking about Stella. I told you to stay away from me." he tells her and I turn to him. "Take me home please." I whisper. "Princesa..." he starts but I pull away. "I want to go home." I say again. "Okay. Sure." he says softly and leads me to his car.

He pulls into my driveway and I get out of the car before he can get to my door and head for my front door. "Princesa wait." he says but I rush to the door. He catches me and pulls me to him and says "Please don't listen to her." I shake my head and ask "Is that what I am? A play thing?" I ask. "No baby. You are not. You have no clue how much I want to be with you." He tells me. "You should go." I tell him. "Princesa..." he starts again. "Just go." I tell him and head inside, leaving him standing on the porch.

He's still standing there when my brother comes home from his date and sees Ghost standing there just watching the door. "Everything okay?" Mateo asks. Ghost looks at him and says "No. Shit. No." Mateo tells him "Let's sit. Tell me what happened." They sit on the steps, not knowing that I'm on the other side of the door and can hear them. "I took your sister out and we were having fun. I took her to the bluffs and we talked. Shit, I told her things I've not told anyone. We hit the food trucks and ran into Stella. She starts asking who Luisa was and when I told her it wasn't her business, she called Luisa my new plaything." Ghost says. "Is that what she is to you?" Mateo asks. "Hell no. Fuck. Luisa is every fucking thing. Man, I fucking love her." he says and stops. "Shit. I love her." Ghost says as if he's just admitting for the first time he has feelings for me. I hear this and open the door. "Is it true?" I ask. He looks at me and my brother steps back. "Princesa." he says. "Is it true? Do you love me?" I ask. He steps closer to the door and opens it. Taking my hand, he pulls me close and tells me "I do. I love you. I fell for you the minute I saw you at that party." he tells me. "Ghost..." I start but he stops me. "You don't have to say it back but baby you are not just a plaything. You are mine and I love you." he says. I feel more tears fall and say "I just need a couple of days to wrap my head around things." I tell him. "I can give you that but if you need me, I'm a phone call away." he tells me and I nod. Kissing my forehead he steps back and I watch him walk to his car and pull out of the driveway, leaving.

"Are you okay?" Mateo asks. I look at him and don't answer. "Don't go down that road Gigi. I've known him a long time and he's never told anyone he loved them." he tells me. I shake my head and say "And that's what Paul said too." He shakes his head and we hear mom at the door. "What's wrong?" she asks. We step into the house and to the couch and mom says "Start talking." We tell her what's going on and she tells me "Get that shit out of your head right now. That man isn't just saying he loves you. He does love you. I see how he looks at you. That man is head over heels for you." she tells me. "Look, Gigi, just get some rest and call him over in the morning to talk. Work this out because I see how you are with him. You're writing about him. You love him too." she tells me and I nod my understanding.