Behind Her Smile

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen: A Pinch Of Sugar

Ro wipes the back of his hand across his forehead. The temperature outside was well over ninety and even though he is under a tree's shade, Ro could still feel the sweltering heat of the sun.

Even though he felt like he is being cooked alive, he refuses to go inside. He couldn’t risk missing Dex when she came home. He could feel her slipping away from him and for some reason he didn’t really understand, he felt an urgency to right things again to how they are supposed to be before it was too late. So he wasn’t going to let her escape her today. Dex could be stubborn, which Ro knew very well how much, but he could be stubborn as well.

He takes his phone out of his back pocket as he debates whether to text her or not. Dex wouldn’t answer his calls, but he hopes that she at least reads his texts.

Ro was about to text her when Ro sees her car pull up. Ro smiles in relief at seeing her, and also the fact that he could get out of this heat. He is watching Dex so intently that he didn’t notice the man who was in her car until he opens the passenger door. Ro watches as he runs to Dex's door to open it for her. Dex smiles at him in gratefulness.

For the second time in a day, Ro is frozen where he stands. An odd sense of numbness overtakes him and he could just watch as this young male, who he admits grudgingly is attractive and tall, he couldn’t help but notice, puts a hand at the small of Dex's back to usher her inside her home.

His eyes widen and his chest tightens when he sees Dex smile up at him. They look so close and...and intimate.

It is only when the door closes behind them that he is able to move. His knees wobble and uses the trunk of the tree for balance as Ro struggles to breathe. It seemed like someone was holding a hand to his throat. He felt a strange tightening in his chest that he didn’t like. He felt...hurt? Angry? Jealous? Ro didn’t know, but it felt like a combination of all of the above.

God, was it too late? Had Dex found someone to replace him? The thought was too painful for Ro and he immediately rejected the idea. No, Dex wouldn’t do that. Ro is her best friend and even though they were going through a rough patch now, it was temporary. They will get through this.

Ro didn’t want to think of the alternative.

With newfound strength, Ro right him self and makes it to Dex's door. And before he could lose his nerve, he knocks on with the same intensity he had knocked two years ago.

.................

"Are you serious?" Dex exclaims as she tries to hold back a laugh.

"Yes!" Felipe says immediately and he adds, “Though I wish I wasn’t," His cheeks darken in embarrassment as he has a bemused smile. "Its not funny."

"I am not laughing," Dex denies but the twitch of her lips belly the words she had spoken. "Its just hard to imagine you with fairy wings. Do you have pictures?"

"Every one of them burned," Felipe swears solemnly and she humors him by nodding back.

"I’m sure they are."

"I’m glad you are finding humor at my expense," he says sardonically, "but that’s not the point I’m trying to make. Solamente estoy diciendo, we all have embarrassing stories from the stage and you are not the first to fall off it."

Dex smiles. Once he stopped flirting outrageously with her, Dex had to admit that Felipe is surprisingly helpful. That didn’t mean she was going to consider dating him. She wasn’t going to date anybody.