Punished (Calavera Hotels #1)

Chapter Nineteen Mireya

After classes, I meet Alma for lunch. I texted her the night before that I was staying at Thalia’s, but I knew Thalia enough to know she had already told the world she saw me leaving Adrian’s penthouse this morning. I wouldn’t put it past her to pay for a large billboard announcing it to all of Houston. When I get to the taco truck, Alma is already sitting at a table with her plate.

“Have fun at Thalia’s?” She smirks, and I roll my eyes. I know she wants details. That’s how we are. We love to hear each other’s stories of failed dates and spicy hook ups. Well, mostly just Thalia’s stories. Alma barely goes on dates, and I haven’t even hooked up with my vibrator in months. Thalia claims I have become a virgin all over again. That my hymen closed up and grew cobwebs on the front with a caution sign. The same caution sign Adrian forged past multiple times last night.

I order three tacos and an horchata and make my way back to Alma, who is all too eager to get the tea. Her eyes go wide as I recount the details of the savage way Adrian fucked me. She gasps in horror about the spanking and gasps again when I admit to her how much I liked it.

“Was that how intense it was with Bryan?” The name alone ruins my meal.

“I don’t think I even knew what an orgasm was with Bryan. At least from what I can remember.” I grimace. I really assumed my experience with Bryan and his friends was the extent of sex, which is why I avoided exploring it. I didn’t need someone just humping me like a rabbit while I lay there, bored on my back. Now that I’ve been with Adrian, I could easily become addicted to it.

“So, what’s going to happen now?”

“I honestly don’t know.” I sigh. “All I know is I’m worse than Rosie. I could walk into a room full of Ritchies, and I’d still pick Bob.” Alma laughs. She lives for a good La Bamba reference. She was usually the one making them.

“As long as he doesn’t hurt you, like Bryan, then I support you. Don’t pressure yourself to make it anything more than sex.”

She was right. I’m not sure if this will lead to anything other than that. A lot had happened since I’d seen him last, and it was a lot to unpack for both of us. I’m still not sure why Bryan had set him up or what my mom had to do with it.

“I feel like he’s closed off and private about his life. It may never go past anything more than sex, even if that’s what I want.” I frown at the thought.

“Well, then, it runs in the family,” Alma says, her expression shocked, as if the words weren’t meant to be spoken aloud.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

She looks down, so I ask again, “Alma, what are you talking about?” Her cheeks flush red at her mistake.

“Oh my god. I’m sorry. I don’t want to be a chismosa, at least not when it comes to my friends, but I am really worried about Thalia.”

“Thalia? Why would you be worried about Thalia?”

“I never brought it up because I would love her regardless, but I once heard through maid chisme that Thalia had been pregnant and went to California. They say when she came back, she never brought the baby back.”

“That’s a touchy subject, Alma. Not just as her friend, but as a woman, I trust she did what was best for her.”

“I know, and I would never judge her. I never paid attention to the rumor because I felt the same, but a few days ago, I overheard Do?a Clara and Enrique talking about someone blackmailing her.” Her brows furrow, and I can see the worry etched in her face.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, someone is blackmailing her, and I can’t help but think it has something to do with the whole pregnancy thing. I don’t want to bring it up because I don’t think she knows. Do?a Clara has been covering it up.”

“Whatever it is, Alma, you have to stay out of it.”

“I know, but Thalia was there for you with Bryan, and she helped me with everything with my mom. Maybe we can help her with this?”

“I don’t know. There must be a reason she never told us, and we need to leave it at that.”

We finish our tacos and write out a grocery list for the week. I’m walking back to the hospital trying to piece together what she told me. I wish Thalia could trust us as much as we trust her. She genuinely cares about what we are going through and wants to help us in any way she can. That’s one reason I trust her so much, because I know, at the end of the day, she will be there for me. I’ll never forget the day her dad died, and she told me she felt so relieved. I could only imagine what happened to make someone happy to see their own father dead.