“Don’t apologize,” I said. “I was just making sure you didn’t get hurt.”
She stared at our joined hands as if they belonged to someone else.
The car hit a bump, and her whole body jolted. I pulled her closer without thinking, tucking her against my side, arm around her shoulders. She didn’t resist, but she did tense up.
She doesn’t feel comfortable with me, that’s obvious.
“He’s going to be okay,” I told her again. Same words. Same lie I kept feeding myself. “He’s too goddamn stubborn to check out before he sees you, graduate. You know how important that is to him, Leticia.”
A wet laugh huffed against my skin. “I know, he wanted me to have a good education,” Leticia whispered against my shoulder, her voice cracking on the last word. “The problem is… I don’t understand what went wron
