Crush (18+)

Chapter 36

"You look amazing," was the first thing he said when I stepped out of my house.

Alex was standing on the front porch of my house with a red rose in his hand and it reminded me of Mr Green from the flower shop. Even though Alex looked like a confident guy in my eyes, I did see a hint of nervousness in his eyes. He tried to hide it with a goofy smile on his face, which was so painfully cute to me. 

I stepped towards my date for the night and accepted the rose he gave me. "You can just leave it here if you want.. I mean, or you would have to carry it the whole night with you," he said awkwardly as he scratched the back of his neck and all I could do was smile from ear to ear. I didn't think I'd ever seen a guy this nervous for a date before.

"The whole night huh?" I teased him, causing his cheeks to turn red. I quickly went back inside to put the rose on the stairs and closed my door on the way out. "Okay mister, where are you taking me?" I asked Alex and he shook his head.

"No, no. It's still a surprise. Just have a little more patience," he said as he lead me to his car. I was grateful he had a car, because taking the bus with hot temperatures like these was not something that makes you happy. Alex opened the door on the passenger's side for me and I hopped inside the car. 

Seconds later, Alex got inside as well and he started driving towards my surprise. The radio was softly playing in the background and my eyes fell on Alex's big hands on the steering wheel. Immediate flashbacks of this afternoon appeared in my mind. How Noah's hands were inside me after all this time. How I wanted to scream and push his hand away, yet I still let him feel and explore me. I hated myself for letting that happen and I hated myself for coming for him.

At this point I didn't know what to do. I was so sure Noah didn't mean shit to me anymore before, but clearly I was wrong. I think I might do everything the man asks of me. He asks me to come for him and I come for him. He could ask me to jump off a building and I might even do it. What the hell was wrong with me?

After a while, Alex parked his car and I looked outside. The big ferris wheel immediately gave away the surprise; we were at Santa Monica pier. Just like that, all of my worries about Noah disappeared and I jumped out of the car. The last time I've been here was like eight years ago when my abuela came to visit the country. Sadly, that's also the last time she's been to the US.

I've seen her and and the rest of my Mexican family a couple of times after that when we visited Mexico, though it's been far too long ago now. It's just that no one in my family has enough money to afford tickets to visit each other on a regular basis.

"Okay, so the original plan was to blindfold you and take you on the ferris wheel. You'd be all like 'oh my God, where are we Alex?' and then I'd take off your blindfold and kiss you," Alex shrugged with a look on his face that told me he was totally fucking with me.

I nudged his shoulder and shook my head. "Idiot."

Obviously the first thing I wanted to do was going on the ferris wheel. We were lucky it wasn't too crowded, meaning the lines were not that long. After waiting for about 10 minutes, Alex and I got into one of the cabins together with two tourists. While the tourists were busy taking pictures of each other, Alex and I peacefully sat next to each other and enjoyed the view. The sun was just about to set, making the view extra beautiful.

I glanced at Alex and I noticed a content smile on his face, which made me feel guilty instantly. He was happy and I was happy and he deserved someone way better than me. If he would ever find out what I did with Noah just a few hours ago, he'd be disgusted with me. As he should be though, I mean, I was disgusted with me.

If I really did start liking Alex, I knew I had to tell him about my past with Noah. I guess it was something he deserved to know and he would find it out sooner or later anyway. If not by himself, I'm sure my lovely brother would be delighted to inform him. It was only fair, I'd want to know if he dated the mothers of his past girlfriends.