Blocked (13 page)

“It’s okay, you can talk in front of the gringo.” This time I didn’t bother to stifle my chuckle. When he didn’t speak, I asked, “Why are you here, Alejandro?”

“This is not good. Not good at all. I have to find out on the
news
that my little sister is living with you—”

“Sorry, we practice almost all day long,” Lucia cut in. “I didn’t have time to call.”

I didn’t like him getting on her case—she’d done nothing wrong. “That news story was days ago. You must not have been
that
concerned.”

He refused to look at me, and his voice lowered with fury. “I had a
test
to study for. I’m in medical school.”

As if I didn’t know that. He’d shared that fact with every news outlet in America. Not that one year of med school made him the expert he purported to be on health care policy.

“I just…” He sighed. “Are you okay here, Lucy?” He cradled her elbow as he searched her eyes.

“I’m fine.”

“Dad told me he offered to find you another place, but you didn’t take him up on it.”

I felt my eyebrows lift. That was news to me.

She snuck a glance at me, and that lovely blush spread across her face. “I don’t have time to move, and the agents can’t find another place, anyway. Like I said, I’m fine.”

“I still don’t like it.”

And
I
didn’t like him hounding her for something outside her control. “Dude, what do you think? That I’m going to force her to drink Democratic Kool-Aid or something if she lives here? This wasn’t her choice.”

“Stay out of this,
cabrón
. Why are you even here?”

“Classy. Call me bastard again and
you
won’t be here for long.”

He popped to his feet. “You’re all about choices
, ¿verdad?
I know how your mother loves choice. Abortions have killed fifty million babies. That’s a great choice right there.”

“You’re such an assbag.” I was on my feet before I knew it, and I loved the height advantage over Adolf Junior. “Just like your father.”

“Our father has more honor than a hundred Democratic senators!”

“Oh, yeah, like the Republicans have so much honor. Kicking mentally ill people off disability? Does that make you proud?”

“Damn bleeding-heart liberals! You’re
ruining
our country.” His flaring eyes and clenched jaw made me wonder if he was going to take a swing at me.

Lucia cried, “Alex!”

We both turned to her. I’d almost forgotten she was there.

“
Cálmate, hermano. Tranquilo
.” She rubbed his shoulder.

Tranquilo
. Her soothing voice echoed in my mind, instructing me to calm down. I inhaled a long breath, trying to remember what Phil would tell me when I freaked out in the huddle in the middle of a close game. But even the Bridgetown setter didn’t have the audacity to label my mother a baby killer.

“It’s okay, Alex,” Lucia cooed. “It’s okay to disagree on stuff.” She kept murmuring soothing words in his ear, and his shoulders slumped as he nodded. How did she do that? She was the freaking Tea Party Whisperer or something.

The evaporation of his rage now complete, Alejandro returned to the sofa. Feeling calmer myself, I sat back down too. He gave me a sheepish look. “
Lo siento
. That wasn’t my most mature moment. My dad always tells me I’ll never get anywhere unless I learn to control my temper.”

Huh
. Mom had said the same thing to me.

“That wasn’t right to say that stuff about your mother,” Alejandro said.

But no way in hell I’m retracting my criticism of your father
. “Especially since it was her generosity that allowed Lucia to live here.”

“Generosity?” Alejandro’s eyebrows rose.

Apparently
enfurecido
had replaced
tranquilo
.

He sucked in a breath. “You…You actually
believe
that? That she’s
generous?”

“Alex?” Lucia fidgeted next to him.

“
Lucy
.” He scoffed, then looked at her. “You can’t let him get away with that.”

“Get away with what?”

He knocked the heel of his hand on his forehead. “Jesus. Don’t tell me you’re so naïve!”

“Stop being a jerk, Alex—I’m not naïve.”

“This is all a political ploy!” He threw his arms in the air. “This isn’t about generosity. She has ulterior motives for everything she does!”

Shut the fuck up
.

“What are you saying?” Lucia seemed baffled.

“She ‘allowed’ you to live here to distract the media from Yemen.”

My heart thundered. “You son of a bitch.”

“No, I’m afraid that honor is all yours, son of that bitch Monroe.”

Now I was the one who sprang to my feet. My hands itched with the desire to smack the smug off his face.

“Dane.” Lucia stood and shook her head.

“Bite me, bitch nugget! You don’t know anything about my mother!”

He just kept sitting there, smirking. I wanted to spike his volleyball-shaped head right into the floor.

Lucia crossed over to me. “Dane.” Her hand clasped my wrist. “Don’t let him get to you.”

I looked down at her hand cradling my wrist and noticed the femininity of her long fingers. I felt the warmth of her skin on mine, and my fists unfurled. But my heart skipped a beat when I felt a tremble flow from her hand to my wrist.

“Why are you shaking?”

She yanked back her hand. “You’re…you two are stressing me out.” She glanced at her brother. “Listen, whatever Senator Monroe’s motives were, she did allow me to live here, which helps keep me safe. You want that, right? You want your
hermanita
to be protected?”

Alejandro grunted.

Then she looked at me. “And you should be more understanding, Mr. Psych Major.”

How’d she know my major?

“You have a little sister, too. How would you feel if Jessica was forced to live with Alex at Johns Hopkins?”

My jaw unhinged. “That would never happen.”

“Well, how would you handle it if it did? Probably a lot more aggressively than Alex is handling it, knowing
you
.”

“What does
that
mean?”

“You seem to enjoy jumping in to stir the pot. You’re just like our little brother Mateo, arguing with Alex all the time.”

“You’re comparing me to a sixteen-year-old?”

“Hey, if the shoe fits…” Alejandro chimed in.

I rolled my eyes at him.

Lucia’s hands perched on her curvy hips. “Do I have to separate you two?”

My burst of laughter surprised me, and judging from Alejandro’s expression, it surprised him too. Lucia was finally showing some spunk, which I had to admit was preferable to her flitting-bird persona. Maybe she’d needed the comfort of a family member to help coax that out. I studied her. “You’re the middle child, right? I bet you play mediator a lot. You seem really good at it.”

“¡Oh,
Dios!”
Alejandro said as he stood. “Don’t try to psychoanalyze our family, Monroe. Even a psychologist like your mother couldn’t help us.”

Wow
. That was about the longest olive branch ever extended. I wasn’t sure how to respond. “My, my mother doesn’t practice anymore.”

“She’ll be practicing again soon.” Alejandro grinned. “Once our dad crushes her in the election.”

I shook my head.
Aannnndd…olive branch yanked back
.

“Where’s the
cocina
in this place, Lucy? I’m cooking you dinner before I fly out tomorrow.”

“No, Alex!”

He took off in the wrong direction, muttering something about nutrition for athletes, and she began to follow him before turning back to me. Her dark eyes shone as she blinked at me, and I noticed some dimple action as she smiled. “Thank you,” she whispered, then spun around to chase her brother.

I looked down at my wrist and could almost still feel her gentle touch on my skin. Then I pressed my hands to my face, massaging my closed eyelids, as I exhaled. What was this right-wing girl doing to me?

Chapter 9

I L
ET
A
LEX
W
ANDER
A
ROUND
the house for a while, refusing to show him the correct way to the kitchen, until he stumbled upon it himself. He whistled through his teeth as he entered the expansive space. “So this is how green-energy thieves live. Good thing the government pays so much to fools like him. This house is
so
worth digging into deeper debt with China.” He poked his head into the fridge, then the pantry and eyed me. “I’m making you a sandwich.”

Awesome
. I clenched my jaw.

“Most freshmen eat at the dining hall,” he said as he assembled fixings on the counter. “They’re too clueless to cook for themselves. Are the agents at least cooking for you?”

“Sometimes.” Brad made a mean flank steak. Of course, I’d only allowed myself a bite or two before rushing off to practice.

“Does
your roommate
make food for you?”

I studied my brother. His voice was missing the vitriol it had previously carried when discussing Dane. I wondered if meeting Mr. Stud Athlete in person—and throwing out some heated barbs—had calmed him down. Then another thought made me freeze. Had Alex caught on to my ill-advised crush?

I sidled up to him to try to discern if I was busted. “So, how’s your second year going?”

When he slapped some mayonnaise on a piece of toasted bread, my heart thundered.
Way too much fat!

“Got a ninety-five on my first test.”

I gripped the counter when he proceeded to plop two pieces of cheese on my sandwich.
Oh, hell no.
“That’s…great.”

“When do classes start for you?” He cut the sandwich in half.

Good, I only have to eat half of it.

Then he slid the plate toward me and reached to the bread to pick out two more slices for his own sandwich.
Mierda!

“Lucy?”

I peeled my gaze away from the offending hunk of calories. “What?”

“I asked you when your classes start.”

“Oh.” I swallowed. “Next week, after our first match.”

“How’re you feeling about your first game as a Highbanks Cougar?”

I gasped. “
Why
are you using so much mayo?” When Alex frowned at me, I realized I’d said that out loud.

“Relax,
hermanita
. You need some fat in your diet.”

Like hell I do.

“In my neuro class we learned how your brain
needs
fat. You see, your brain has nerve cells called neurons. The axon of the neuron is coated in a myelin sheath, which basically consists of fat…”

He launched into one of his insufferable medical lectures, and all I could focus on was the chubby blob of white mayo oozing out of my sandwich.

“Have you heard a word I said?” His eyes darkened. “This is exactly why you need to eat more fat, to focus better.”

“Huh?”

“If you don’t eat enough fat, your brain doesn’t concentrate well. C’mon.” He picked up his plate and carried it over to the dining table, gesturing for me to do the same. He sat and took a ginormous bite of turkey and cheese.