Hector finished his cereal, drank the last bit of milk, and put the bowl in the sink. He also had to admit to being hurt that Miguel thought Hector needed to explore being with other men. He’d been honest and upfront about why he’d hidden that part of himself for so long. Once he’d admitted the truth, he hadn’t struggled much with his sexuality because he’d thought he’d had the support of his boyfriend. Unfortunately, he’d been wrong.
Did he like women? Yes. Did he also find men attractive? Yes. But the only thing that mattered was that he wanted to be with Miguel and no one else. Miguel not trusting him for the long haul or thinking he needed to explore being with other men felt like a betrayal.
Hector pushed away from the sink. In spite of all that, he hoped they could find their way back to each other. As far as he was concerned, his days of serial dating were done. He’d found the person he wanted to be with. So, he would be patient and let Miguel work his way to learning independence. Once he figured it out, Hector would be there, ready to rekindle their relationship. He’d been devoted to Miguel as a friend for nearly all of his life. There was no way in hell he was giving up on him now that they’d finally embraced their feelings and become lovers.
***
Miguel stood in the center of his apartment, looking around with happy satisfaction. This was his place. He paid for it. Next step was buying a car. He was tired of riding the bus or having to depend on others for rides. He’d almost saved up enough to cover his down payment, a couple of weeks’ worth of gas, and the first two months insurance, so it shouldn’t be too much longer before he had his own wheels.
He wandered over to the window in the bedroom alcove and opened it up to lean out into the cool night. The sweltering temperatures were starting to fade with October’s arrival. Maybe to celebrate the month, he’d go to the store and pick up some of those orange pumpkin string lights. Miguel sighed. This was perfect. Absolutely perf—
“Aaaagh!”
Something flew past his face, and Miguel jerked back from the window. He looked around, trying to figure out what it was and saw one of those giant cockroaches on the floor. Miguel stared at it in horror. He finally leaned over to close the window so the thing’s cousins couldn’t get in, but he didn’t take his eyes off the monster already inside. The thing scuttled forward on creepy crawly legs, and Miguel squeaked, scrambling back against the wall.
“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!” What was he going to do? He hated bugs. He was seriously tempted to hide in the closet and call Hector to come kill it for him. The closet! He had shoes in there and could grab one to smash that nasty roach.
Miguel slowly slid along the wall, keeping his eyes on his uninvited guest. He had to pass in front of the roach to get to the closet. When he reached it, he closed his eyes and made a desperate leap to cross over the threshold. Inside, he grabbed the first shoe he saw. He turned around ready to go out and kill that nasty thing. Then he screamed. The roach had followed him into the closet.
“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!” Miguel stumbled backward, crashing into the hanging clothes and knocking some off the rod. His heart racing, Miguel knew he had two choices. He could stay trapped in here until someone found him. Or he could kill the beast. Feeling confident that he’d made it this far, he took a deep breath. He let out a little yell and charged forward, slamming the shoe down on the poor bug. Then he jumped up and down on top of the shoe to make sure it was actually dead. Still terrified, he picked up the shoe, refusing to look at the carnage on its bottom. He just held it out in front of him as he ran to the bathroom.
Once he’d knocked the smushed bug off into the bowl and flushed, Miguel slumped against the wall, trying to calm his pounding heart. After a few moments, he grinned. He was a conquering fucking hero. He’d killed that ginormous roach all by himself with only a minimum of terrified squeaking.
He straightened, still grinning in relief. He was going to the store first thing tomorrow to get his Halloween lights. And he was also buying window screening and a giant can of bug spray.
Chapter 16
Two weeks later, Miguel drove into the grocery store parking lot. After he got out of his car, he hit the button on the key to lock it. The alarm beeped with a perky chirp. Miguel grinned and hit it again just to hear that noise. His car. No more bus or Uber rides. He loved his new ride, a dark red Ford Focus hatchback. It was slightly used but perfect. He was thinking about jazzing it up with seat covers. But that would have to wait for a future paycheck.
Inside the store, Miguel pushed the cart down the aisle with one hand, reading the list he held in the other. The cart came to an abrupt halt when he bumped into someone. Miguel looked up, already apologizing. “I’m sorry I should have—” He stopped, the words forgotten as fear made his heart jump into his throat. Santos stood in front of him, tall, handsome, and well-dressed. He had a hand latched onto Miguel’s cart, the same hand that had hit him in the face the last time they’d seen each other.
“Look at Miguelito out shopping. Did your new sugar daddy give you an allowance?”
Anger crowded in at Santos’s automatic assumption that he didn’t have any money of his own, pushing aside his fear so he could speak. “I don’t need an allowance when I have my own money, thank you very much.” He jerked the cart so he could leave, but Santos held tight.
“That’s right, you have your little job at the dentist’s office. Your new boyfriend must not be providing for you very well if he’s making you work.”
“Nobody is making me do anything, Santos. I’m working because I want to.”
Santos laughed. “Since when have you wanted to work? When you were with me, you were happy spending my money without doing anything to earn it. Well, anything that didn’t include being on your back.”
Shame burned Miguel’s face. “Shut up,” he whispered in embarrassment. “It wasn’t like that.”
Santos’s demeanor changed in an instant. “Of course it wasn’t,” he said soothingly. “That’s why I’m here. To tell you to come home. I miss you.”
“I don’t miss you,” Miguel said through gritted teeth. “Please let go of my cart so I can go.”
“You’re still mad at me. Don’t be. You left before I had a chance to apologize. Come back where you belong, and I’ll show you how sorry I am.”
Miguel could imagine how Santos planned to show him. He was sure there was something with diamonds or four wheels topped with a big red bow waiting for him at Santos’s huge house. But that wasn’t what he wanted. Not anymore. “And after you show me, how long before you hit me again?”
Santos’s face tightened before quickly smoothing back out. “C’mon, now. You know how it is when things get hot between us.”
“Getting hot and punching me in the jaw are not the same thing, Santos!”
Anger crept across Santos’s face and bled into his tone. “Lower your fucking voice, Miguel.”
Breathing hard and fast, Miguel looked around, noticing people staring at them. He lowered his voice but not because Santos had ordered him to. He didn’t want to be embarrassed in this store where he shopped every week.