Moreno's: Moreno Brother's prequel (Moreno Brothers) Read online

  A couple of them stopped to chat with girls by the town’s cantina, but Luis and Señor Negrete continued to saunter along, slowly taking in and obviously enjoying the attention they were getting. Alej continued working on the cob he was slathering mayo on and then sprinkled cheese on it.

  He casually turned to Isa as the two Negretes passed the stand. She appeared a bit nervous as she glanced up and Luis smiled and tipped his bangora at her. “Buenas tardes, Señorita Franco.”

  “Buena’s tardes, Luis.”

  It wasn’t disrespectful. It was just a greeting. A greeting that felt a little more for Alej’s sake than hers. Then Luis’s and Alej’s eyes met. Before that moment, Alej hadn’t thought there was reason to, but somehow it felt like he should now. He made it a point to stare Luis down with a purpose, and the self-satisfied cabrón held the stare until he smirked a little too smugly and glanced away.

  Not Isa’s fault.

  So, Alej wouldn’t even go there. Once past the stand, Isa jumped off the brick pony wall she’d been sitting on. “Ugh, that just reminded me. My mom’s having Señor Negrete over for dinner tonight. I better go home and at least help out a little.”

  “But it’s Friday. I can still come by after you have dinner to hang out with you, right?”

  Her bright eyes made him smile. “Yeah, I just want to at least offer to help with the dinner she’s making and putting it out. But as soon as I’m done eating, there’s no sense in my hanging around. Besides”—she rolled her eyes—“she and Abuela would probably appreciate me giving them time alone. I’m sure my grandma will be excusing herself to her room as soon as dinner is over and will likely expect me to skedaddle on out of there too.”

  “Good. I’ll wrap this up, go get the birria started for this weekend, and then come by in about an hour or so?”

  “Sounds good. I should be done with dinner by then.” She smiled sweetly, waving at him as she rushed off.

  “Dude,” Cido said as he sat back because they had a break in business. “Those Negrete brothers are smooth as fuck when it comes to working the señoritas. I saw two of them with four chicks at Taqueria El Mundo. They looked like they were flirting with all four at once, and those girls were eating it up.”

  Working his jaw, Alej reminded himself he had nothing to worry about with Isa. She hadn’t been sucked in by them, and despite the exchange between him and Luis tonight, he wouldn’t waste any energy thinking about the guy trying to work Isa.

  Cido and Alej wrapped it up and headed back to their casas. When he got home, he, his sister, and dad worked diligently to put together the birria that would be simmering all night. Once done and after he and his sister cleaned up the kitchen, he went out back and saddled Atrevido. It was a warm evening, but the breeze made it pleasant enough so there were plenty of people still hanging out outdoors.

  They strolled slowly up the road toward Isa’s house. Alej wondered about her mother’s relationship with Señor Negrete. The man had his choice of any woman in town, and it appeared he’d set his sights on her mom. Not that Alej could blame him. Her mother was an older version of his Isa. Not even that much older looking either. Alej was in full agreement now with what Isa had shared about her abuela saying that she and her mother could pass for sisters, especially now that Isa was blooming into a beautiful young woman before his eyes at such an alarming rate.

  He continued to ponder on the topic, as another thought crossed his mind. Would her mother’s relationship with the man, and her possibly getting closer to his family, affect Alej’s relationship with Isa? The horses in front of her house as it came into view felt like a resounding answer to his question.

  Horses.

  Not one, but two. Isa’s small family didn’t own horses. His insides instantly tightened as the visual of Luis’s greeting to Isa then the smug stare down he and Alej had, assaulted him. Not a moment later, Alej saw the front door of her house open and Luis walked out—with Isa.

  Instantly, Alej’s heel was tapping Atrevido, and Alej clucked his tongue to get him moving faster. Clenching his teeth, Alej watched as Luis unhooked his horse’s reins from the tree in front of her house. Alej braced himself, his eyes fixed on them as he clucked his tongue and tapped Atrevido again to get him moving even faster. If Isa got on that horse with Luis, he wasn’t sure how he’d react, but he could already feel it in his gut. It’d be the chisme of the town for sure tomorrow. Fortunately, Luis hopped on his horse alone.

  There was no missing the wide-eyed startled expression on Isa, as Alej rode up to them with a purpose. Luis glanced at him, that same smug smirk spreading on his face as he turned back to Isa. “It’s a beautiful evening. You sure you’re not up for a ride around town?”

  “Yeah, she is actually,” Alej said, getting off his horse and staring up at Luis. “With me.”

  Alej smiled at Luis then Isa in an attempt to make this as less confrontational as possible. But his adrenaline was already drumming away. If this fucker pushed, he’d be pushing back too. Hard.

  Luis chuckled but wisely didn’t even bother to address Alej. Instead, he turned back to Isa and smiled. “Dinner was delicious, Isa.” He put on his hat then tipped it to her. “Gracias, hermosa, y buenas noches.”

  Without bothering to even look in Alej’s direction, Luis pulled his horse’s reins to the side and started around Isa back into town. The moment he was far enough away, Isa began to quickly explain as Alej’s heart continued to thump away. “I didn’t know he’d be joining us. Even my mom didn’t. His brothers all decided to have drinks at the cantina, and he couldn’t because he’s underage, so he came here with his—”

  “That’s bullshit. Since when has Fernandez ever carded anyone?” When her earlier sweetly anxious expression hardened, he went on. “Not saying you’re full of mierda. I’m saying he could’ve easily joined his brothers with no problem. He came here because this is where he wanted to be tonight—having dinner with you, hermosa.”

  Her hardened expression eased up instantly, making Alej’s stomach turn, and he felt his brows jump. “Does that make you happy, Isa?”

  “What? No!” She shook her head adamantly. “I’ve never had such an uncomfortable dinner in my life.”

  “Did he make you uncomfortable?” Alej grabbed Atrevido’s reins, ready to jump on the caballo and chase after the bastard if he had to. “Was he disrespectful?”

  “No. No.” The anxious expression on her sweet face was back. “My mom and grandma and his dad were there the whole time. Of course, he’d be perfectly respectful. I just kept thinking you’d be showing up soon, and I didn’t want you to be upset or think anything of it.”

  “So, your abuela didn’t invite him?” Alej swallowed hard.

  “No. It was a surprise to all of us when he showed up with his father.”

  She reached her hand out to him, and he took it, feeling an instant magic. The only other times he’d ever taken her hand in his was when he was helping off or onto Atrevido or helping her up from anywhere like out of the river or up a hill they might be hiking.

  “As a matter of fact,” she went on, her eyes glancing away, a bit unsure. “I was gonna tell you about it tonight.”

  Alej peered at her, confused, shaking his head. “Tell me what?”

  “We spoke of my quinceañera as we prepared for dinner.” She stopped, looking back at her front door. “Let me tell them I’ll be back, and I can tell you about it when you take me on that ride.”

  Hurrying back to the front door, Isa stuck her head inside and said something Alej couldn’t really hear. She was quickly back, and Alej helped her up on Atrevido. Even getting on a horse with him was something they usually did far from her grandma’s and mother’s inquiring eyes, so this surprised him. His comment about taking her for a ride earlier was merely to make it clear to Luis that, if she’d be getting on anyone’s horse, it would be his—and only his. But he hadn’t actually intended on taking her on one.

  Hopping on behind her, Alej brought his arms ar
ound her waist, grabbing the reins in front of her, and they started off. Isa did what she always did when he brought his arms around her and took a deep breath. As seemingly innocuous as the gesture was, they both knew better. Alej could hardly wait until he could do more with her—so much more. Before he could start worrying about what his fantasizing might do to him and possibly render him unable to get off the horse without his tented crotch offending her, she got back to what she’d started to tell him earlier.

  “Because of my mom’s dinner date, we’d been having some girl talk as we got everything together. The subject of my birthday celebration came up, and my mom called me out on it.” She turned and smiled at him but then turned to face forward again. “She said she knew all along that I’d want you as my galán but thought maybe I was too shy to ask you and that’s why I’d chosen to not ask anyone at all.” She giggled. Giggled at a time like this when Alej’s heart had begun thundering for an altogether different reason now. “Like I’d be too shy to ask you anything.” Shrugging, she went on. “Since I was busted anyway, I just told them the truth.”

  “And that would be?” Alej asked, squeezing his eyes shut in anticipation.

  “That I didn’t want to be so obvious about it because I was afraid they’d be even more concerned about the amount of time I spend with you. They laughed at my not-wanting-to-be-too-obvious comment.” She giggled again, despite what this conversation was doing to Alej. “They said they’ve known since day one that I had a thing for you and that you’ve never made your feelings for me a secret. But they’ve never been concerned about you disrespecting me. Said your father raised a hard-working perfect gentleman.” She turned around and smiled at him again, pulling a strand of hair behind her ear. “Then they gushed about how handsome you’ve gotten over the years. Of course, they took the opportunity to give me the talk.”

  She laughed as they continued to ride around town, and Alej held on tighter in case he passed out. She told him how she thought her mother had given her that talk years ago when she’d sat her down and talked about where babies come from and such.

  “Over the years, I’ve heard plenty of times about how a señorita is expected to behave at all times.”

  They reached the big meadow just outside of town where lots of kids went out to hang out on nights like this when the moon was so bright. Many had firepits going and burned malvaviscos for smores.

  Someone playing the guitar reminded Alej of the time the guy invited Isa out to hear him play for her. It was a reminder that, even as unnerving as this conversation had gotten, at least he knew now only newbies to town like Luis could not know about Alej’s staking claim on Isa. Stopping just before they reached a small creek that ran through the meadow, Alej got off and helped her down.

  They walked Atrevido over to the creek for a drink as Isa went on. “But this evening’s conversation was of a different kind. Abuela aired her perpetual worry about what people will think, especially now that I’ll be putting it out there. But . . .” She held her hand out when she finally saw how anxious this all made Alej since the whole time before she’d been facing forward during the most alarming parts of conversation. He took her hand and there it was again. They were holding hands for no other reason than because they wanted to. “It was a good talk, Alej. There was no talk of me cutting down my time with you for appearance’s sake. My mom said if they’d never been able to stop me before, they knew I was at an age now where it be impossible to stop me. She’s more worried about . . .”

  Alej turned to her when she stopped. He’d been watching Atrevido happily drink away from the creek. It was his way of trying to take deep breaths without Isa noticing how alarming all this talk was to him. “About what?” he asked curiously.

  She glanced away. “About me getting pregnant.”

  The air and sudden tightness at his throat rendered him speechless for a second. “Isa, I would never—”

  “I know you wouldn’t,” she said, quickly turning back to him. “Unless I allowed it and as I told them, I’m way too young to be even considering anything physical with you. But she warned me that it starts slow and we’ll get braver and braver as little things begin to happen.” She glanced down at their entwined hands. “She said this was the age Abuela began echoing the importance of abstinence, so she’d get it good and lodged in my mom’s head, and she didn’t even have a . . .” She cleared her throat, glancing away for a second. “A pretendiente at my age.”

  Despite the magnitude of this conversation, given how the evening started, this made Alej smile. Technically, his being her escort meant exactly that, but Isa had just confirmed how he’d felt about their relationship for years. He was more than just her best friend—he was her pretendiente and even her mother knew it.

  “My mom later pulled me aside when Abuela was in her room changing to tell me that while she wanted nothing more than her little girl to remain a virgin until her wedding day, she wasn’t naïve. So, she just made me promise if I ever decided to go there before I was married to be extremely careful.”

  Alej listened again, speechless about this whole thing. She went on about her mother’s warnings of unwanted pregnancies and how babies are an enormous responsibility that can throw a huge wrench in any young couple’s plans for the future.

  “But you wanna know what the real clincher was tonight?” she asked, wide-eyed, and almost appeared excited.

  “What?” Alej asked curiously, bracing himself because everything else she’d already told him had been enough of a clincher.

  “Since this was girl talk and I’d admitted enough already, they asked if you’ve ever verbally staked claim on me.” Alej felt his eyes widen, praying she’d said no. “So, I told them not in so many words but that you have made it—as I have with you—pretty obvious you don’t appreciate any one else trying to come between us.” She smirked coyly. “Like tonight when Luis greeted me by your elote stand. The exchange you two had wasn’t missed, and I shared with them about it. So, when he showed up unexpectedly, I was understandably uncomfortable because I’d already mentioned to them you were coming over to hang out after dinner. I kept looking at the clock, and then suddenly Abuela excuses us, saying we were going to go work on my birthday dress.”

  Alej stared at her, not sure why that was such a clincher. Isa exhaled sharply, shaking her head. “She excused us after we were all done with dinner and my mom was getting ready to pour Señor Negrete a cup of café con leche. Luis was immediately on his feet and excusing himself to leave. It didn’t even dawn on me then, but it was fast thinking on my abuela’s part. My dress has been done for days now. The papel picado is what we’ve been working on every night and still have a lot to go. But she said that he might’ve offered to help us and hang out longer. She got rid of him before you got there. Well . . .” She winced, chewing the corner of her lip. “Almost.”

  It took a moment for what she meant to sink in, but once it did, Alej smiled for the first time in what felt like hours. Even her grandmother was on his side, in spite of what a catch she likely thought Luis to be.

  “Does that make you happy, Alej?”

  Alej smirked, remembering how ready he’d been to blow a fucking fuse when he’d posed the very same question after informing her of Luis’s interest in her.

  “Sorry I snapped. You just have to understand—”

  “I absolutely understand.” She squeezed his hand and smiled then rolled her eyes. “How do you think I would’ve reacted if I’d shown up and one of those ridiculous girls who are always batting their stupid lashes at you walked out of your house and thanked you for dinner?”

  Feigning bewilderment, he tilted his head. “You’d be mad?” Isa pulled her hand out of his and swatted him. But he laughed, taking her hand back in his. “Well, at least we got that clear. And so does your abuela.”

  Smiling sweetly, she squeezed his hand again. “Just so you know. My very first thought when the Negretes moved into town and I heard all the girls whispering about how
good-looking they were was good, maybe now they’ll stop throwing themselves at Alej.”

  It took everything in him not to bear-hug Isa as he wanted to so often now. This was the closest they’d come to establishing real rules for their relationship, and her mother and grandmother had recognized that there was more to their relationship than just friendship. He’d take that any day of the week, though their girl talk still had him a little unnerved, especially the part about her mother being nervous that Isabella might get pregnant.

  His own father had sat Alej down years ago with basically the same talk in a guy version, minus any mention of getting Isa pregnant specifically. Still, he considered his Isa too young and innocent for her mother to be worrying and talking about such things. It’s why he was stunned. Despite all the times he’d shamelessly fantasized about all the things he’d one day do to her, he had the utmost respect for her and assumed that day was still long in coming. He’d wait until they were married if he had to.

  Unless I allowed it.

  Shaking off what those four little words did to him, he reminded himself of what she followed that up with. She was way too young to even consider it. But she’d be fifteen in two weeks and time flew. Who knew what the next few years entailed? Well, damn, he had a lot of long showers ahead of him.

  Capítulo 5

  Quinceañera

  Isabella

  The entire morning Isabella had already felt like she’d been thrown into a whirlwind of pampering and princess heaven. Isabella’s out-of-town family had arrived a few days prior, and the small house had been one big noisy factory ever since. But that morning was even worse. The whole adage of it taking a village to raise a child had never felt truer than the days leading up to this party. Everyone in the pueblo had offered to contribute something: from the heavily discounted fabric her abuela had purchased to make her dress to the food Alejandro’s family was making to the ladies from the pueblo’s salon her mom and abuela frequented being there in her home now doing her hair and makeup. They’d arrived early that morning, bearing gifts from the panaderia up the road where they’d purchased the cake for the party: fresh pan dulce for everyone preparing for the big day.