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I take a deep breath, think of my list, and then lift the cup to y and sweet "I can’t even taste the alcohol," I say
He smiles "That’s why it’s called Bad Decision Because too many of those will sneak up on you"
I take another sip, si him lift a beer, my old beer, to his lips If you’d described the scene to ero dry, and I findafter he lowers the bottle I clear my throat and take another sip to wet my inexplicably parched throat I don’t knohy anyone would choose beer over soood Thank you"
He’s looking away from me and out at the party as he says, "For you, Nell, I’ll aze tracks back to mine, and he winks, and I know if I touched
Chapter 6
Mateo
Nell blushes, and my throat constricts because she re, Ior so unreal
Frorade, I’d been half in love with her She was sive a thorough tongue-lashing to anyone who tried to mess with her She had er should have, and it was hard not to put her on a pedestal, because she shined so daht
And I was just another Mexican kid Nothing special I wasn’t that smart We didn’t have
As we got older, she grew into her strong features, started dressing ht places to match those new clothes And bairl no matter what room she walked into
Or she was toher since middle school, but in reality, I didn’t make a move until late sophomore year I’d bulked up for football, and I’d learned how to talk to people, how to be interesting I didn’t fade into the background anymore We sat next to each other in a class One of her friends was dating one ofFlirting And then soirl that I’d wanted for so long We were together, and it was fucking special
Until I fucked it all up
And a girl like that doesn’t give an idiot like me a second chance She’s way too smart for that
And Nellshe has the saure, saht even believe she was Lina And I can’t help but feel like she’s a second chance of a different kind
When I come back into focus, I realize Iat her She’s deter at her drink so fast that she’s nearly polished it off already
"Hey Easy," I say, taking hold of her wrist "It may not taste ht" She nods "Of course"