OrianaAsu

I asked him not to come back. But when I saw him again on my porch, I knew I would be the one setting the rules for the game we shouldn’t be playing.

When I climbed into the passenger seat and he said, “Look what you’re doing to me,” I knew I wouldn’t leave that taxi the same person I was before.

I saw him get out of the car in that light-colored suit and knew I wouldn’t be sleeping alone in the borrowed apartment that night.

I was twenty-two and had a final project worth the entire course. What wasn’t in any plan was the offer that man made me on the way home.

He hadn’t seen me in years, but when I opened the door at midnight and felt his firm hands on my waist, I knew my godfather was looking at me differently now.

The three of us lived under the same roof, and at first the only strange thing was the silence. Then came the drinks, the dancing, and a trust that should never have crossed any door.

She was nearly twice my age and had a smile that promised trouble. She told me she’d see whether I was truly hungry or just bored, and I was already lost.

I turned off the TV, waited for my aunt to start snoring, and lifted my leg over his hip. I felt how hard he was and knew there was no turning back.

I’d been running into her in the garage for weeks with that smile. The day she pressed against me in the elevator, I knew it wouldn’t stay a neighborly hello.

I knew Professor Aníbal watched my body every time I said goodbye. That afternoon I walked into his classroom ready to use that look to my advantage, whatever it took.

They thought they were paying for one night. Ariadna discovered something else: she liked giving orders too much to ever go back.

When she handed me her card and told me to bring an appetite, I knew she wasn’t looking for conversation—she wanted someone who could keep up until dawn.

She cried drunkenly on my shoulder saying nobody wanted her anymore. She had no idea that the very same night, out on the sand, I was going to prove exactly the opposite.