Forbidden

Bruna knelt in the shower in front of her cousin, and none of the women in the bathroom could look away. Not even the mother, who already had her hand under her dress.

When I went into the empty classroom to change, the door opened behind me. It was her, the student council president, and she hadn’t come alone with words.

It took only a fraction of a second —a towel slipping, her wet skin under the balcony light— to understand I’d never be able to look at her the same way again.

I’d been drafting the ad in my head for months; it took me twelve minutes to write it, and half an hour later I already had seven replies. His was the fifth.

Under that loose, demure clothing, you could sense a woman with her desire intact. I only had to wait for her to stop pretending in front of her husband.

I climbed the tree behind the dormitory to confirm what I already knew. I never imagined seeing her with him on the balcony would awaken something between rage and desire I’d never felt.

Lucía came to the mirror naked and called me by the name only she uses. That night, with our parents away, we stopped being just brother and sister.

I locked the door and turned off the lights in the study room. All I wanted that afternoon was to comfort her; all she wanted was to forget her boyfriend.

Three hours reading stories on my phone were enough to make me accept Iván’s proposal. The next day, that hidden camera changed my whole life.

She came in wearing her white uniform and her usual smile. What neither of them saw coming was that the other woman was on the sofa, three meters from the game.

There was an hour left until dinner, the children were watching cartoons in the living room, and I crossed the garden looking for my wife. The laundry-room door was ajar.

The rule was simple: keep the mask on, no talking. What Marcos didn’t know was who he was touching on his knees in my living room.

For years, Romina had imagined her mother while making love to her boyfriend. That night, with wine loosening her tongue, she could no longer keep it inside.

When I got into the car that morning and saw that she was alone at the wheel, I knew the weekend wasn’t going to be innocent.

I went downstairs barefoot for a glass of water, convinced I was alone. I saw the light on in the office and knew that morning wasn’t going to end the way it had begun.

When she walked into the office with those hips, I knew the appointment wouldn’t be routine. What I didn’t imagine was how far her exam would go.

I dialed her number when I figured he’d have her down by then. I wanted to hear her moan while another man paid for her, never knowing I was part of the plan.

At three in the morning, I pretended the blanket covered my eyes. What I saw in my own living room I never should have seen, and yet I didn’t look away.

I recognized him the moment he turned around. He was going to be my gym teacher, and at the first touch of his hands on my back, I knew that day wasn’t ending there.

When I looked at myself in the hotel mirror, mascara smeared and marks on my neck, I knew no lie would be enough when I got home.