Young

I promised him I wouldn’t mind hearing about his dirtiest memory. I lied. By the time he finished, I already had mine ready.

When Doña Hilda opened the door and looked us up and down, I knew that night by the fire would cost us far more than a dry roof.

I had gone three days without sleeping properly, replaying every detail of that night with him in my head. That morning, with my coffee growing cold, I picked up the phone.

I was only going to try on some jeans. She was on the other side of the curtain, with a smile unlike the one she gave any ordinary customer.

That Saturday he came over to correct my posture without being asked. By Monday, we already had a silent arrangement and I had chosen the right thong.

When I looked out the window of my new room and saw them naked in the pool, I knew that year would teach me far more than biochemistry.

When I saw Iván raise his phone and smile, I knew the drill had been a trap—and that I wouldn’t leave that basement intact.

I went into the living room in my schoolgirl skirt ready to surprise her. I didn’t expect to find her naked, bow in hand, with a smile that changed everything.

We shut the door, turned on the console, and my brother lay back on my legs with that nervous smile he only gets when he’s hiding something he’s dying to tell.

When I opened my eyes that morning, I wasn’t in my room. I was completely naked in a bed that smelled like someone I should never have spent the night with.

I was looking for something temporary while I studied. But that night, when he left the avatar and called me with the camera on, I knew I could never go back.

When he took off his T-shirt in my living room, I recognized the tattoo my wife zoomed in on every night. The anonymous single was there, sweaty and smiling.

When I walked into her room I thought we were just going to talk. Ten minutes later I was in my boxers, trembling, and I heard the door open again behind me.

I had only stopped by to say hello before going shopping. I never expected my lover’s son to show up in the bathroom with his phone in hand.

I went to his house just to help him install an app. I never imagined his gallery concealed a secret that would completely shake me.

When he parted the willow branches and pushed me against the trunk, I knew we weren’t going back to the café for the things we’d forgotten.

When Camila suggested we go down to my boyfriend’s basement, I knew that night wouldn’t end like the others: my brother had already tried her that afternoon.

I got on the bus thinking I’d just have one beer. By the time I wanted to get off, it was already too late to pretend I didn’t want to stay.

When my parents left for the village, my uncle Andrés took off his trunks and asked if I minded. I didn’t mind. Not at all.

Valeria was waiting for me in the kitchen in a T-shirt that barely covered her and a smile that no longer belonged to my little sister. I tried not to look. I failed.