Rex“It’s called a smash cake,” Isabella says, her voice a morning type of groggy.I consider the picture on her phone screen. Leo. One year old. Cake covering his face and hands. Happy as a clam. He likes his sweets. I can respect that. “So, you just buy the baby a cake to… smash?”“Yeah, it’s not complicated,” Isabella says.“That’s… weird,” I say, furrowing my brow.She laughs, her head tipping back on the pillow. “Then you have a regular cake for the guests too.”I don’t reply, just taking her in. It didn’t take a lot of convincing to get her to come back to my motel room after our tryst in the desert. Same place we met all those years ago, except the motel isn’t some gritty dump anymore. Someone bought it and turned it into a trendy retreat where rooms go for an absurd amount. It’s Ocotillo Valley for Christ’s sake, not Palm Springs.However, it evokes the same memories.“Okay, next one,” I say, wrapping my arms around Isabella and curling around her like a koala bear.“Don’t thi
"You listening to me?!" Mickey yelps, nearly blowing out my eardrum."Christ, Mick, what –""You fucking got married?!"I stare at the ceiling. "What?""There are pictures coming out of whatever bumfuck town you're in," Mickey says. "I've been able to head a few off at the pass, but some news outlets have already started publishing stuff. And God, the fucking TikToks.""TikToks?"Mickey sighs. "Of you and some woman shopping? At a jewelry counter? In a mall??? For fuck's sake, Rex, you can at least get the woman a nice ring, not any of that every 'kiss begins with Kay' shit."I sit up. "I don't..." I rub my face. "Aw, fuck.""Yeah, stop playing dumb. There's photo evidence. People have been on high alert since your accident. Do you have amnesia or something? You do remember you're in the public eye, right?"Not amnesia. But horniness does make you stupider. "Yeah, of course I do..." I want to turn into a billion grains of sand and disappear. "What are the pictures of?""You were at a
IsabellaI walk into Leo’s bedroom and immediately collapse on the end of his bed.Leo laughs. “Mama, this isn’t your bed!”I glance at my son. He’s sitting at the head of the bed, already under the covers, washed and clothed in his pajamas. “You wouldn’t let Mama share with you?”He shakes his head. “No. I’m a big boy.”God, he’s growing up too fast. I push myself up to sitting and let out a long sigh. “Okay, I’m getting up. I’m getting up.”“You’re not getting up, Mama…” he teases.And lord knows if I didn’t have to I wouldn’t. I’m running on only a few hours of sleep thanks to Rex (and I mean it, thank you Rex) and because Rex promised he’d see Leo today, Rex made today a four-year-old’s best day ever starting with a pancake breakfast, then a visit to an exotic animal sanctuary where Leo got to hold not one but two snakes, then McDonald’s because what kid doesn’t love McDonald’s, then go-karting, and topping out the day with ice cream. Yes. Dessert for dinner.Everywhere we went, t
Leo smiles at me, more grace on his lips than I deserve. "Just have Rex come over more and he can play with me. No problem!"Yes, no problem. It would be so easy to have Rex as the live-in playmate for my son. He'd be so willing to, I bet. "Oh... yes, well, when he's in town, I'm sure he'll always be happy to play with you.""Why can't he stay in town?"It must all be so simple in his head. So confusing that we don't follow logic. "Leo, honey, Rex lives in LA. We talked about this.""Yeah, but why can't he live here? Or we live there?"Leo doesn't know who Rex is, which is great for my sanity. He's going to totally flip when he finds out his father is famous. All in due time, though. "You know, mijo, Rex didn't even know about you until recently."Leo's eyes widen. "What?! But I'm his kid!"I laugh. "Yes, I know.""How could he not know?"I sigh. How am I going to make this make sense to a four-year-old? "You know how I grew you in my tummy?""Yeah...?""Well, Rex didn't know you were
Marisol jerked upward, back straightening, a gleeful smile on her face. “You, Rex –“ She emphasized the “x” at the end of his name. “In for a treat.”Rex smiled haplessly, not knowing what kind of treat to expect.With a pat to his cheek, Marisol got to her feet and went into the kitchen off the living room. Isabella could see her mother sorting through the tiny fridge, lighting the fire under her ass even more to get them out of this hovel as soon as she had the money to make a down payment on a house. A nice one.Rex removed his guitar and leaned it up against the couch before sliding to the ground to join Isabella. His bony knees knocked up against hers. “How am I doing?”Isabella checked her mother wasn’t looking and, when the coast was clear, gave him a soft kiss. “Fabuloso.”“Fa-bu-lo…” Rex began to repeat.Isabella kissed him again and then one more time before she got nervous her catholic mother would take a glance into the room. “God, you make me crazy.”“I hope that’s a good
Rex"Are you afraid of heights?" Leo asks me.I squeeze his hand tighter as we walk. "Can't be when you're as tall as me."Leo then looks up at Isabella who has him by the other hand. "Will I be that tall?""Maybe, mijo," she says, then gives me a sweet, glimmering look."You want some practice?" I ask.Leo nods excitedly. I scoop him up off the ground and tuck him onto my hip. He gasps with delight, clinging to my neck. "I'm so high up!"Isabella scoots into the spot Leo had beside me and wraps her hand around my bicep. "Careful with your..." Her other hand touches my midsection. It is an intimacy that feels like we've been together for years rather than days."I've done a lot more physical activity than this, Isabella," I say, raising my eyebrows. Because that's the truth. Any moment we get alone, we're usually contorting our bodies for pleasure. If something was going to ruin my recovery, it already would have happened.She bites on her tongue, smiling. "You're bad."Leo shoves his
"Keep your voice down, honey."Isabella's eyebrows jump. "Why not?!"Andrew heaves a sigh. "I mean, look around. Our kids would be tokens."I scan the party and sure enough, there are mostly white kids here. Whether they notice the difference or not, Leo and Viola have gravitated toward each other. They're not the only kids of color here, but they're definitely in the minority."I guess you could see it that way, but they deserve the same opportunities white kids do," Isabella says.Akira nods. "I totally agree. And I mean it's not just about representation based on race. There's only one gay parental unit."I hide my smirk. Parental unit. Lots of language I'm going to have to get used to."It's something to think about..." Isabella says. She runs her nails down the back of her neck, dipping her head down. Uneasy.I place my hand at the small of her back. A gesture that feels delicate and new, yet natural. When she looks up at me, warmth blooms across my chest. We could have already h
IsabellaI feel nothing and everything at once.The second I heard the words “world tour” I realized all my dreams would never be a reality.How dare he try to offer me forever when he didn’t have forever to give?It’s not that I expected him to give up his whole life and career for a life in Ocotillo. But we’re older now. Wiser. I thought maybe with his wild oats sowed there was a possibility we could make it work.I excused myself to the bathroom to do a bit of googling and sure enough, the first thing that came up about Rex was an article about the world tour set to kick off in three weeks.Three fucking weeks.How didn’t I know about this? Why didn’t he tell me?A relationship as new as this one (if you can call it a relationship) can’t withstand a massive nine-month world tour.I wasted about ten more minutes in the shiny marble bathroom looking at other search results, including pictures of the accident and a picture of us at the mall. A grainy photo, sure, but it’s us alright.