"Bruno, dear! Julio is here." My mother yelled from downstairs.
My boyfriend. I tasted the thought. It tasted good.
I gave a last quick glance at the mirror. My shirt and pants were tight like Julio liked. Most importantly they were blue. I hurried downstairs and saw my mom in the kitchen, laying down the breakfast. She had her hair tightened up in a bun, which made her look younger. She raised her eyes at me. "Don't forget to ask him if he wants to join us for breakfast."
"You know he does, mom," I said. She smiled. She liked Julio and thought he was sweet and charming and a great company for her son.
I opened the front door and Julio gave me a big smile, already removing his jacket as he entered. "I can smell Marta's food from down the street," he said. He looked genuinely eager. And he also was on first name basis with my mother.
His bike was parked on the front of the house. Now that he was my official transport to college, he had every reason to come by every day. Julio had left his helmet on the clutch. I went to fetch it, shaking my head. Julio waited for me.
"Thank you, baby," he whispered. "I forgot."
"Anytime." I put the helmet next to mine on a side table.
His hair was a bit messy from the helmet. He was letting it grow. He had curly hair like me. We looked alike a lot, except he was taller and more hairy, and much more handsome.
My handsome boyfriend. The thought slid through my mind like a nice soft breeze.
His beard was unkempt, like he had forgotten to trim it for a few days, but I knew that was the way he liked it. It made him look rough. He wore a long-sleeve red shirt and navy jeans. The tight jeans had been specifically chosen to make his volume shine. "Come on, let's eat," I said.
"Is Jack home?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said curtly. No more Mr. Santos. It was Jack now. Marta and Jack. I wasn't mad that he was more intimate with my parents...it was almost sweet. But he was very interested in my father lately.
Ever since he put on his head the idea he wanted to make dad watch us. But...I had agreed. That was that.
I was relieved that mom was home today, though. Things couldn't go forward while she was here. We all agreed on that.
Mother greeted Julio with a hug. There was already orange juice on a cup for him because she knew it was his favorite. We sat down side by side, while she went to call dad. He joined us shortly after, saying that grandpa wouldn't come because he wasn't feeling well. So we ate without him.
"Jack, what about that thing we talked about?" Julio said.
Both my mother and I looked up at that. For different reasons, I was sure.
She was just curious. I was a little jealous...behind my back?
I had not looked at my dad at all during that breakfast, but now I was forced to. Lately, I pretended he didn't exist. Balding, big round glasses, buttoned-up shirt, he had the weakling look. Yesterday, I even had a mini-fight with Julio because he said I looked like my dad a little. He said we had the same eyes and smile. I didn't see it.
"You two have been talking?" I said.
Dad chuckled. He chose to look at mom, cleaning his glasses, a fixed smile upon his face.
"Well, Julio thought I should join them in their morning runs. I do need to pump up my health."
Julio looked at me expectantly. I knew I had to say what I didn't want to say.
"That's a great idea, dad."
"I think so too," mom said. "Gotta get back that physique from when we starting dating."
"Honey, that's impossible," dad said.
"Awesome, that's settled, then," Julio said. "And I think Jack will definitely get his physique back. Let's be honest, Marta, there's not a big way to go. Your man looks great!"
"Absolutely!" Mother said. She was chuckling, holding a napkin to her lips. "Jack, darling, I didn't mean to say you look bad."
"Who knows, maybe we can play some soccer too," Julio said. "Let's play a match some time, Jack. You, me, your son."
"Three players? How would that work?" I said, scoffing.
When breakfast was over, Julio and I left the house. Once we were mounted on his motorcycle, I let out some of my frustration.
"You talked to my dad behind my back?"
Julio had his leg raised to start up the engine, but stopped.
"Behind your back? What does that mean?" He removed his helmet just to face me. "Uh? Cat ate your tongue? Do I have to ask permission to talk to your dad?"
"No, sir."
"I didn't hear that, can you please speak a little louder?"
"No, sir."
"No, sir, what?"
"You don't have to ask permission."
"And?"
"I love you."
"That's right." He finally started the engine. It rumbled and shook. I grabbed his waist below the jacket. "And to answer your question, I grew tired of waiting."
I vent off to my captain during training.
Not really training because there weren't any matches happening anytime soon, and there was only me and Lucas on the field, making passes and kicking the ball to each other. The sun was scorching, but I missed the feel of it. He listened to my complaints in silence, with that air of captain, even when there wasn't any team.
"Do you want me to talk to Ricardo?" Lucas said. "Maybe he could put some sense into Julio. He is the captain of the reds after all."
"No," I said quickly. I kicked the ball to him. "No, he wouldn't like that. He would think it's a breaking of trust. We kind of decided to do things our way."
"Well, isn't that what he's doing by going behind your back with your dad? Breaking your trust?" Lucas kicked the ball to me. I missed and ran a few steps to catch it.
"No, captain. Because he thinks I want this..."
"Do you?" he asked. I kicked the ball.
"I... don't think so. Involving my dad. I...I don't know how to explain. It's a whole new level of fucked up. There's no way to fix things. I can't even pretend to have any respect left for him. I guess I expected him to care more. It's like he gave up on me."