I caught the ball with my foot when he kicked it to me, and I charged down the field. Well, I tried. Someone from the other team stole the ball about halfway down the grassy field and ran in the opposite direction, before scoring a goal.
“Moore, you were supposed to be our ringer,” Richard bellowed out in laughter.
“What can I say. I’m better at school than I am at sports.”
“You don’t say,” he said, rumpling the top of my head with his hand.
We played for another hour, and it felt good to relax and have some fun.
We grabbed dinner, and then a group of us settled out on the grassy field on a few blankets and passed around the mini bottles of tequila from Richard. Jessica moved to sit beside Dean. He was in our small group, and they’d been flirting for the last month. She liked him. She wriggled her brows at me from across the circle and I laughed. The area was lit by a few overhead lanterns, and the stars twinkled above.
I wondered what Cruz was doing. I wondered if he was dating at all. I told him he should date multiple times. I didn’t want him to wait for me, because I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to trust him again. I wanted to see what he did in our time apart. If he could stay sober. If he could be on tour without numbing himself to deal with the pressure.
“So, you and your boyfriend broke up before you came here?” Richard leaned close to me, so only I could hear him.
“Oh, yeah. We broke up before I left.”
“How long were you guys together? I remember hearing he was some famous dude, but I don’t really follow the tabloids. My roommate pointed you out once on campus and said you dated the lead singer of a band.”
I nodded. A lump formed again in my throat. It was still painful to talk about.
Painful to think about.
“We dated for a year and a half. He’s the lead singer of Exiled.”
“That’s a long time. I can’t picture you being a groupie,” he said with a laugh.
I rolled my eyes. “I wasn’t. I was with him before they went on tour. It’s a long story.”
“But you’re single now?” His heated gaze locked with mine. He was cute. And charming. And super smart. But I wasn’t ready for anything. A part of me wished I was. I knew it would be the easiest way to move on.
“I guess you could say that,” I said, my voice just above a whisper. “But you could also say that my heart still belongs to someone else.”
“I get that. I had a tough break up with my long-time girlfriend last year. We’d been together for years, and it was tough for a long time.” He leaned back and picked at a few blades of grass.
“Why’d you guys break up?”
“She cheated on me. With one of my best friends,” he said with a shrug.
“Oh, wow. That had to be tough. I can’t imagine.”
“Yeah. It sucked. But you get over it. Time has a way of healing. Did you get hurt in your break-up?” he asked.
“Yep. I think we both did.” I turned my head and looked out at the sugarcane fields. I wished he’d change the subject.
“I hear you. Well, you know the easiest way to get over a broken heart?”
I faced him again and studied his features. Dark brows and full lips. Richard wasn’t hurting for female attention. I wasn’t sure why he was wasting his time on me. I hadn’t put out any signals that I was interested.
“No. But I have a feeling you’re going to tell me.” I laughed.
“Meeting someone new. Someone charming and smart, maybe? Good looking, even,” he said, and his lips turned up in the corners and he wriggled his brows.
I chuckled and squirmed a bit. I needed to be really clear. “You are all of those things, Richard, trust me. But I’m not looking to meet anyone. At all. So, you’d be wasting your time here.”
“You know what else they say?” He took another swig of the little tequila bottle before handing it to me.
“What’s that?”
“All good things are worth the wait,” he said, leaning over to kiss my cheek. It was sweet. He was sweet. I just wasn’t looking for sweet. Because I wasn’t looking for anything. All I hoped to find in Honduras was myself. That’s about all I was up for these days.
“Damn, that was a journey,” Richard said, handing me the canteen full of water.
It was blisteringly hot outside today. We drove almost two hours to get here. We’d hiked out to a water pipeline for a new hygiene station we were building, and the guide led us through four miles of rough terrain to get there.
I guzzled some water and splashed a little on my face. “Yeah, that was a trek.”
“I can’t believe we need to hike all the way back.” Jessica came up behind me and laughed.
“Right? Drink. We need to stay hydrated.”
“Yes, Dr. Moore,” Jessica said before chugging the water.
Our guide made this journey daily, as he worked on the water system out here. I had a whole new respect for him now after doing it myself. He showed us where the water source was coming from for the rural village we would be spending the next two weeks in.
We started our walk back, and I maneuvered the rocky, jagged path beneath my feet. Jessica walked in front of me beside Dean. They had something going on, and she said she liked him a lot.
“What’s happening there?” Richard whispered, so only I could hear, as he hiked beside me and we trailed in the back of the group.
“They like each other. It’s cute.” I shrugged.
“You still talking to Cruz once a week?”
“Yep.” I studied the ground beneath my feet so I didn’t trip.
“So, he’s sticking to your rules. Impressive. You can even tame a rock star, huh?”
I slapped his arm. “No. No one could tame Cruz. Nor would I want to. But yeah, he’s sticking to the once a week deal.”
“So, what happened there? Did he cheat on you?”
I came to a stop. Why was he pressing this?
“What? No. Why do you want to know?” I huffed.
He ran a hand through his hair. “Because I like you, Jade. And I haven’t met anyone that I liked this much in a long time. Not since Ella, at least, who I also sort of hate.”
We both laughed, and I let out a long breath. “You know I think you’re great. I’m just not ready to date anyone.”
“But if you were?” He wriggled his brows. It was clearly his signature move.