"Does this scream too slutty to meet the family or perfect to meet my fake in-laws? Is that even the correct term?" I ask Nia who is on the other line via FaceTime.

"Totally perfect to meet the family." I look at the blue and white flower pattern in my dress. The straps hang a little loosely on my shoulders, yet my boobs are completely protected. Not the I have much to show either way. The dress clings close to my torso, yet flows loosely down until my ankles.

"There a Hispanic family. I feel like I'm definitely going to be judged. Miles told me, his sister once visited their grandma in ripped jeans and she called her a puta. You know what a puta is?" I'm totally series, yet Nia feels the need to laugh. "A hoe, Nia! A hoe!" I whisper yell.

"Don't be ridiculous. You look pretty. Besides, why are you so nervous? This is all fake remember?" There's a hint of mischief as she speaks, but I choose to ignore her. I know what she's implying.

"I know. I still want to make a good impression, you know?" I lie.

"Aha. When you're ready to tell me the truth, I'll be here, okay?"

"Shut up. Now hair?" I change the subject.

"Put on the light blue headband of yours. It matches perfectly."

"I totally forgot about that." I search in one of my drawers until I find it. Nia fills me in about the cute boy she hung out with at the ice cream parlor. I think she's a little insecure with him and what he wants, but I advise her communication is key.

I move the phone to my vanity and grab my makeup bag. Meanwhile, Nia and I talk about anything and everything. We can't believe how fast senior year has gone by, and soon enough we'll be performing our last cheerleading routine altogether.

I quickly do my eyelashes, add some concealer, and fix my eyebrows before coating my lips with the softest shade of pink I could find. I finish my look by adding a glittery clear lip gloss to add a bit of glow.

"Okay, babe. I see you! Looking hot." I love how Nia constantly hypes me up. I do the same any chance I get. With that gorgeous dark skin of hers and beautiful brown eyes that can almost pass as dark greens, she could bat her eyelashes and have any guy or girl at her mercy.

Nia's been a little hesitant with her whole sexuality. I think that's why she's also a bit insecure with the guy. She is scared of what others will think of her and what her parents will do. I remind her that no matter what, I'll be by her side.

We bid our goodbyes. I drive off to Miles's house, using the address he sent me the other time I went. He wanted to pick me up, but I didn't want him missing any time with his family.

I knock on the front door. I know I haven't mistaken the house as I hear one of Marc Anthony's songs blasting through the house.

That's definitely Miles's doing.

"If it isn't the girl my brother constantly fantasizes about." Alejandro stands in front of me dressed in all black. Even if he's younger than Miles, his tall height and stronger features make him look older.

"How romantic of Miles," I say.

"You look muy bonita." He flaunts his Latin accent.

"Stop flirting with my girlfriend Alejandro." I look up and see Miles in all his Puerto Rican glory. A few strands of his hair were tossed in a few directions. His eyes met mine, a smile instantly forming on his face.

"I still can't believe she's with you. We all know I'm the most lindo out of all of us and she picked you."

"Callate. Diana right that I'm prettier?"

"Clarissa is the prettiest," I tell them both. She may be young, but once she starts growing up, she'll give every girl a run for their money.

"No!" Both brothers say at the same time. Miles walks up to me, wraps a hand around my shoulder, leans in, and places a kiss on my neck. The action sends tingles through my body waking up my whole nervous system.

"Que asco. This is disgusting. I'm leaving."

"Finally," Miles says. We both enter the house but stay close to the front door. The last time I came here, I wasn't able to appreciate it much. But the second you enter, you feel at home. It's small and open but has that family vibe I wish my home had.

Miles doesn't let go of me as I observe my surrounding. His hand, however, is now on my waist and our bodies cling together perfectly like when you place the last piece on a puzzle.

"I like your house." I move my head so I can look at him.

"And I like you." He responds. Even if he said it as a joke, the butterflies that have found permanent residence in my belly ignite once again.

"I like myself too." Even if I tried to be honest with Miles, I can never really tell him the truth. I feel bad cause he always telling me pretty things, and here I am making a joke about it.

"And you say I'm the one with the big ego. Nonetheless, you look hermosa." I guess we both had leaned into each other since his hot breath was against my own.

"You look quite nice as well. But someone has to be the ugly one in the relationship and that job belongs to you flower." I joke.

"I don't mind that if it means having you." He responds. Miles is extra flirty today and I don't know if it's because he drank coquito or if he actually feels this way and wants to let me know. "Let's go so you can finally meet mami."

My nerves kick in once again but this time they aren't due to Miles. Maybe a little bit since his hand intertwines with my own and his thumb strokes my skin. But what I'm actually very nervous about is meeting his mother or mami like he calls her.

Miles has never mentioned his father and I don't dare ask. If he doesn't want to talk about I won't bring it up. What do I call his mom? Mami? Mrs. Rivera? Mrs?

"Mami!" If I weren't so busy observing the tall woman walking up to me I would have noticed his whole family looking at us. The woman walks confidently in a long dress and sun hat. Her cherry lips form a smile as she spots us. "Mami, this is Diana."

"Que bonita eres, eh? Nice to meet you bonita. Milo never stops talking about you and I can see why." A part of me hopes he really does talk about me yet the other part is absolutely scared of what he actually says about me.

"Likewise. It's very nice to meet you also Mrs-"

'Call me Sofia." She corrects me.

"You have a beautiful home Sofia." She opens her arms and hugs me tightly. The smell of food engulfs me also. We talk a bit more before she excuses herself and leaves us alone. That's when I notice this isn't a small family gathering. This is the whole damn crew.

"Miles, this is close family?"

"Well, this is only mom side so yes. She has two other sisters and one brother. They're all married and have kids of their own. So basically all the children here are my cousins. I have two older ones and the rest are younger. My abuela couldn't make it."

"I don't even have aunts. What the fuck."

"Do you want to meet everyone or get tipsy with coquito?" He offers.

"I'm not getting tipsy in front of your family!"

"Oh relax. We can drink at eighteen in Puerto Rico so they don't care. You could also try some beer."

"I am not trying the beer," I say. "Maybe coquito."

"Good choice hermosa." He leads us to a table filled with food. I can't identify much but everything looks delicious. Miles fills two shots of coquito and we drink them down. The coconut taste is less than the one we made but it's still really good. The rum after taste stays in my tongue. It's strong and burns my throat.

"Have six more and you'll be very, very happy." Miles reminds me.

Miles and I make our rounds greeting everyone. Don't even ask me what their names were. I lost count after meeting my third Maria. It was something like Alexandra, Luisa, Jaime, Maria.

I was five coquito shots in when the food was served. It was kind of a buffet type where you would stand and up and grab all the food you wanted. Miles was extra touchy the more coquito he drank. He was either grabbing my hand or hugging my waist or kissing my neck. We both walked up to the table once the mess had died down so he could explain everything. He hugged me from behind as he showed me the food placing a kiss on my cheek whenever I learned a new one. This is all fake, I reminded myself. There was arroz con gandules, lechon, tostones, pasteles, pan, and mini empanadillas.

Arroz con gandules I learned was rice with a tip of bean. Then lechon was a pig, which made me feel bad knowing they killed one. Tostones were some type of fried plantain. Pan ended up being bread. And pasteles was this plantain that wrapped chicken. He explains it better than me.

I ended up grabbing a bit of everything and we headed back to the table a few more shots of coquito in.

"Holy crap." I moaned as I took a bite of the pasteles.

"Told you, you were going to love it."

I moaned each time I tried something new. Miles became even redder each time, however. His knee was against mine, but neither he and I dared to move.

"How much coquito have you drank?" Alejandro asked sitting next to us.

"Like eight shots," Miles says. I had drunk a little less and it seemed like the light head here was Miles since I was just starting to feel the effects of my tipsiness.

"He's had more, trust me," I tell Alejandro.

"Claro que no, mi amor." I have no clue what he just said in Spanish, but fuck it was hot.

"What did he say?" I ask Alejandro.

"He' says he's had less." I have a feeling Alejandro lied.

"Where's Clarissa?" I ask my fake boyfriends' brother, as Miles leans over and places his head on my shoulder and his hand on my thigh.

"Somewhere with the other cousins or the guy she invited."

"No guys for her." Miles cuts in.

"Shut up," I tell him and refocus the conversation on Alejandro. "You didn't bring anyone?"

"I haven't clicked with anyone just yet."

"I hadn't either until I met your brother," I admit. Miles's lips grace my shoulder a bit. He pulls the sleeve upward so his lips make direct contact with my skin. Miles won't remember any of this tomorrow.

"Jason?" Alejandro ask.

"It's complicated. I never felt that spark with him."

"The sun is going to kill me, hermosa. Can we go inside?" I excuse myself from Alejandro and invite him inside yet he doesn't. I make sure to grab water bottles.

"My room." He states. Even in his state, he walks confidently towards the closed door that leads to his room. Two beds are on either side of the room followed and two desks. I suppose Miles and Alejandro share this room while Clarissa gets her own.

"Drink up, flower." He takes the bottle happily and chugs it down in a matter of seconds. In a few minutes, he'll start feeling better.

"Did I tell you how bonita you are Diana? I can't explain how someone can be that pretty. Your smile is pretty and your hair smells different every day." I laugh a little as he rambles on.

"Thank you, Miles."

"Say that again?"

"What?"

"My name. please."

"Miles?"

"It sounds so refreshing coming out of your pretty lips." He thinks I have pretty lips? He walks to me, my back pinned against the wall. "You really do look gorgeous." His hands grab mine as he leans in. "Please?"

"Please what?"

"Your lips against mine." He whispers.

"Promise you, when you don't have ten shots of coquito on your system I'll kiss you. That is if you still want to kiss." They do say drunk words are sober throughs, but I can never guess with Miles.

Truth is, I do want to kiss him. I thought this whole fake relationship was to go against my mother's wishes, and show Jason that I didn't need him. But as the days pass, my relationship feels strong and real. In that precise moment, I realized these butterflies that were so adamant about appearing whenever Miles was around meant I truly did like him.

We've been here since three in the afternoon and Miles's family is still partying. It's been like seven hours. Miles, however, seems relatively sober. He took a nap after the whole lips thing and met with me and Clarissa afterward. I did indeed meet her friend boy which Miles is totally against and I think Alejandro is too even though he acts like he doesn't care. The guy, Conor, seems sweet? Yeah, that can be it.

"You know, hermosa, all this time and we still haven't danced together. We must put your amazing salsa skills to use." Miles reluctantly pulls me to the dance floor. Most of the smaller cousins have fallen asleep on the couch or the families have head home. I see Miles's mom observing us with a smile on her face as Miles grabs my hand and positions us to dance.

Marc Anthony's voice booms through the speakers. He really does have a beautiful voice even if I can't understand anything he's saying. I start forward with my right leg just like Miles taught me. We do this a few times before he pushes me back and I know what he's going to do.

The fucking spin. I mentally prepare myself because I can totally do this. I remember to put my elbow down so I don't slap him.

"Muy bien Diana." He even speaks my name in Spanish which sounds completely different from how it does in English and it makes him ten times hotter.

"What can I say? I'm a natural." I joke.

"All you had to do was let loose," Miles tells me and he's completely right. I don't think so much of the steps and just let him lead. He pulls our hips together and for a moment I forget his mom is watching us. Our bodies can't be any closer. He rolls our hips together again before pushing me back and giving me a turn before he turns.

"Todavia no te he ni besado y cada dia me enamoro mas."

"I have no clue what you just said flower."

"I said that I can't believe how quickly you picked up on this." The song ends and he pulls me close to him and kisses my cheek. Very close to my lips. "I haven't forgotten about your promise hermosa." 

can't they kiss already? 🙄

one of my fav chapters ever! 

this photo includes tostones (the circles) pasteles (the long thing) and arroz con gandules. 20/10 my favorite thing ever. 

If you've ever tried them, do you like anything?