Page 30 of A Curvy Girl’s Hurricane Survival Guide

“No water coming in anywhere, so that’s good,” Alex chimes in.

“The power could be out for hours! Shouldn’t we call the police or something?!” Sofia says, hysteria on the edge of her voice.

I tune them all out, take a deep breath, and unlock my phone.

Trevor

LMAO You’re so crazy babe. I’ll talk to you later.

I stared at the screen, stunned. That’s it? After everything? After I flew across the Caribbean, after the lies I’d told my family, he thinks this is a joke? Or has he changed his mind? I have no idea, and what’s worse, I can’t do anything about it. No signal. No way to respond. No closure.

“Do you have signal?!” Sofia grabs my arm, desperation in her voice.

“No,” I say, locking the screen and slipping the phone back into my pocket. “It was a text I got before we lost power.”

Sofia groans dramatically.

I glance over at Sonny. In the dim light, his jaw looks tight, like he is biting his tongue. Or maybe it was just the flickering shadows playing tricks on me.

“Okay, so I say we all change into light clothes to stay cool, and then we can play some dominoes in the den,” Crispi announces, a few people peeling off down the hall to supposedly do just that.

“How are we going to have light?” Alex asks. “Because if it’s going to be like fifty candles turning this place into a sweaty sauna, I’ll just stay in my room.”

“We’ll use the lantern, and I have some popsicles,” Mama says, waving behind her towards the kitchen.

“Real popsicles, or is it like Jupina that you put in the freezer?” Lucas asks. He was Mama’s only grandson and the only one brave enough to call her out like that.

“Ah, well, if you’re too good for Jupina, don’t come,” Mama fires back. Lucas just grins and gives her a quick hug before heading off into the dark hallway.

That seems to be the signal. The group breaks apart, everyone heading to their rooms to change or hunker down.

I know the plan is to go change and play dominoes, but Trevor’s message is drawing me to it; my phone is burning a hole in my pocket. I need to read the text again. I need to re-read what I had sent him. Maybe there was something funny in my message I hadn’t considered. The anxiety is like an itch I want desperately to scratch, but I know there will be no way for me to look at my phone again without being questioned. In a house lit only by flashlights and candles, there was no way to sneak a peek.

No, further scrutiny will have to wait until I get a minute alone. For now, I have to be a good hostess to Sonny.

Sonny, whom I almost made a fool of myself with in the closet just hours after meeting him, like some floozy.

Sonny, who has been kind and sweet but has made sure I know he isn’t looking for anything serious.

Sonny, who has been a champ with my family, deserves my help getting through this storm. I tap him on the arm and wave my little flashlight. “Come with me.”

He grabs the crook of my elbow as I lead the way back to my room, his touch steady and warm in the darkness.

“Cai, wait—I have to know,” Sonny says urgently the moment we are right outside my door.

My stomach drops. I am suddenly terrified of what he might ask. About the text? About what almost happened in the closet? I’m not ready to explain any of it, not to him, not even to myself.

I hold my breath and turn to face him.

Face stern, he asks, “What the hell is Jupina?!”

SONNY

We enter Cai’s room and pass the lantern back and forth between us as we gather the clothes from our bags. I have to force myself not to think about the moment in the closet. I want to play it chill, although I am very not chill about it. I want to dissect every second, analyze what it means, and figure out where we stand. I also want it to happen again, and I’m pretty sure the only chance I have of a repeat is not to bring it up. At least not yet.

I notice the moment Cai looks at her phone in the living room, her face changes. She seems suddenly conflicted. She has shoved the phone into her pocket, but her fingers keep drumming on it.

Jealousy is surfacing, raw and ugly. I know it isn’t my place to feel envious or ask about it. I already pushed my luck with the “some guys don’t look ahead” advice I’d given her to try to distance myself from her loser boyfriend. I probably shouldn’t have offered her unsolicited advice at all, but when she brings up wanting to be a mom, I want to make sure she understood that her boyfriend isn’t long-term material. I’m not sure if I can convince her I am. Harping on it now feels like a bad idea.