Chapter 25: Behind Her
The sun of the town beat down hard on the dirt road. The heat was different from the city's: denser, stickier, as if the air itself were sweating. I walked a couple of steps behind Sophia, just far enough not to bump into her, but close enough that her figure filled almost my entire field of vision.
Every step she took made her short denim shorts tighten and sink a little deeper between her ass cheeks. The lower part of her butt remained completely exposed, firm and round, swaying with a hypnotic rhythm. The heat had already started drawing a light sheen of sweat on her skin, and that shine made the movement look even more pronounced.
I tried looking to the sides. At the low houses, at the dry trees, anywhere else. But my eyes kept coming back.
'I shouldn't be looking at this…'
Another step. Another sway. The worn fabric dug deeper and then loosened just slightly, revealing a little more skin.
'It moves too much…'
An older man repairing a fence looked up as we passed. He greeted Sophia with a wave of his hand and then looked at me a second longer than necessary. She answered with a simple "good morning" without even turning her head. As if she were used to it.
Further ahead, two women talking on a porch watched us in silence. One of them smiled in a strange way. The other glanced at Sophia's ass and then at me, as if evaluating something.
I felt an uncomfortable mix of shame and something similar to jealousy. Or protectiveness. I wasn't sure.
"See that house over there?" Sophia said suddenly, pointing with her chin at a somewhat neglected wooden building. "That's where Mr. Ramírez used to live. He died last year. Now his son has it, but he almost never comes out."
I nodded without really paying attention. My eyes kept dropping against my will.
The sun grew even stronger when we reached a stretch without shade. Sophia clicked her tongue.
"Fuck, it's hot…"
She stopped for a second and, with a completely natural gesture, lifted the edge of her short top a little to fan herself. The movement was brief, but enough. The fabric rose high enough to clearly show the underside of her breasts: a soft curve, pale skin, and the lower edge of what was definitely not a bra.
I went rigid.
She lowered the fabric again and kept walking as if nothing had happened. I took a second to recover my pace.
'In the city this would be impossible,' I thought. 'Here it seems like no one cares.'
We walked in silence for a while longer. Sophia pointed things out every now and then: the small school where she and her sisters had studied, the grocery store that now had a new sign, the path that led toward the river. I answered with monosyllables, too busy fighting against my own gaze.
Every time she leaned forward a little to point at something, the short shorts tightened even more and the sway became more pronounced. The sweat made her skin shine under the sun. I felt the heat rising up my neck and sinking lower.
We reached a corner near the center of town. Sophia stopped and turned toward me.
"The errand is right over there," she said, pointing at a two-story building with the blinds half-closed. "I won't take long. Do you want to wait here or come inside with me?"
Before I could answer, I noticed a couple of men sitting on chairs outside what looked like a workshop staring at us. One of them smirked when he saw Sophia. The other glanced at me and held the look a second longer than was comfortable.
Sophia didn't seem to notice. Or she didn't care.
I, on the other hand, felt like the entire town was paying more attention than it should.
The heat, the sweat, the constant movement of her ass, and those strange stares mixed into a single sensation:
The situation was only getting more complicated.
End of Chapter 25