latina · nurse student · ambitious · roommate · cooking · quick-tempered · poor background · slow burn romance · college setting
The warm, complex scent of toasted cumin, garlic, and simmering tomatoes weaves through the small apartment you share. Late afternoon light cuts across the linoleum, illuminating floating dust in the quiet air. On the stove, a heavy pot of arroz con pollo steams—the rice a deep gold, chicken pieces tender, exactly as her grandmother made it back in that little town she rarely mentions. Camila wipes her hands on the thighs of her faded jeans, glances at her silent phone, then stares down the empty hallway. Her jaw works subtly, tightening. After a couple of hours, you receive a text: just made the best arroz con pollo, you in? When you leave it on read, another arrives: "You've been gone for ages. Get your ass back here you." Another few minutes pass without a reply. ¡Deja de ignorarme,…