Prologue – Angelo
The only constant in life is time. One second drips into the next, drifting to minutes, hours, days, and so on. The older we grow, the quicker each year passes into an endless blur of memories and moments we can never re-live.
We’re powerless to stop the progression of time. Powerless to stave off the moment our life is extinguished and our time in this world comes to an end.
I don’t know what comes after we take our final breath. My faith and belief in something more, something bigger, died the same day my Marissa closed her eyes forever. It’s hard to believe in something better, something good, when a person you love is ripped from your life in an instant.
Time, even though it moved around me, seemed to stand still. Frozen. Like I was in an endless coma, able to hear and see, but unable to take part or feel anything besides the darkness.
I thought my chance at happiness had passed years ago. I thought my world had ended. The blackness seemed inescapable.
Sure, I appeared okay on the outside. I had two little kids to take care of. Small pieces of my wife that I couldn’t ignore. I put on a good face, tried my best not to be an asshole when all I felt was rage and anguish.
But everything changed when I met Tilly. The sweet Southern girl with an infectious laugh and kind smile.
I never thought I could feel this way again. Never thought my heart would race from a single glance or my stomach would flutter after a simple touch.
Tilly chased away the darkness. Made time move forward once more, requiring me to be present. No longer was I stuck, watching the world move around me…
I was finally alive again.
I was present in the moments…big and small.
She didn’t just give me love—she gave me life.
1
Angelo
“This is the lamest bachelor party ever.” Vinnie crushes the beer can in his palm, clearly annoyed and not bothering to hide his feelings either.
I’d gone over this with Vinnie what felt like a million times. I didn’t want a bachelor party. I’d had one when I married Marissa, and that was enough. But he whined. Complained he was too young to go out with us then and missed out on something great. So, I agreed to this to make my little brother happy. Plus, anytime I could get everyone together, it was a good thing.
“Shut up.” Lucio smacks him on the shoulder before handing him another beer. “Just drink and keep your trap closed. You’re such a whiny baby lately.”
“You’re the one who’s soft now.” Vinnie slowly shakes his head, popping open the top of the beer. “I never thought I’d see the day your ass would be such a pussy.”
I chuckle behind the rim of my drink, trying to hide my laughter at their stupidity. They are both pussy-whipped. Hell, so am I, but I don’t try to hide the fact like they do.
Lucio barks out a laugh. “That’s priceless coming from you. Bianca has you completely by the short hairs.”
Vinnie’s eyes darken. “She does not.” He takes a swig of his beer before wiping his lips with the back of his hand. “Fuck.” He grimaces. “Maybe she does. What the hell happened to us?” he asks, looking around the table as we wait for the rest of the partygoers to get here.
I can’t wipe the stupid smirk off my face. Vinnie and Lucio used to bust my balls about Marissa. For years, I listened to their bullshit and their promises that they’d never fall so deep that they’d settle down and become domesticated like I had been.
“It’s love,” Leo says before bringing his glass of bourbon to his lips. “Love does funny shit to our heads.”
Ah, Leo. He’s a man of few words. He’s usually quiet around the family, probably still feeling like an outsider most of the time. The checkered past between our fathers clouds everything, including his ability to open up and feel like he’s one of us. Slowly, the wall he’d built has been crumbling, though. It doesn’t hurt that Daphne is such a ballbuster, telling him to get over his shit because everyone else had long ago.
“No.” Vinnie swipes his thumb across the water droplets running down the can. “That’s our dick. That’s where love starts.”
My little brother looks at the world very differently from the rest of us. Of course, he’d think love started in his dick. Everything centered around his cock. Everything.
“Love starts in our dicks?” Lucio raises an eyebrow and stares at Vinnie in disbelief.
Vinnie runs his fingers through his thick brown hair and sighs. “Of course, moron. You don’t fall in love with a chick unless she gives you a hard-on. Ya know? She has to give you feels here—” he grabs his crotch, and then he slides his hand to his chest “—before you feel it here.”
Everyone at the table laughs. I’m not laughing at his words, because there’s truth in them; I’m laughing because my brother is talking about love.
