Our dad had always been stealthy. But I guess having five kids, four of them girls, you had to develop that skill over the years. My old man stood by his barbeque, his hand on the handle. It was obvious the man had been overhearing our conversation. Jesus, no wonder everyone was so damn nosy in this house, if that’s where the gene pool started.
“Dad—“
“Have you heard ofif he wanted to, he would?” he asked. I looked at him like he had suddenly grown two heads. Raven, on the other hand, snickered but leaned closer.
“I have. The question is, do you know what that means?”
“I know more than you think.” He chuckled, and I shook my head.
“He really does,” Raven said, leaning against my side. I draped my arm over her shoulder.
“Look, mijo, I love you. You know that, right?” I nodded. “But I gotta tell you, you’re not very bright. No offense.” He put his hands up as if to feign innocence.
“No offense?” I scoffed. “You obviously don’t know whatthatmeans.” I glanced at Rave to help me out. She was pressing her lips together as if trying to stop herself from laughing.
“You love her?” he asked point blank without pussyfooting around the subject. He never did. With five kids, he’d learned to get to the point.
“I do, but?—“
“Then there is no but,” he cut me off. “When a man loves a woman, truly loves her, he makes time. He figures it out. Not just how to make time but how to fit into her life as well. Because if you don’t, you better know that there will always be another man waiting in the shadows, ready to step in and do a better job.”
“Jesus,” I muttered.
“I mean,” Rave perked up, “he’s not wrong,” she said seriously. “Life is going to happen, and you two… well, you are both really busy people. You should call or text her.”
“Text?”
“Yeah, it’s this thing you can do on your phone,” Dad chimed in, and I rolled my eyes.
“It just feels…. impersonal.”
“You’re cute, Onyx.” Raven laughed. “But wouldn’t a text with a couple emojis be better than her thinking you’re just… not that into her?”
“Is that what she thinks?” I asked. Worry hit my gut. But my baby sister simply shrugged, not giving anything else away.
“Que vas hacer?” my dad asked, and I felt my baby sister’s gaze on me.
“What are you going to do?” Rave asked, and I sighed.
“I’m going to get off my ass and text her.”
“See, Rave…” my dad started to say, “you can teach an old dog new tricks.” They were both laughing as I slipped past them and into the house, hugging my mom before I left the kitchen and headed to the front of the house. My sisters and their men were all in the living room, sitting and talking about Christmas Eve and who was bringing what.
I stepped out into the cool air, relieved at the quiet. It might have only taken me a couple of minutes to get through the house, but it was loud and noisy with how many of us there were now during family dinners.
I pulled up Candy’s information and smiled. She’d be a part of that if I figured out a way to talk her into giving me another chance. I called, but it was sent to voice mail. I frowned. Maybe she was working at the coffee shop? I texted, and it said the message was read, but that was it. No bubbles popped up to let me know she was typing out a response.
Nothing.
Payback for my stupidity probably.
And I deserved it.
But I couldn’t keep sitting on my ass waiting for life to give me the perfect opportunity or window to fit someone into mine. Rusty was right. There was no one out there who deserved Candy, but a man would bend himself backwards to be the one to make him the one who got the privilege of making her smile. And fucking hell, I was dead set on being that lucky bastard.
And I knew how.
5
