Waiting for everyone to settle down, I sat on the couch next to Siege, where he put his arm on the backrest, and so I tucked myself to his side.
“Found this new horror movie from that director you like. Should we watch it after finishing homework?” He asked, eyes still on the screen while his fingers played with my hair.
“It’ll be better if we do the movie first so that when Dad comes home, he’ll find us doing homework instead of just lounging around. Maybe that’ll make him happier and more relaxed when I tell him the news,” I said in reply.
Siege’s fingers stilled, then he shifted backward, making me look at him on instinct. “That’s very manipulative of you, little vixen.”
“Hey, maybe I’m not the only one rubbing off on the other. Told you, I could be an honorary Azul.”
“What the hell?I was?—“
Well, I bet they all know what I was really doing with the pen Dex just snatched from my hand.
Wiggling it between my fingers. Slightly nibbling on the end. Tapping it against my forehead over and over.
I was doing anything but writing with it.
We were on the dining table after watching that horror movie that Siege found, and we started doing our school assignments an hour before dad’s usual time to come home from work.
If I was being completely honest,theywere doing their papers while I was just anxiously thinking of every single question that my dad might ask me when I tell him.
“You’ve got to calm down, C. We don’t have to do this tonight if you’re not ready,” Nero said, being the voice of reason, which Dex backed up immediately.
“We can schedule this for another time and plan better.”
“No. Adobo’s already cooked, and I already texted him that we needed to talk tonight. I’ll just keep on chickening out if we delay this.”
I was bouncing my knee, eyes fixed on the wall as if I was trying to see through it, wondering if dad was almost home.
And then the sound came of the little chime that our smart door lock makes when the cover is slid up. Without hesitation, I pushed my chair back as I stood, the legs scraping through the floor.
I just about ran towards the door, and my dad was barely pushing the door when I yanked it wide open, making him flinch.
I must’ve looked crazed.
“Hi,” I mumbled, not knowing a single thing about how to go about tonight.
Maybe a warning? No. A promise.
“I need you to promise me that you’ll… you’ll remember your religious and kind side. That you won’t hurt anyone or, I don’t know, make threats.”
Without a single word from my dad, I moved to the side, letting him come inside.
With my signal, Siege and Dex got up from their seat on the dining table, then they made their way to my dad to shake his hand.
“This is Siege. And this is Dex.”
Great.
Now, he’s definitely finding us suspicious.
Am I going to throw up? It feels like I’m about to throw up.
Just do it, Cosette. Rip off the bandaid.
“They’re my boyfriends.”
29
