“Anything else?” I ask Tito Ben.
“Maybe just look in a mirror before you leave,” he winces, somehow the nicest person in the room.
TWENTY-FIVE
Lina
“Are youfucking kidding me?!”I’m screaming. “Get thefuckout of here!”
“Mija, relax,” Mai is saying.
“You’re telling me he justdies?!” I say, outraged, pointing to the television, where the season finale of our K-Drama just ended. “You’re telling me she spent ten years of her life in a shitty relationship and then only gets to spend likethree weekswith the love of her life?!”
“It’s beautiful, I think,” Mai responds, dabbing at the corners of her eyes. “She had incredible character growth. She’s now an independent woman who don’t need no man.”
“That’strash,” I insist. “That’s fine in real life, not in my romantic K-Drama. That’s against the rules! Now it’s no longer a romance!”
Fuck this shit. I need the escapism, the fantasy, the hot and swoony male main character to come and sweep me off my feet for my happily ever?—
Our doorbell rings.
“Who is that?” I ask my mom.
She shrugs.
I walk through the living room, into the kitchen, and to the front door.
I open it and am promptly attacked by a glitter wrecking ball.
“What the f—Frankie?”
“Daddy’s here to apologize,” she screams.
I look up, and Dom stands in the doorway, looking every inch the Gang DILF I fell in love with. A steady sentry wearing all black, floppy hair flopping into his face, the edges of his tattoos peeking out from under his jacket sleeves. Blushing, a little. A little shy.
My heart begins inflating like a balloon.
“Your grand gesture can’t just be a hug from your daughter,” I can’t help but tell him, after a moment of drinking him in. “It’s against the rules.”
“She’s only one part of it,” he admits, in that strong, gentle voice that wraps around me like a blanket. “There’s more. But it’s not going to be very grand. It’s going to be more of an overdue conversation between two adults.”
“Wow. Catch me, I’m swooning.”
Frankie is glaring at her father for ruining his own moment, like,really?I, for one, expect nothing less from this beautifully brutally honest and intentional man.
“Do you and your mom wanna come over for Thanksgiving dinner?” Frankie asks, bouncing on her toes, trying to redeem him.
I blink at Dom, waiting.
“We’d love to,” my mom chimes in from behind me.
I tap my foot. “So are you just gonna let everyone else take care of this or…”
Dom laughs, pushing his hair back from his face, and I bask in the full force of his smile. “I?—”
“I can’t show up empty-handed,” my mom cuts in to Frankie again. “Will you help me cook something quick so your dad and Lina can talk upstairs?”
She nods. Dom shoots my mom a grateful look, and together we walk up the stairs to my apartment.
