"I've had a lot of hot sex, but that'll be hard to top," Max said before pressing a kiss to my temple then repeating the motion with Tony.
"Challenge accepted." We all chuckled because we knew Tony was the man who couldn't turn down a dare. As I drifted off to sleep, I could only hope he'd feel the same way in the morning.
Chapter Five
Tony
I spentmost of the week following Pride trying to avoid Enzo and Max. It wasn't fair to them, but I needed some time to process what we'd done and why it had felt so natural to me. It shouldn't have, but it did. I'd even offered to babysit for Freddie and Peter a few nights, saying they deserved some alone time, just so I could crash in the guest room at their house without feeling like a total mooch. And that's where I was when Freddie cornered me.
"You and Enzo have a fight or something?" he asked, tossing me a bottle of water as we watched Sophia run around the backyard, playing with her latest best friend ever. With the exception of this week, it seemed every time I came over she had a new best friend.
"No, why?" I asked, hating that our drama was obvious enough even Freddie had picked up on it. Lately, he'd been so wrapped up in the restaurant and his family he rarely noticed anything else. Luckily, he jumped to an argument rather than something closer to the truth. Then again, there was no logical reason for his mind to jump to us sharing the hottest night ever with Max, the man I'd gone out of my way to make sure everyone knew was not my boyfriend.
"Because both of you look like hell. And as much as Peter and I enjoy some one-on-one time in the evenings, we're going to have to start charging you rent if you keep staying here." He socked me in the shoulder, which was good because I was starting to worry this was the conversation where he told me I'd worn out my welcome. "Seriously, what's going on with the two of you?"
"It's not him," I said because it wasn't just him. It was all of us. That night was amazing, but it made me start thinking all sorts of shit I had no place dreaming about. And not all the dreams were good. I worried Max would find everything he wanted with Enzo and I'd be left in the dust.
"Then what is it? He's barely come into the restaurant, telling Frankie he's got everything he needs at the apartment." That itself wasn't odd, Enzo's primary job was marketing, so he didn't have to come into work unless we needed help on the floor. "And when he did come in, he hadn't shaved for a few days, his hair was a wreck, and he was snapping at everyone. Even Matteo."
Okay, now I understood the source of Freddie's concern. Enzo was always put together. He thought he was the plain one of the family, which was ridiculous because he often commented on how many people flirted with me and we were identical. The few times we'd gone camping, he'd raced to the bathroom the minute we walked through the door to shave and shower because he couldn't stand being unkempt. And he never snapped on anyone, even when we had it coming.
"I'll talk to him," I promised.
"Tonight, Tony," Freddie demanded. "This can't keep going on. Too much longer and Mama will figure out something's up. I'm not sure what happened between the two of you, but whatever it is, I'd lay money you'd prefer she not start snooping around."
I felt the color drain from my face. Mama could give a lot of private investigators a run for their money when she detected any of us keeping secrets. Still, talking to Enzo meant admitting everything I'd been trying to untangle in my mind since the morning I woke up in a mess of arms and legs on the living room floor with him and Max.
I debated whether I should talk to Enzo alone or if this was a conversation that called for all three of us. After all, if I had my way, what I had to say would affect all of us. No, I needed to talk to Enzo first. Then, if things went well, we could call Max and ask him to come over after work.
Freddie and I chatted a bit longer. He knew I was delaying the inevitable, but I needed just a little more time. A few more minutes with my brother without trying to figure out if he would hate us for what we were doing. Or might be doing. Hell, maybe Enzo would think it was all a giant mistake and it'd be a moot point.
After saying goodbye to Sophia and once again promising Freddie I'd sort out the situation with Enzo, I trudged my way to the car like a man on his way to the gallows. My feet practically dragged across the ground, knowing it was time to face a shitty situation. Rather than surprise Enzo when I walked through the door, I called him.
"Holy shit, you're alive," he answered on the first ring.
"Yeah, sorry I ghosted," I apologized. Shit. I didn't want to do this over the phone. "Listen, are you home for the night? I want to sit down and talk about what happened."
"We don't have to if it's bothering you," he offered. That was so like Enzo, always trying to make things easy for everyone else, never wanting to make waves.
"It's bothering you, so we do need to talk," I countered. "Look, I don't want to do this over the phone. Are you going to be there if I come home?"
"Yeah, I'll be here." He sounded distracted. I hoped his indifference was caused by him working on the new ad campaign rather than because he didn't want to face this any more than I did.
"You eat dinner yet?" If Enzo was as out of it as Freddie claimed, he hadn't eaten all day. It was normal for him to go all day without food then realize he was ravenous around ten at night. He let out an indecipherable grunt, which meant I was right. "I'm going to pick up something on my way. You have a preference?"
"Whatever you're in the mood for is fine," he told me. Most nights, we'd bicker back and forth over who was going to choose what to eat, but the distance in his answer said Enzo wasn't in a playful mood. Fine. I'd stop by his favorite deli and bring him his favorite pastrami on rye sandwich, even if it meant listening to him bitch because it was too big to eat all at once and the bread would get soggy if he tried saving part of it.
"Okay then. I'll be home in a bit," I replied as I turned the key in the ignition. My phone connected to the Bluetooth and my car was filled with the sounds of Enzo breathing across the line. Fuck. That shouldn't be as hot as it was. "Do you need me to pick up anything besides dinner on my way?"
"Nope," he responded curtly. "Can't think of anything since you haven't been around."
The dig hurt, but I had it coming. Hiding at Freddie and Peter's had been a shit move, and I realized it now. I wasn't a chickenshit, but when confronted with things like complex emotions, I cowered like a damn baby. I couldn't help it; I'd always been that way. Everyone assumed I must've had some traumatic break-up in the past to make me so anti-commitment now, but the truth was I was so afraid of what came after a break up I long-ago decided it'd be better to not get involved. Now, even without a relationship, I had to face the aftermath.
Fucking around was much harder when it was with more than one person, and one of the other participants was someone you couldn't imagine your life without. Both of them, really, because Max had become one of my closest friends since we'd started hanging out. Sure, the sex was great, but it was everything else I'd miss when he eventually moved on because someone else could offer him what I wouldn't. Not couldn't, wouldn't. Because I was a coward.
I banged my head against the steering wheel while I waited for the light to turn green. "Way to fuck up everything after you swore everything would be fine, Marino."
Since I'd already reached out to Enzo, I fired off a quick text to Max in hopes it wouldn't be for nothing.
