What I see when I walk into the kitchen almost buckles my knees. Andrew’s hanging on his mother’s much smaller frame, his body heaving. “Thank you, so much, for being who you are,” he murmurs, not easing his hold on her body. He’s alone and he’s upset. These two facts send my heart racing.
“Andrew, you’re scaring me,” his mother cries. They pull apart and realize that I’m in the room. Andrew stops me when I turn to leave.
“Dom, you need to hear this,” Andrew says, pulling a chair out, motioning for me to sit.
Mama and I watch as Andrew tries to pull himself together. I want to scream at him to get on with it, ask him why Tony and Cara aren’t with him. Mama reaches across the table to still my hand, preventing me from fidgeting with the place setting in front of me.
He barely begins speaking when I leap out of my chair, needing to find Tony. “Dom, sit your ass down. He’s outside talking to his sister. He asked me to come in first to warn everyone about what went down because he’s not in a very festive mood right now.”
Begrudgingly, I plop my ass back onto the chair. “Oh, that poor child,” Mama chimes in when Andrew relays the pinnacle of the fight to us. “I’ll never understand how parents can be so cruel to their own flesh and blood. They’re the disgrace, not him. All that boy wants is to be accepted and loved,” she tsks.
Mama heads to the stove, stirring the pot as she mutters words neither of us can understand. My mouth goes dry as I remember another day so much like this one. Granted, my own confrontation with my family was on a plain-old Saturday, but Mama’s reaction was the same.
“Dom, there’s something else you need to know,” Andrew says, thumping me on the shoulder to make sure I’m giving him my undivided attention.
How in the hell could there be more?
“Spill it already, Rossi,” I grumble. In about three seconds, I plan on being out of this room so I can check on my man.My man? I’m screwed.
“His dad…well, fuck…” In the time I’ve known Andrew, I can count on one hand the number of times he’s been at a loss for words. Including now, that number is one. “Dom, his dad was really pissed when Tony told his family that he wanted to be here, with you and the people who love him and he…uh, he knocked Tony to the ground.”
“What the fuck, Andrew!” I push away from the table so fast the chair tumbles over. “You might have wanted to lead with that. How in the fuck did that happen?”
“Boys, I understand that you’re both rightly upset, but I’ll ask you once to please mind your language,” Mama scolds. We both mutter our apologies as Andrew follows me out of the house.
“Tony, baby, open the door,” I plead. Tony’s staring at the floorboards of Andrew’s car, refusing to let me see his face. “Come on, Tony. Please open the door so we can talk.”
He shakes his head like he’s terrified of everyone. Knowing what little I do about him, other than the basics, he’s probably expecting me to yell at him for doing the one thing I begged him not to do. I want to, but having been in his shoes, I know that won’t do any good right now.
“Dom, give us a few minutes and we’ll be in.” Cara mouths an apology to me, for what I have no fucking clue. “I promise. Just let me talk to him a bit longer.”
“Five minutes and then I’m coming back out here,” I warn them, stomping through the snow leading back to the front porch. I brush snow off one of the metal chairs flanking the door, shrieking when my backside hits the cold metal. I’ll probably be frozen solid by the time they get out of the car, but I’m not about to let Tony out of my sight right now. He was there for me yesterday when I needed him and I’m going to do the same for him.
“Here, idiot,” Andrew says, tossing my coat to me. I shrug it on, eyeing his car the entire time. “He’ll be fine, D. In a twisted way, I’m glad it happened today because it’ll be easier for us to show him that he’s not totally alone.”
“Fuck that,” I bite out through gritted teeth. My nails dig into the palms of my hands with how hard I’m clenching my fists. It’s been years since I’ve wanted to hit something, but right about now, I can almost picture Mr. DeLuca’s face on the brick face of the house. “I told him I didn’t want him coming out because of me. Heknewthat I thought it was a bad idea. And what does he do? He turns around and does it anyway, coming out with a fat lip and a pissed off family.”
Andrew’s mouth goes slack as I ramble. He cocks his head to the side, waiting to see if I’m through before he speaks. “You know, I never took you for a conceited ass, but I might have to re-evaluate after that bullshit.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” I snap, ready to turn my anger on my best friend. “He told me he was going to come out and I told him to wait. Tony didn’t listen. How does that make me conceited?”
Andrew lurches out of his chair, leaning over to put his hands on the arms of my seat. “Because, you arrogant ass, he didn’t do shit for you. Whatever the two of you have going on may have been a catalyst, but I assure you, Tony did this for himself. You’ll be gone in a few days, but Tony will be able to go out and find someone when he gets home without having the black cloud that is the DeLuca family hanging over him.”
“But why now? Why today?” I protest. Whether or not he did itforme is irrelevant. If I hadn’t offered him a ride that night, if we hadn’t been attracted to one another with such force, he’d still be content and his family still oblivious. It’sbecause of methat he did this. Somehow, my mind gets caught in a loop, replaying Andrew’s words about me being gone soon. While it may be true, I don’t want it to be. I thought I could get involved with Tony on a purely physical level, but he’s so far under my skin I’m not sure he could be surgically removed at this point. The longer I sit and stew, the more I feel jealousy working into my bones. I don’twantthere to be someone else. I want to be the one he finds and can be happy with.
“Because he finally opened his eyes.” Andrew’s body is still rigid as he hovers over me, looking ready to move those hands so they’re around my neck. “He saw a good thing and almost fucked it up. It didn’t have to be you, it could have been anyone.”
“Boys, if you two are finished with your little testosterone fest, I think Tony would like a few minutes with Dom before facing the family.” Cara pulls Andrew away from me, kissing him passionately without any regard for who might be near. “Thank you for giving us your family,” she says to her husband. I ease my way past them, not wanting to disrupt the little moment they have going.
Tony’s leaning against the hood of the car, kicking at the snowdrifts. He lifts his gaze to meet mine and my heart skips a beat at the pain and rejection in his features. I cup his face in my hands, lightly brushing my lips over the cut at the corner of his mouth and then each bruise left by his father’s hand. “Balls to the wall, huh DeLuca?” I chide, receiving a faint smile in return.
“You know me, stirring up shit in my wake all the time,” he responds, the mirth laced with sadness. “Can we take a walk?”
* * *
Tony
Dom doesn’t letme get a step away from him before his arm is laced behind my back. He guides me to the sidewalk and I lean into him as we head toward the park at the end of the road. I keep waiting for Dom to chew me a new ass for being stupid and not listening to him, but he doesn’t.
