The door opened, and Uncle Santino stood there, much bigger than Pax remembered. He had pure white hair and midnight black eyes, showing him to be a pure-bred demon. His chest was wide and his smile wider as he yanked Paxton in for a hug. “Man, you’ve gotten tall,” his uncle said.
Pax awkwardly hugged him back. “Thanks.” The house smelled like chocolate cookies and pepperoni pizza. Boxes were scattered in every direction, evidence of his uncle’s recent move. His stomach growled.
Santino winked at Hope. “Hi there, sweetie. You’ve gotten taller since I last saw you, too. Man, these kids grow up fast.”
She smiled. “Hi.”
Zane slipped his arm around her shoulder. “We’ll let you two get acquainted. Pax? Give me a call tomorrow and check in, would you?”
Paxton nodded, wanting to ask them to stay. But he might as well man up now. “Sounds good.”
They left, and Pax looked around. A comfy-looking sofa faced a crackling fire, while the biggest television he’d ever seen took up another entire wall. Boxes covered it for now. A puppy bounced out of the kitchen and made a beeline for him, wagging his tail wildly.
Pax dropped to hug the dog, laughing as the pup licked all over his face. “What’s his name?”
“You get to name him.” Santino chuckled. “I figured if you lived here, you’d want a dog. All boys should have a dog. He’s a cross between a yellow lab and a collie and probably a few other things. A stray, like you and me.” He grinned. “Figured we’d all do just fine together.”
His uncle had gotten him a dog? A real dog? Pax cleared his throat. “Thank you.”
“Sure.” Santino jerked his head toward the kitchen, just past the television. “I ordered pizza with dessert. I should probably confess right now that I’m not a good cook. This is the first time I’ve bought an actual house and planned to stay in one place. I can make spaghetti and toast, and I order in a lot. We can order in healthy stuff, if you want.”
“Um, okay.” Pax scratched his head.
“Your room. You should see it.” Santino lumbered in the other direction from the kitchen and down a hallway to push open a door.
Pax followed with the puppy tripping over his feet on the way. The room was big with a bed covered in a thick blue comforter. A television was set across from it with a brand new X-Box and a bunch of games piled next to it.
Santino winced. “Those came this morning, and I set them up for you. I should’ve asked. Do you game?”
Pax’s heart leaped. “Yeah. I love to play.”
“Oh, good. Me too. I have the new Mars Four, Galaxy Battle over there and thought we could play.” He pointed to the stack.
Pax blinked. “That doesn’t release for three more months.”
Santino grinned. “I have a buddy who has a buddy, you know? Got an early copy.”
Oh, man, this was too good to be true. A desk sat over by the window with a new laptop on it. Pax didn’t deserve any of this. He frowned.
Santino stilled. “Oh. The walls. Yeah, sorry. They’re blank, but I didn’t know what you liked. You know. Movie posters, pictures of lakes, pics of girls? Not sure. You can put anything you want on the walls. I started an account for your allowance, and I was thinking, what? Maybe five hundred a week?”
Pax made a garbled sound.
Santino’s lip twisted. “Too much? Not enough? Dude, I’m new at this.” He scratched his head. “I can talk about butterflies all day. But allowances?”
“Way too much,” Pax whispered. He got to put things on the wall? Whatever he wanted?
“Okay. Then two hundred. If you have extra, maybe you could play the stock market or something. But you’re in charge of your dog, and you gotta buy him food. I read that responsibility is good for kids.” He smiled. “I loved your mom, as you know. She was sweet and took good care of me and didn’t mind that I get lost in my head sometimes. I’m starving. Let’s eat pizza.”
“Okay.” Pax followed him, stumbling a little. What was happening? Did his uncle really want him here? Not just like out of duty? The guy seemed a little lonely.
He sat at the table in the comfortable kitchen, accepting the huge piece of pizza Santino dropped on his plate.
“I travel a lot for work and leave on Tuesday for a week. Going to Africa, and you should come with me. You ever been there?” Santino shoved a large bite in his mouth.
Pax shook his head. He bit his lip, looking down at the panting puppy.
Santino followed his gaze. “Oh, he can come. You never leave family behind, right?”
