My simmering anger completely boils over and I shoot to my feet. “Oh my god, Mom! Stop it! I’m not trying to leave you! I’m just trying to live my own life!”
“Why can’t you live your life here? You want to be an actor? Fine. Be an actor here!”
“Because!” I snap my mouth shut and squeeze my eyes closed, willing my temper to behave. Getting into a shouting match with her won’t make the situation any better. “Mom, please. Let me explain.”
“Explain what? What is there to explain? You’re leaving me. It’s as simple as that.”
“I’m not leaving you, Mom.” I swallow around the emotions suddenly lodged in my throat. Lots of anger still, but also frustration and sadness. “I’m just trying to do something meaningful with my life, something that makes me happy. Don’t you want that? Don’t you want me to be happy?”
“You need to be on the other side of the country to be happy?” she snaps.
“Yes! I do!”
“You’re not making any sense right now. I don’t understand what you’re talking about.” Her voice is wobbly, like she’s about to burst into tears. Guilt threads its way through my anger, but not enough to shake my resolve. I can’t live my life on my mom’s terms. I have to do what I need to do.
“I know you don’t understand. I don’t expect you to. I just…” I take a steadying breath and resign myself to this new reality with my mom. “I just wanted you to know. I’m staying in New York.”
“No. No, absolutely not. I let you move to San Francisco and that is far enough. I’m not letting you move out there. I forbid it.”
I’m pretty sure she’s crying now, but it doesn’t matter. She can forbid me all she wants, but she can’t stop me. I’m a grown man. I can do what I want. “I’m sorry, Mom.”
“No. No. Just wait till I tell your father about this. He’ll be furious. You’ll see.”
“I’ve gotta go, Mom. I’ll talk to you later.”
“No! Don’t you hang up on me, Tino! I’m not done talking to you!”
“Goodbye, Mom.”
“This isn’t over! I?—”
Bracing myself, I end the call. Silence echoes loud in the living room. The only thing louder is the frantic beating of my heart. I never wanted to upset her. I never wanted things to spiral out of control like that. But what choice did I have?
“You’re not leaving?”
I spin around to find Hayden standing in the doorway. His hair is a mess and his eyes are still droopy from sleep. I want to drag him back to bed, lose myself in him, and forget that the rest of the world exists.
And then I realize, he’s just heard every word I said.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FIVE
HAYDEN
He’s not leaving. That’s what he said on the phone to his mom. He’s staying in New York.
Santino’s grin is wide and lopsided. “Uh, yeah, I told Sebastian to cancel my flight. So I guess that means…” He lifts both hands, then lets them drop to his thighs. “You’re stuck with me.” His grin fades as a touch of uncertainty bleeds into his expression. “Is that okay?” he asks more quietly.
My eyes prickle with tears and I don’t know why. This is what I wanted, what I hoped for. So why am I crying over getting something I want?
Santino closes the distance between us with two steps. “Hey, hey.” He cups my cheeks and wipes at the stray tears with his thumbs. “What’s wrong? Do you not want me to stay? I can move out if you want your own space?—”
“No!” The single word bursts from somewhere in the middle of my chest. So loud Santino blinks a few times at its force. “I mean, no. I don’t want you to move out. I want you to stay.”
His grin comes back, goofy and full of joy. Just seeing it soothes the constant pain eating away at my insides and I find myself smiling back at him.
“You’re wonderful, you know that?” Santino’s words grate on my skin like rough sandpaper.
