One day we would pick up where we left off.
Six months had passed since Damian left. I put on the brave face, but I hurt inside. I missed him and I worried about him. He never responded to my letter, I hadn’t expected him to and yet I wanted him to. I knew we were doing the right thing and yet a part of me thought we had been stupid to not have held on with both hands. I would never be the same, he had changed me in a good way, but I also knew I had to let him go.
“Thea?”
Anton handed me a cup of tea. Since the day Damian left, Anton had become a fixture in my life. Damian brought us together, both of us dealing with the loss of him. We were kindred spirits even if we were the oddest couple, the daughter of a cop and a gangster, and yet he grew to be as close to me as a sibling.
We were at Anton’s place, something I found I did often since Damian left. Most days we were in his game room, he had several eighties arcade games with no quarters required. I found joy in kicking his ass at Pac-Man.
“Cam is coming home this weekend,” I said.
He settled next to me on the sofa. “We should do something.”
“Yeah…oh and Mom invited you to dinner on Saturday.”
Dad didn’t have an issue with a man of Anton’s reputation sharing a meal at his table. I suspected that was because Dad could see beneath the polished man to the damaged soul. Anton had demons, but he had learned to control them.
“I would like that.”
“I’ll invite my roommate to join us.”
Anton grinned at the mentioning of my roommate. Kimber Green was vivacious and fun and the one who forced me out of the dorm, forced me to get involved and to interact. She knew about Damian, we had many tearful nights talking about him, but like a good friend she helped me to pick myself up, shake myself off and live.
Our first meeting, she was hanging an afghan over her bed while listening to Bob Marley. She looked like a supermodel, with her platinum blonde hair and tall thin build. She grew up in New Jersey; her mom was a teacher and her dad a pharmacist. She was a hoot and a lifeline for me. And now we were inseparable.
“Cam will no doubt enjoy meeting her.”
“Hands off policy applies to him too.” My roommate was seriously sexy, but I wasn’t losing her over a fling, and that was all Kimber had—flings.
“Wise.” His tone turned serious when he asked, “How are you doing?”
“I miss him. Every day, I miss him. I thought the ache would ease as time went on, but it hasn’t. I know why he left, I even agree with him, but I can’t help but wonder if he had had different parents, a different home life, would he have been so eager to go.”
“Maybe not, but he wouldn’t be the Damian you know and love had his life been different.”
“I suppose so. Still, his mother should rot in hell for what she did to him.”
Anger dripped from his reply, “I absolutely agree with that. Are you hungry?”
“I could eat something.”
“I’ll order Chinese and then I’ll kick your ass in Pac-Man.”
He had yet to beat me at Pac-Man, but I gave him credit for trying. And that was the mystery of Anton. Money gained through illegal means and yet he was also the same guy determined to make me smile even if that meant taking a beating at a game. It was the contradiction he posed and the kindness that was ingrained in him that drew me in and kept me there. A finer friend I would never find. And still, there was no chance in hell he was beating me at Pac-Man. “Bring it.”
“You’re not wearing that are you?” Kimber was clearly not a fan of the jeans and sweater I had selected for our evening out with Cam and Anton.
One of my sweaters used more fabric to make than all of Kimber’s clothes combined. She had the body to pull off sexy, but she was constantly trying to get me to dress that way too. Spandex was a privilege not a right.
“Show some cleavage. What’s the harm?”
“No thanks.”
“Come on. At least wear my fuck me boots.”
“Tempting.”
“I’ll wear you down.”
Not likely. She looked sexy in her clothes. I would look like a little kid pretending to be a hooker.
“When are we meeting your brother?”
Cam was at Northeastern studying criminal justice, but he was coming down for the weekend. We had never been apart for so long. I couldn’t wait to see him.
“Seven.”
“We better get a move on. We don’t want to be late.”
Kimber was usually late. “Why the concern?”
“He’s your brother, the guy version of you. I’m thinking hot as hell.”
“No. I told you. My brother is off limits. I’m not sharing you.”