The plan had always been to enlist after graduating, but I could admit I wasn’t in so much of a hurry and the reason was the beauty with the wild hair. I was addicted to her goodness, to her smile and laugh. She had gone to her dad. She knew me well enough to know I needed help. Nothing could come of it. I wasn’t in the same league as her, but for the first time in my life I felt connected to someone and that was a heady fucking feeling and not one I was ready to walk away from.
It would be stupid to not consider how my moving out was going to affect my mother. And there was always the chance of her doing something to fuck up my world, but I was done with living in fear.
It felt good walking out of that house and leaving all that shit behind. A car pulled up behind my piece of a shit. The driver climbed out.
“You’re finally doing it.”
Anton Scalene. I met him when I was fifteen. He stepped in when I found myself in a situation. Later, he started to bring his car in for service at the garage where I worked. He came from a place even worse than the bullshit I grew up with. I used my fists to channel my anger, but he had channeled his anger another way, making money and building a reputation for himself. And he was doing it. He could be scary as fuck when he wanted to be, but he was a friend…the first I’d ever had.
“It’s about time,” he added. “Is that girl part of the reason? Thea, was it?”
“Yeah.”
He studied me as I loaded my bags into my trunk. “You like her.”
“Hard not to.”
“Good for you.” His focus shifted to my mother’s house. “And the bitch?”
“She’s not home, hasn’t been for a few days.”
He muttered something but moved on when he said, “I stopped by your new place but it was crowded.”
“Yeah. Rosalie is determined to make my place a home.”
Something moved across Anton’s expression, longing maybe. He’d never had a mother either. “Why don’t you come back with me?”
“Their dad’s a cop.”
“Yeah, so.” Anton was on the wrong side of the law. He was smart, fucking business savvy, but a guy like him, coming from where he had and being as young as he was, didn’t have all he had without bending the rules...a lot. “They’re different.”
He seemed to weigh my words before he agreed when he said, “I’d like to meet this Thea.”
Damian had his own place. It wasn’t much, but Mom would fix that. I was a little miffed with Damian because he had turned eighteen but never told us. Birthdays were clearly not to him what they were to me, but still there should be some acknowledgment of the day that he was born. My family had invaded and though he didn’t say one way or the other, I think he liked having us there.
“Thank you for helping Damian get this apartment.”
Dad was checking the appliances in the kitchen for their ‘soundness’ as he called it. “He hasn’t had it easy. His mother is a real piece of work. I won’t go into detail; that’s for Damian to share, but him having his own space…it’s the right thing.”
“You co-signed the lease, didn’t you?”
“They wouldn’t have given him the apartment without it. He has no equity and he’s young. I would have done the same for you and Cam.”
I hugged him hard. “And this is why I love you so much. You’ve got a big heart, Dad.”
He inhaled funny, like he was holding back tears.
We were pulled from the moment when Cam said, “Mom, he’s a dude…seriously.”
We turned to see Cam holding up a throw blanket.
“It’s cold in here. He’ll appreciate that blanket when he’s watching television.”
“He’s a dude. He’ll freeze rather than wrap himself up in this. Dad, come on, back me up here.”
“What color is that?” Dad asked.
“Taupe.”
“It looks pink.”
“It’s taupe,” Mom huffed and snatched the blanket from Cam. “Fine, I’ll put it in the closet.”
“And the flowers? My man parts are shrinking the longer I’m here.”
The door opened on the tail end of Cam’s comment. Damian clearly heard it because he grinned. He carried several bags and I walked over to help, but I came up short at the guy following Damian in. He wasn’t much older than us, but he carried himself like someone who was.
Mom walked in from the bedroom. “Where’s the washer?” Her attention shifted to the door. “Damian. You’re back. I was just getting your laundry sorted.”
Oh my God. Mom was sorting Damian’s laundry. I blushed; Damian didn’t have a reaction at all.