I knew all of this. But it was good to hear.
Nikki, ever the romantic, smiled. “He says he loves you, Lex. That’s huge coming from him.” Then she asked, “Are you going to give it another shot?”
Dave looked as if he was going to lose his mind. “No, she is not!” But when he looked at my hesitant face, his shoulders drooped. “Oh, God. You want that, don’t you?”
Ugh. All these questions and obvious observations had me anxious. “I don’t know what I want, okay?” I huffed out a long breath, running a hand through my hair. “I’m confused.” I was definitely that. “You guys haven’t seen him with A.J.” I smiled softly. “It’s the most adorable thing. He’s so good with him, in a way I never thought he could be, but he is.” Please understand. “He knows he made mistakes with me. He freely admits it. It’s like,” I tried to explain it in the best way I could, “he’s an advanced version of himself. He’s not Twitch anymore. He’s Twitch two-point-oh. It’s like his emotion chip has been upgraded or something.” I shook my head, feeling stupid. “I don’t know.”
The silence at the table lasted a while before Dave spoke, and he did it reluctantly. “Well, maybe if we did see,” he started. “Maybe if we could see this new and improved Twitch you speak of, maybe then all this wouldn’t seem so scary and we’d feel less anxious about the whole thing.”
But Nikki shook her head, smiling. “I’m not anxious. I think it’s nice.”
Dave rolled his eyes. “Okay, fine. I’m anxious, Lex, and can you really blame me?” No, I couldn’t. “Has he even given an explanation of where he’s been this whole time?”
I nodded, not offering an explanation because Twitch’s business was not their business.
“Okay.” Dave looked from me to Nikki. “So.” He shrugged. “Barbecue at casa de Ballentine?”
Wait. “What?” I asked guardedly.
Dave looked me in the eye. “If you want us to be accepting, I’m going to need to see all this firsthand.”
I thought about it.
It actually wasn’t a terrible idea. Perhaps being together would help us heal, all of us. The more I thought about it, the more perfect the idea sounded, and I smiled. “Okay. Barbecue at my place. Saturday, five p.m.” I pointed to Nikki. “Bring your niknaks.” I then pointed to Dave. “Leave your attitude at home.”
Nikki clapped. “Yay!”
Dave grumbled, “Can’t promise that.”
Now that the details had been ironed out, I was excited. It had been ages since we got together as a family. I don’t think I realized how much I needed it till just now. I needed my friends close. I needed things to go back to normal so it would be done.
Barbecue at casa de Ballentine.
Chapter
TwentyThree
Lexi
The next day, I powered through a jog that I really didn’t want to do and made it home to shower just before 10:00 a.m. When I’d just opened the door to the bathroom, I heard my little monster say something that would completely wreck me.
“Daddy, can I stay with you?”
Every molecule of my being wanted to rush out of there, gun a-blazing, and tear this conversation up before it even began. But some small part of me wanted to hear what “Daddy” had to say about that. So I did what any other woman would have done.
I eavesdropped.
“Uh.” Twitch hesitated. “I don’t know about that, little dude.”
A.J. wasn’t deterred. “Why?”
“Because,” said Twitch matter-of-factly. “You belong with your mom.”
My wrath fizzled slightly.
My son tried again. “But I wouldn’t be far.”
“Exactly. So there’s really no need to stay with me, is there? Besides, I see you every single day, bud, and that’s not gonna change.”
A.J. let out a dejected sounding, “Okay.”
“Look,” Twitch told our saddened son. “I want you with me all the time. I do. I would love for you to stay with me, and maybe one day, we can do that. But not now. Okay, bud? Because right now, Mommy needs you to be with her.” When he added a soft-sounding, “You make her happy,” a small part of our broken trust repaired itself.
He had an open opportunity here. A golden ticket. But for some unknown reason, he hadn’t cashed in. And I was thankful.
I waited a few minutes before stepping out of the bathroom, and without pausing, I headed into my room to sit by the vanity, brushing out my wet hair. Not a minute later, the man in question was standing in my open doorway. I peered at him, and he stepped inside, talking in low tones. “Hey, so I don’t know what just happened, but—”
Cutting him off, I looked back into the mirror and brushed my hair. “I heard.” It was surprising, his need to disclose what had just occurred. I tried not the take my son’s need to be with his father personally, but it really hurt.
“I told him no,” he added, frowning at my expressionless face.
“I know.” I glanced up into his reflection. “I told you, I heard.”
He slid his hands into his pockets and watched me a long moment. “I thought you’d be upset.”
“I am,” I divulged. “But it’s not your fault.” I tried to explain without being unkind. “You’re sort of like a new toy. You’re shiny and fun. And although you’re his father, I’m still the disciplinarian in this house, so...” I shrugged, trying to hide the pain my son’s innocent request had caused me. “I guess it’s natural for him to want you.”
Like I do.
Twitch took the two steps over, reached out, and touched a strand of my wet hair. His words were poised and self-assured. “One day, it won’t be an issue, because I’ll be living right here, under this roof, and he’ll have both Mommy and Daddy close enough that he’ll get bored of my surly ass and want his mom’s back.”
I looked up at his reflection with arched brows, fighting a smile. “Cocky, much?”
His eyes peered deeply into mine. “No. Just confident.”
“Right,” I muttered quietly before continuing to brush the knots out.
“So.” Twitch sat on the edge of the bed, his eyes ever observant. “This barbecue thing I’m feeling might be an interrogation.”
No one ever accused Antonio Falco of being a stupid man.
I blinked innocently. “My, whatever do you mean?”
His lips twitched at my southern genteel tone. “You know exactly what I mean, Lex. And it’s cool, I guess, but I will tell you though.” He stood. “If Dave comes at me again, I’m not holdin’ back.”
“I know,” I admitted on a wry smile. “I already warned him.”
“Yeah, you did.” His expression turned smug. “My woman’s got my back. ‘Cause she’s solid.” He lifted a hand, tightening it into a fist. “A motherfucking diamond.”
I rolled my eyes, but his words caused me to blush so freaking bright it looked like I’d viciously scrubbed my face with sandpaper. “Go away.”
Mercifully, he did, but as I was lucky in that way, the night would prove I was rather unlucky in others. Namely that Dave situation.
It was just before five when the comrades started to file into my home, and while Molly greeted them at the door, I said my hellos from the kitchen as I made the salads that would accompany the ridiculous amount of meat purchased to feed the men in attendance tonight, because, like my son, they were all carnivores.
When Ana and Julius walked into the house, I stopped tossing the greens and hugged them both. “Hey, I’ve missed you guys.”
From down the hall, Twitch emerged from A.J.’s room, and upon seeing his old friend, he crept up behind the mocha-skinned Adonis and caught him unawares, both arms tightening around him like bands. He held Julius firmly, and when Julius spoke through gritted teeth, “Let me go, you fucker,” Twitch lifted him off the ground an inch and shook him twice, causing Julius to choke out, “I swear to God, brother.”
That was when Twitch released him, grinning snarkily. “Good to know you still remember me, brother.”