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THIRTY-TWO
I take a sip of my expensive-as-fuck scotch, and Ty fidgets with his glass beside me. He looks so out of place in this upscale restaurant, as his eyes nervously dart around the table and his leg bounces. But damn… he looks good in baby blue.
“Another, sir?” the waiter asks me, as he gestures to my scotch glass and clears my appetizer plate.
I take the last swig and smile. “Please. And he’ll take another as well,” I say as I gesture to Ty. My parents are paying, so we may as well rack up the bill. Who doesn’t like a nice meal out on the town, right?
“Right away,” the waiter nods and leaves with our empty plates.
Ty’s eyes meet mine and I chuckle. He looks like he’s still trying to process what just happened and has no idea what to do.
“So,” Mia leans forward and smiles at Ty, “I need to know. How long did it take to go from hate to love with him?” She jerks a thumb at me. “Probably a long time, right? He’s pretty annoying.”
Ty chuckles and nods. “Very. Still makes me question the whole thing most days.”
Mia laughs, and Nadia chuckles beside me. I roll my eyes and cross my arms as I lean back in my chair. But I can’t be mad, and bite back a smile instead. Because seeing Ty get along with my sisters so well is worth every dig they make at me.
“And I never did get to officially congratulate you both on making it into LFA,” Mia says with a big smile. “And how exciting that it’s in Vegas. I’m hoping I can get some time off to come watch.”
“I want to come too,” Nadia pipes up. Then she smiles. “Vegas sounds exciting.”
“You’re not old enough for Vegas to be exciting,” I say, pushing her iced tea closer to her. She rolls her eyes and pushes her drink back to where it was on the table, and I laugh. “But I still want you there, iced tea and all.”
Nadia scoffs, but she can’t hide her smile. And I can’t either. Having my sisters at LFA will be fucking awesome.
I turn back to Mia. “We’re actually finding out early next week who we’re going to be fighting. And dare I say…” I shift my gaze to Ty, “I’m kind of hoping for a grappler.”
Ty smirks at me as excitement swirls in his eyes.
“Luca, please,” Mom says with an exasperated sigh from across the table. “Not here.”
I try to keep the swell of anger at bay as I slap on an innocent expression. “Not here what?”
“We don’t need to talk about fighting at the dinner table,” she glances at the table next to us, as if they are listening to our conversation. “It’s bad enough you have two black eyes.” Her eyes flick between me and Ty, but then she aims a disapproving look my way.
I let out a breath of laughter. “Right, of course. Why would we ever talk about something that makes me happy?”
“Luca, enough,” Dad says in a low voice as he glares at me.
I take a deep breath, trying my hardest to stay calm and prepare myself to just get into it. They obviously now know about LFA, since Mia must have told them earlier, but they don’t know about my job yet.
But before I can say anything, the waiter arrives with our drinks and main courses.
As he sets them in front of us, I take another breath in and Ty turns to look at me. And as I look into his eyes, I find the courage I need as his words echo in my mind. I need to escape this hold they have on me. I can take a hit and keep moving forward.
Pissing them off in the process is just the cherry on top.
“So, Tyler,” Mom says cheerily as the waiter sets down the last plate in front of my dad. “Tell us more about yourself. You’re from Stockton, right?”
Ty nods. “Yes.”
“Hm.” Mom nods, picking up her fork. “Have you been back to visit your family since you moved here? Or are you as busy as Luca and also can’t find the time?”
For fuck’s sake.
Ty’s brow furrows as he stares back at her. “No, I haven’t,” he says flatly. “I’m not able to visit my family anyway. I don’t know where my parents are, and my brother, who raised me, is in prison.”
I smile as a look of horror flashes over my mother’s face and my dad eyes Ty like he’s trying to figure out if that was a joke.
