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“Jesus.” Luca’s eyes widen.
“She wasn’t much of a mom even when she was around. Honestly, I barely know her.” I look away from Luca, discomfort settling in at the thought of my family.
“Sorry to hear,” he says.
Loud laughs sound from inside, and suddenly the door whips open. Seb is standing there with a huge smile.
“Aw, cute.” He looks between us, almost like he’s waiting for something to happen. Then he gestures for us to come in. “Come on, we’re starting a new game. Ty’s on my team.” He then disappears, back inside the apartment.
Luca laughs and drains the last of his cider. “Well,” he says, turning to face me. “When families suck, you just have to find your own.”
The sound of everyone’s laughter inside burrows deep, stirring something I haven’t felt in a long time.
He turns towards the door, but stops. His eyes travel upwards to the moon, then down to me with a small smile. “Moon and stars, Tiger.”
I look into his eyes, and that feeling grows. “Moon and stars, Mitchell.”
THIRTY-SIX
I take a sip of my scotch and refrain from rolling my eyes as some guy named… John? James? Whatever, some guy with a J name talks about business growth and investments.
The woman beside me is nodding along, eager to hear this boring as fuck story. There’s no reason to be so excited about this shit, unless she is hoping to jump his bones. But hey… maybe that would turn this snooze fest into a party.
I adjust my tie, looking out over the crowded room. It’s fucking Christmas Eve, and my parents’ house is filled with people I barely know. Apparently they’re all “close family friends”. Tell that to J-man, because he clearly isn’t that close to us if he thinks I’m interested in market expansion.
I spot my little sister over by the food, so I excuse myself, letting the salivating woman step into my space, and hope that J-man gets some.
“Hey Nadz,” I say, sliding up next to her as she picks at some kind of fish wrap cracker thing.
Nadia looks up at me with a smile. “Hey.” She peers over her shoulder to where I came from. “Having fun?”
“A blast as always.” I bat the fish thing out of her hand. “That looks gross.”
She laughs. “Yeah. I wish we had actual food at these parties, rather than these weird bite-sized…” she trails off as she picks up something red wrapped in lettuce. “What do you think this is?”
I shake my head at it. “Don’t know and don’t really want to find out.”
Nadia drops it onto a plate with a sigh and eyes the glass in my hand. “At least you can have that to help you through all this.”
I chuckle, gesturing to the couch by the fireplace for us to sit. “Next year you’ll be able to.”
“Can’t wait,” Nadia mumbles, sitting on the couch beside me as I shrug my suit jacket off and roll up my sleeves to enjoy the toasty fire.
“Don’t have to,” Mia sits on her other side and shoves a glass into her hand. “If anyone asks, it’s punch.”
“Oh my god, I love you.” Nadia takes a sip and closes her eyes.
I narrow my eyes at Mia. I mean, sure, she also snuck me drinks when I was underage, as a big sister should, but… I’m torn about my feelings around this with protective big brother duties.
“I’ve been so busy working the past couple days, I haven’t had a chance to catch up.” Mia leans over Nadia. “How’s the boy situation?” she asks me in a low voice with a sly smile.
Nadia widens her eyes with excitement and turns her head to me. “There’s a boy situation?”
I smile between them. “Yeah. And it’s… good. We’ve made good progress.”
“Meaning?” Mia asks. “You’ve told us nothing.”
“Hm,” I nod, “yeah that’s on purpose. You’re nosy as fuck.”
