Page 28 of Made For Romeo
I can’t help but chuckle. “Well, why don’t we see where we are in a week from now, and we can discuss this again,” I tease. I see her trying not to yawn as her eyes fight not to close. “Go to bed, and I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Okay.” She doesn’t fight me. “Good night, Romeo.”
“Good night, beautiful,” I say softly. “Sweet dreams.” I smile, watching her hang up. Still holding the phone in my hand, I say the three words she didn’t let me say, “I love you.”
I put the phone on the side table before I get up and undress. I opt for taking a shower before slipping into bed, and it’s a matter of seconds before I fall asleep.
The phone ringing makes my eyes flutter open the next day. I look around the room, trying to see if the ringing was in my dream or if it is actually ringing. I blink a couple of times, getting the sleep out of them before reaching over and grabbing my phone. I see I got a text from my father, and then I see that my mother just FaceTimed me.
I turn over and call her back. She answers right away, and I see that she is sitting outside somewhere sunny. “Good morning,” I mumble when we connect.
“Good morning, honey,” she replies, and I can hear the waves crashing in the background. “Your sister and I were just talking about you.”
“Oh, God,” I mumble. “Why?”
“Well, she was asking me how shooting was going, and then I found out you are in Dallas.” She looks over and smiles big, and then two seconds later, I see my father lean down to kiss her.
“Good morning,” he greets, sitting in the chair next to her. He puts his arm around her chair and pulls her closer to him. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing much,” I say, “just lying low.”
“Why are you in Dallas?” my mother asks, and I let out a huge sigh. “Of all places—Dallas.”
“Gabriella is here,” I admit, and she smiles bigger than she did before.
“I like her,” she says.
“I like her also.” I sit up in bed, putting another pillow behind my head. “A lot, actually.”
“I didn’t think you guys were still together.” My mother folds her arms over her chest. “You stopped mentioning her.”
“We weren’t,” I tell her, my heart speeding up in my chest. “That’s why I came to Dallas.”
“Aw,” my mother says, looking at my father and smiling, then stopping when she sees something. “Your sister is here.” She grabs the phone and turns it so I see my sister, Ryleigh, walk toward the table. “Say hello to Romeo.”
“Hey,” she says, sitting down at the table and my mother puts the phone down so I can see everyone.
“Your brother is in Dallas chasing after Gabriella.” She fills in Ryleigh.
“I’m not chasing after her,” I say, and my sister just looks back at me.
“Does she want you to chase her, or are you being some perv, just showing up at her house?” Ryleigh asks, and of course she goes straight for the jugular.
“We are seeing each other,” I explain to all of them and my father just smiles.
“So you got her back,” he says, and both my mother’s and sister’s heads fly to him when he says that.
“Why would he get her back?” my mother asks at the same time my sister looks at me.
“What did you do?” Her eyes go into slits.
“I sort of…” I try to think of a delicate way to say what I did, but there is no delicate way. “I cheated on her.”
Everything happens at the same time: my mother gasps, my father hisses, and my sister hits the table. “You did what?” My mother is the first to say something and she grabs the phone from the table so I can only see her face, and she’s brought it very fucking close to her face. “I better have misheard what you said.”
“What a douche,” my sister comments, and my mother glares at her. “Don’t look at me like that. That is your son.”
“Okay, I’m going to get coffee,” my father says, “and Ryleigh is coming with me.” I hear some grumbling from her.