Fine, next time, I’ll tell her before I join her. Right now, though, I still had that very pressing issue. Namely, an extra-large growth that suddenly seemed to have a mind of its own. Like a damn divining rod, it was trying to lead me back to her, and that cold shower was starting to look like a plan. Better yet, an hour on the mat might be more in order. I need to get rid of all this excess energy and fast.
I walked down the dark hallway and knocked on my parents’ door. Pop answered, tying a robe around his middle. “Ma asleep?”
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“I’m heading to the workout room. Feel like sparring?” He gave me a look but didn’t probe.
“I’ll meet you there.” He’s the only one I can trust to do this right now. The only one I’m not afraid of going all-in but with enough control not to hurt my opponent. I need to relieve the pressure that’s riding me hard without bringing harm.
I could’ve asked the twins, but they were too close to this one. If I let them see too much, they might only get the wrong idea and make things even more difficult than they already are. As for Lance, I’m not big on shooting myself in the ass.
It only took half an hour of hand-to-hand combat and another half of fencing to get me to see clearly again. Pop didn’t ask any leading questions, but I got the feeling he knew exactly what was up. “I’m proud of you, son.” I’m not touching that shit with a ten-foot pole. “Let’s go wake Lancelot and watch some manly crap on the tube. Unless you want to do something else.”
This is why I’ll never see this man as anything less than my father. No questions asked, but he knew I needed my two best friends right now. “Let him pick the movie, or he’ll cry again.”
“This damn kid, I’m not watching Heat again.” I laughed and went to rouse Lancelot while Pop went to the kitchen for snacks.
“What happened? Are the girls okay?” Lance jumped out of bed as soon as I touched him, almost as if he’d been expecting me.
“Everyone’s fine. Pop and I are gonna watch something.” He looked at his watch, then my workout clothes, then up at me. “You okay?”
“Never better.”
“You’ll tell me if you aren’t?” Ah dammit, when did he start worrying about me?
“You know I will.”
That seemed to be enough for him, and he followed me down to the entertainment room where Pop was waiting with a tray full of snacks and drinks. “Heat. That’s the only thing I’m getting out of my bed at this hour to watch.” By the time the two of them were through arguing, I was no longer feeling like a wrung-out wet sock.
We stayed up well into the night but barely got through the movie, which was no big loss because we’ve seen it a good fifty times and know each word and every scene by heart. Pop went back to Ma, and Lancelot followed me to my room instead of going back to his. I’m not sure if or when Pop had said something to him, or maybe he just knows me well enough, but he parked his ass in my bed, hogging both pillows, and told me to turn out the light.
“Who invited you?” It’s not the first time, and it won’t be the last that we’ve stayed up all night in one or the other’s bed, neither of us giving a damn how it looks or what anyone else thinks. That comes from years of bonding in brotherhood, a bond closer than some that share blood. It’s also how I knew that he wasn’t just here to be here. What the hell did he see while we were downstairs watching TV?
“So, what’s the plan when we get back?” He at least waited for me to get settled in bed with my arms under my head since the damn shams were too hard to sleep on.
“What plan? What’re you talking about?”
“You forget I know you. Buying her a few outfits isn’t going to be enough to quench whatever hell you’ve got in store. Victoria touched what’s yours; you’re not going to let her off that easy.”
“Who said she’s mine?” His snort did not say much for the strength of my denial.
“I think I’m in trouble, Lancelot.”
“How so?”
“I can’t put it into words right now; I’ll let you know when I figure it out.”
“You like Gia, that much I know, so don’t even try to deny it. I think she likes you too. All you need to do is let yourself believe you deserve it, and everything else will fall into place.” I wish it were that easy.
GABRIEL
Lance hounded me the whole night until I was ready to kick him out of my room. But then he let slip that the twins had already gabbed, so what was the point? I couldn’t even be mad or seek retribution; after all, I’m the one who taught them when they were about six or seven that he was to be trusted.