Page 8 of Orlando

“Ghost.” Dante smirks.

“Who are you talking about?” Josie says, approaching us and sinking into Dante’s side.

“Orlando’s ghost,” Dante tells her. I glare at him, my way of warning my cousin to shut his fucking mouth.

“Aleeka?” Josie asks me.

“How do you know her?” I straighten my shoulders and send Dante another glare.

“It wasn’t from him. Don’t worry. Your bro code is safely intact,” Josie tells me. “I’m in your English class, remember? I saw how you made Jase move seats so you could sit next to the poor girl, only to not say a single word to her the entire time.”

“I just wanted the seat.”

“I then saw her in the library, at the back of the stacks. She was crying.” Josie gives me a disapproving look, as if I made the girl cry, then adds, “Alone.”

I shrug. “Like you said, I didn’t say shit to her. She’s not crying over anything I did,” I tell them before walking away.

Because I’m in a shitty fucking mood, I make a beeline for my uncle. “Zio, you know Josie’s snuggled up with Dante in the den,” I tell him with a smirk. It takes two seconds for my uncle to jump to his feet and stalk towards them.

Zio Theo takes his parenting responsibilities seriously, which includes keeping Dante’s paws off Josie as much as he possibly can.

Chapter Five

“Hey, sweetheart. Smells good in here,” Dad says before dropping his briefcase onto the dining table.

“Thanks.” I’m only making mac and cheese. He’s being way too nice about my cooking, and we both know it.

“How’s your day been?” he asks me.

I picked up Sebastian from his office right after school. He was busy so I didn’t stick around to chat. “It was okay,” I say, plating up two bowls full of the macaroni.

“Just okay? Did you see any of your old friends?”

“In passing.” I place the bowls down and glance at Sebastian, who is asleep in his rocker by the table.

“Anyone Sebastian here would want to meet?” Dad questions, not so subtly.

“I saw him,” I say.

“And?”

“And nothing. I saw him. We didn’t speak.” Technically, Orlando did say a few words to me. My mind goes back to the way his body felt pressed against mine. I wanted to reach out and wrap my arms around his neck. Pull him closer to me…

“You didn’t talk to him?”

“No, Dad, I didn’t. What am I supposed to say?Oh, hey, remember how we dated for a few weeks about fifteen months ago? Well, now we have a kid together.”

“It’d work.” Dad smiles. “You’re overthinking it, Aleeka. He’s your son’s father, whoever he is, and he deserves to know that and make his choice. Imagine if I didn’t know about you?”

“That’s different. You were married,” I say. “And you weren’t seventeen.”

“You’re not asking him for financial support, Aleeka. You don’t need that from him. You’re asking if he wants to be a part of his son’s life,” Dad replies while digging into his pasta.

“I know. How was the office? Good being back?” I attempt to change the subject.

“It was good. Nothing really changes.”

“Meet up with any of your old friends?” I ask my dad, being a total smart-ass.

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