Page 57 of After Midnight

“But, no more of thismisternonsense. You make me feel old as dirt. I’m Uncle Jeffrey.”

“Don’t you mean Auntie Fairy?” I asked, and he burst into laughter.

“Only when I’ve got my wig on,” he said matter-of-factly. The girls just looked confused.

At the insistence of all three of them, I checked out of the extended stay hotel and moved back into my room at the house.

Uncle Jeffrey refused to stay in Margarette’s old room until it could be adequately smudged of bad energy and her “femme fatale décor removed and burned,” as he put it. So, he ended up in a guest room across the hall from me.

Miss Rita, Ashton, Uncle Jeffrey, the girls, and I sat down around the big dinner table that night and ate homemade lasagna Miss Rita had cooked up.

She had texted me multiple times about the territorial war she and Uncle Jeffrey had waged over the kitchen. After he’d boasted about being a classically trained French chef, Miss Rita told Uncle Jeffrey he had another thing coming if he attempted to force her babies to eat snobby food just as we’d gotten rid of that awful snob of a woman.

Curiously, though, as we sat at the table and Uncle Jeffrey fussed about Miss Rita’s amazing, over-the-top, delicious lasagna needing more garlic, I realized the two were enjoying the banter. Their arguments held absolutely no heat, and it felt good seeing Miss Rita and the rest of us be able to finally cut loose a bit.

It also didn’t escape my attention how Ashton kept sending adoring glances Uncle Jeffrey’s way, and I swear the manblushed when he finally noticed.Interesting, I thought. Clearly, there was more to theirjust friendsstory than they’d let on.

After we finished eating, Ashton received a text and looked meaningfully at Miss Rita before he stood up and tasked the girls with helping him clear the table.

Uncle Jeffrey glanced at me before reaching over to pat my hand. “Sweetie, try to understand, this is because we love you.”

His statement surprised and perplexed me. How someone I just met could say he loved me and, well, mean it? But the more pressing question was why had he said it that way? Like he was half apologizing but also slightly amused.

A few moments later, the doorbell rang, and only upon looking around did I realize all the members of my newly made family had disappeared.

“Hmm, that’s not suspicious at all!” I said, loud enough for them to hear from wherever they were hiding.

When I opened the front door, I understood what all the fuss was about. There on my doorstep stood the literal man of my dreams.

Chapter twenty-six

Dillon

“You should reach out to him now,” Miss Rita told me over the phone when, out of the blue, she’d called me directly instead of my dads.

“I have reached out, multiple times,” I told her and even I could hear the frustration in my voice.

Of course, that didn’t deter her in the slightest. “That boy is heartsick and near as I can tell, you’re the reason and the cure,” she’d told me.

Since that talk, we’d been trying to devise a plan for me to reenter the picture. Then, like some sort of miracle, the family court dropped the case against Dominic, his sisters were back in his life, and he was free to come home.

I didn’t have to do much to put the plan into action. Miss Rita enlisted the help of Ashton and Dominic’s newly found godparent, Jeffrey, to have a nice family dinner together the night Dominic returned home. Then I’d arrive unannounced and, as agreed upon, they’d all scatter to the winds.

“That boy needs someone around who hasn’t been involved in this mess, someone who just likes him for him,” Ashton said tome at the comedy club the night before. He’d left no doubt that bysomeone, he meant me.

Despite my excitement, I also felt doubtful. “I don’t know, Ashton. Dominic has been pretty adamant about avoiding me. At what point do I take the hint and just accept the brush off?”

“It’s not disinterest, kid. Trust me, I know the difference. He was embarrassed,” Aston said. “Wouldn’t you be? Hell, from what I hear, the witch screamed and ranted at him in front of everyone at your party, caused quite the scene.”

“That’s true, but Ashton, he handed her ass back to her on a platter. It was epic,” I said with admiration.

He chuckled. “I heard about that too. For goodness’ sakes, it’s all Feldman’s been able to talk about. Just do me this one favor, okay? Give Dominic another chance to choose you.”

I shrugged. “I sorta feel like I can’t take no for an answer. I don’t wanna be that guy.”

“So be the guy who says,I’ll be your friend no matter what.”

“I have said that to him,” I admitted. “But he has to want to be friends. It can’t all be one-sided. Besides, I’m moving to Chicago. I’ll be working my butt off doing classes and stand-up. My hours will be late, and my focus will be on my career. Even if everything was perfect between us, I’d still probably lose him.”

---