Page 108 of Gluttony
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Two hours later,Tony waved off the Deadly Seven crew from the front porch. It was getting late and a strict curfew kept the Hudson House in order. Bailey and a handful of the group were with him, chattering loudly. Once his siblings were gone, Bailey tried to usher them all back inside, but they were still pumped from the recent activities.
“Come on,” she said. “We’re about to break curfew. Agnes will kill me if I don’t get you in.”
A chorus of groans passed around. Elena and another girl were the loudest, but when Tyson and Simon lended their voices, it got rowdy. They were full of too much energy.
Bailey pulled out a DVD case from behind her back and waggled it before them. “I have a surprise movie for everyone to watch, but we have to go inside.”
“What is it?” Elena asked.
Tony narrowed his eyes at Bailey. She lifted her gaze to his.
“Is that what I think it is?” he asked, pointing.
“If you think it’s an early screener copy of your film, then yes it is.”
“No way!” Elena gasped and snatched it from Bailey and ran into the house. “The one that got smashed up by the monster?”
“Can’t believe you just said monster,” Tyson teased.
“Shut up. It was real,” she replied.
“And Sasquatches and Yetis are too,” Simon smirked, but then he lifted his chin at Tony. “Still. It would be pretty cool to watch this before it’s out in the cinema.”
“Well, it’s out tomorrow, so we need to go in now and watch it.” Bailey used her forceful stare at them, and they all ducked their heads.
“This is so weird,” Tyson mumbled to Simon with a glance thrown at Tony.
Simon took the DVD from Elena. “Weird but cool.”
“Just go easy on me, guys,” Tony laughed.
They responded with the usual taunts about his acting style and he shooed them inside until it was only Bailey and him left on the porch.
He gathered her into his arms and smiled down at her fondly. “Thank you.”
“Thank you too. They loved the demonstration. I think it will help keep trouble away from the house.”
She threaded her fingers through his hair and leaned in to kiss him. The warm touch of her lips melted Tony’s insides. He sank into her kiss, adding his tongue, growing the pace until she squeaked at his demands.
“Wow,” she breathed, pulling away, eyes dazed. “More of that later, but we need to get inside. Not sure how long we have before Agnes kicks us out.”
A frown crinkled his forehead when he thought about a certain someone who hadn’t been interested in the demo.
“You okay?” Bailey asked.
“Yeah, just noticed someone wasn’t participating.”
“Don’t worry about Akeef.” She patted his arm. “He’s into the studio and you chat with him when you stop by. Doesn’t matter if he’s not into the self-defense. At least there’s something he’s focusing on. All you can do is keep showing up. Eventually, he’ll realize it’s not just for show and grow to trust you.”
Keep showing up.
Tony didn’t move. Instead, he looked out into the night where his siblings had gone, and stood with a small smile frozen on his face. They’d all come so far. It wasn’t that long ago Sloan had been lazying about, unable to get out of bed. Evan had been fighting in underground cage fights. Griffin had been thieving to keep his internal sin in balance.
Mary had been right. As long as they kept trying, things would get better. He wasn’t psychic like Evan, and couldn’t say what the future held, but he knew they wouldn’t forget Daisy. She was family. Eventually, she’d come to trust them.
Epilogue
