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“Everyone I love is here,” Colin agreed.
“Ah.” Leo nodded. “My family moved here for the oncology center in Merrick, so that makes sense that the research center is close.”
Piper jerked her head toward Leo. “Why? Who—?”
“My abuelita,” Leo explained. He was a bit surprised by her reaction. It was almost like she had thought for a second it could be him who was sick.
“What’s her diagnosis?” Colin asked.
“Adenoid cystic carcinoma,” Leo recited. Medical jargon was not his forte, but Wes had helped him a bit with learning what some of it meant when Abuelita had started chemo again. There was a moment after she was diagnosed when the same focus Leo had for film had gone directly into researching cancer, as if he could magically change any outcome with a Google search. His brothers had had to forcibly pull him out of that rabbit hole at the time because WebMD had him convinced that the world was burning and everything was a deep, dark pit of despair.
Colin tipped his head to the side. “That’s rare. I assume it metastasized?”
It took Leo a second to remember what that meant, but then he nodded. “She had surgery for it a while back, and then it came back with a vengeance. She’s doing pretty well right now, though.”
“Good,” Colin murmured and got a far-off look in his eyes, like he was searching for information in his brain. Behind his thick glasses, Colin’s eyes were the same color as Piper’s, and Leo wondered which one of their parents had given them such a daunting shade of blue. While Piper’s eyes were bright and happy, with a hidden layer of sadness, Colin’s held wisdom and also some discomfort under the surface. His posture was perfect, but it looked forced, and he kept fiddling with his hands like he was unsure what to do with them. “My work will be centered around acute myeloid leukemia in children, but, if I recall correctly, adenoid cystic carcinoma has a fairly long life expectancy with chemotherapy, even at stage four.”
“That’s what I’ve been told,” Leo said. “She’s at stage four, but it’s been seven years since she was diagnosed, and she’s still kicking cancer’s ass.” Something squeezed his bicep, and he looked down to find Piper’s hand there. He had no idea how long she had been massaging her thumb into his arm in slow strokes, or if she even knew she was doing it, but it was strangely comforting, so he leaned into her touch. Colin said nothing, just started to tap the pen he was holding against his thigh in a nervous tic. His eyes kept flicking to Piper as if he were looking for permission to be done with the conversation. “Anyway, we have to get going,” Leo said, giving Colin an out.
“Right.” Colin saluted him with the pen, then stalked out of the room, looking relieved.
Leo turned to Piper as soon as Colin was out of earshot and glanced down at her hand, still holding his arm. “So, I’m a household name? How often do you talk about me, princesita?”
Piper ripped her hand back. “This is what I get for trying to be nice to you.” Each word was laced with poison, and she trudged out of her room without a second glance. Her reaction made Leo inwardly smile as he followed her down the stairs. It was a bit of a sport to him now to get her riled up. The last time she had been so confident, he was kneeling between her legs and craving every order that passed through her lips.
Piper pushed past her aunt and uncle to get to the front door when she reached the bottom of the staircase. Walker stumbled back out of her way, muttering “Jesus” under his breath as Leo passed beside an extremely amused Talia. Leo caught the door just in time with his shoe before Piper was able to slam it in his face. With a dramatic bow in Walker and Talia’s direction, Leo stepped through the doorway and closed the door behind him, his eyes locking on the angry blonde leaning against the passenger side of his parents’ car. Dinner was either going to be a blast or an absolute disaster.
Thirty-Two
PIPER
As much as she could, Piper stayed vehemently silent on the way to Leo’s house. The cold shoulder treatment was working out well for her. Leo was a worthy adversary, shooting her antagonistic looks the entire drive to see if she would crack. Truthfully, she was worried that if they spoke, she would end up straddling him on a back road instead of making it to dinner. The stalled moment they had shared in her room was not doing much to make her think that this night was going to end the way it should.
When they pulled up to the curb in front of the house, Piper couldn’t help but smile at the cozy one-story tucked into the cul-de-sac. There was an old red truck with chipping paint parked in the driveway, its hood popped as a man leaned over the engine. He was yanking on something with a tool, his muscles taut with tension. Leo parked and unbuckled, practically throwing himself out of the car.
“Yo te ayudo,” Leo said before slamming his door and jogging over to his dad. Piper watched him for a moment before she opened the passenger door just in time to hear the back half of Mateo’s response.
“¡—que falta de respeto!” He sounded mildly angry, which was odd considering every time Piper had ever been inside Lydia’s, Mateo had been the epitome of kindness—nothing like his son. She was even more surprised when Mateo turned to call out to her over Leo’s shoulder. “I apologize for my son’s rudeness. He should have opened your door.”
“Oh.” Piper blinked. “Uh, no problem. I can open my own door.”
“You are our guest, and we treat our guests better than that.” Mateo smiled kindly and then tossed a scolding look at Leo.
“You looked like you were struggling,” Leo huffed, his shoulders shrinking a bit.
“Mira, you think you could do better?” Mateo’s tone turned teasing as Piper met them by the rusted truck.
“I know I could.” Leo set his shoulders back. “You’ve got a lot of gray hair now, viejo.”
“Who are you calling old man? I’ll be stronger than you on my deathbed. But since you want to show off, toma.” Mateo tossed a wrench at Leo, who caught it easily and grinned as he bent over the hood. Piper had exactly zero mechanic skills and had no idea what Leo was doing, but he seemed to be unscrewing something. As Leo frustratedly yanked on the wrench, Mateo leaned conspiratorially toward her and murmured, “He thinks he’s so strong, but he forgets that I’m the one who taught him how to get all that strength.”
Piper giggled as Leo grunted and finally pulled the bolt loose. He rose to his full height with a cocky grin. “What was that?”
Mateo scoffed and shook his head as Leo passed the wrench back. “Go inside and help your mother. And introduce your girl this time. You are lucky I already know who she is.”
“I’m not his girl.” The words shot out of Piper’s mouth like a cannonball at the same time Leo groaned, “¡No es mi novia!”
Mateo whistled and lifted both hands, wrench included. “My mistake. Go inside and introduce your not-girlfriend to everyone, then.”
