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When six o’clock finally rolled around, I grabbed a bottle of wine and the DVD and headed over to his apartment.
Damien opened the door, and a waft of marinara sauce greeted me, along with the scent of his cologne. I concluded that those two smells were basically like home to me. This was home—not the empty apartment next door but right here with him and these dogs.
Dudley and Drewfus immediately ran to me. Poor Drewfus still had a limp.
“You guys are so clean and soft! Your daddy takes really good care of you.”
“I’m not saying anything to them about you know what,” Damien said. “I swear they can understand English. They’d probably freak out.”
It made me sad that the dogs would soon realize I wasn’t right next door anymore. Out of everything, thinking about their reaction made me feel the most guilty.
“I think that’s better, even though they’ll figure it out soon enough.”
“I’ll deal with it when I have to.”
Handing him the DVD, I smirked. “I brought a movie.”
He examined the case. “The Omen. I should have known you’d get me back at some point.”
“It’s only fair. You made me watch my autobiography, so tonight we get to watch yours.”
He rolled his eyes. “Can’t wait.” Walking over to the counter, he said, “Pizza’s ready. You want mushroom and olive or pepperoni?”
“I’ll take both, one of each.”
He flashed me a mischievous smile. “One of each, huh? Going back to your ménage roots?”
“I’ll never live that down, will I? Why does being here tonight seem like déjà vu? You making pizza…and teasing me about wanting to be double teamed?”
He rolled the pizza cutter over the pie. “So, pervy girl, why did you tell your parents you’re moving?”
“I haven’t said anything about you if that’s what you’re wondering. I just told them I found a better apartment.”
“But it’s not a better apartment.”
My eyes widened. “You’ve seen it?”
“Yeah. I went to check it out, make sure it was safe over there.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“How are you gonna explain to them why you’re moving to a crappier place?”
“They’re not going to question it. I’ll just tell them I have my reasons.”
“Right before your dad looks me in the eye, sees through this, and kicks my ass,” he said before placing my two slices of pizza in front of me.
“It’ll be fine. My parents are really nice. You’ll like them.” I took a bite then asked, “Do you have people coming to look at my apartment?”
“Not yet. I’m gonna throw a fresh coat of paint on the walls after you leave and air out all the Chelsea cooties before I list it.” He winked.
“Very funny. Well, whoever it is, they’ll be lucky to be living here. You really do make this a nice, clean and safe environment.”
“Right. Great place…just don’t get emotionally involved with the landlord and everything is cool, right?” When I remained silent, he said, “I’m sorry. Enough about the move.”
I changed the subject. “How is your mother?”
“She’s good, actually. I’m picking her up next weekend to spend the day here. The dogs will be with Jenna, so that will work out. Ty and I will take her out for lunch.”
“Oh, good. I’m glad to hear that.” I’d always wondered what Damien’s mother was like. “Do you have a picture of her?”
“My mom?”
“Yes. I would love to know what she looks like.”
“Yeah. I do. Hang on.”
Damien pulled out his phone and began flipping through the camera roll. He smiled then turned it toward me. “This was last summer.”
Damien’s mother was standing between her two sons in front of a massive water fountain. She had shoulder-length, chestnut brown hair, and aside from some wrinkles around her eyes, looked quite young. I could see a lot of Damien in her.
“You look just like her.”
“Yeah. People say that.”
“How old is she?”
“Well, she was twenty when she had me, so she’s forty-seven.”
“She’s beautiful. What’s her name?”
“Monica.”
“Pretty.”
“She’d like you.”
“How do you know?”
“You have a pulse.”
“What?”
“Just kidding. I said that because I don’t bring girls home.”
“Ah.”
“Well, seriously, she’d like you because she can read people really well, and she’d think you were sweet.”
“Did she ever meet Jenna?”
“Yes. She did meet her a few times, wasn’t crazy about her, thought she was too loud.”
I laughed. “Too loud?”
“Yes. My mother is kind of a quiet person, very introspective. She’s more of a listener than a talker.”
“Well, she’s lucky to have two good sons looking after her.”
Damien and I talked for a while and finished off both pizzas. I sipped my wine and tried to enjoy these moments with him, unsure if anything would be the same between us after tomorrow.
After dinner, the Double Ds joined us on the couch. There was one dog on each side of me, serving as a welcome buffer between Damien and me. We started watching The Omen, which was seriously one of the freakiest films I had ever seen. I’d always remembered hearing about the character of Damien but never actually sat through the movie.
