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ChapterSixteen
Jess grinned as Jasper and Billy Moretti giggled over some silly videos they were watching together on Billy’s tablet. The two of them had become fast friends at the birthday party last weekend. Jasper had introduced Billy to Jess as his best buddy in the whole world.
She was delighted to see the way her son had blossomed the past two months. She hadn’t recognized just how big a toll their homelessness had taken, the changes in him—and her—happening gradually. But she knew she’d never seen him so happy, so carefree as he was today, and it meant everything to her.
They’d only been at the party an hour, but Jess had already felt the need to find a quiet place away from the action, unused to so many loud people in one place, all talking at the same time. She’d been introduced to countless relatives, too many to keep straight in her head, though she was trying.
“It’s insane, right?”
Jess looked over and smiled at Layla. She’d taken an instant liking to Tony’s kid sister, who was here with her two—that revelation had taken Jess a second to soak in—partners, Finn and Miguel. Tony had mentioned his sister and her partners once before, but she’d been too overwhelmed by other things to question what that meant. Today, she was seeing it for herself.
“What is?” Jess asked.
“Moretti family get-togethers. Too many Italians all talking and waving their hands, with nobody left to listen. Took Miguel a while to get used to.”
“Just Miguel?”
Layla nodded. “Finn’s family is just as big and just as loud, so he took to the Morettis like a fish to water. Only difference is his family is Irish. Less gesturing, but the same amount of drinking and volume.”
They laughed together as Jess watched Tony talking to his brothers and dad, none of them managing to speak without some accompanying hand motion.
“It’s like a language all unto itself,” Jess remarked.
“Oh yeah. Definitely. So what’s it like living with my brother and Rhys?”
Jess wasn’t sure how to reply, wasn’t sure what Tony had told Layla about her circumstances or their recent change in status from roommates to…whatever the hell they were now.
They hadn’t had sex since the encounter in the examination room, stymied first by Jasper’s illness, Tony having to work late on a project for some horrid woman who was driving him crazy, and a couple of medical emergencies that had Rhys driving to the hospital two different nights.
Jess wasn’t sure if she was annoyed by or grateful for the distractions. She needed time to think about what she was doing, but every time she tried to sort through her thoughts regarding Tony and Rhys, her mind drifted away from the practical and straight to fantasyland. As such, she’d spent the last few days in a perpetual state of arousal, swimming in a sea of lust-filled dreams.
“Tony and Rhys are great. They were awesome to offer me and Jasper a place to stay.”
“And you knew them from Paulie’s?” Layla asked.
“Yeah. I typically wait on their table when they come in with your brothers and the rest of the guys every Wednesday.”
Layla grinned. “That must keep you on your toes. Those guys are a lot. Jasper is adorable, by the way.”
“Thanks.”
“If you don’t mind me asking…are you and his dad divorced?”
Jess shook her head. “God, no. I’ve never been married. I dated Jasper’s dad, Scott, when we were in high school. Toward the end of my senior year…we weren’t as careful as we should have been. Scott bounced about three seconds after I told him I was pregnant.”
Layla shook her head. “What a dick.”
“Yeah. Things haven’t exactly been easy for me and Jasper on our own, but I don’t regret having him. He’s the greatest thing in my life.”
“Maybe having Jasper around will work a bit of magic on my big brother.”
“How so?”
Layla shrugged. “I’m ready for nieces and nephews. Sort of hoping one of my damn brothers will settle down sometime soon and make that happen. Right now, all four of the stubborn asses seem too committed to their bachelorhood.”
“You think Tony wants kids?” Jess asked.
“I don’t know. I assume he does. Of course, he’d have to date someone longer than five minutes first, and he hasn’t done that in…God…years. He says it’s because he’s never met the right woman, but I can’t believe he hasn’t met one nice woman in the past twenty years. Since he’s moved in with Rhys, he’s burrowed in even deeper. I’m starting to worry he’ll never stick his head out of his man cave and look around for that ‘perfect’ someone.”
