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The call is good. Things with her brother will be good. At least, eventually.
Relief fills my chest.
“Yes, it’s a girl,” she says into the phone. “Ellie. She turned four months old last week.”
She listens for a bit, a little bigger smile creasing the skin at the corners of her eyes. “If you knew about her, I guess you’ve heard about the father then too.”
She smiles fully now, and it’s only after she says, “Harrison Hughes,” that I know why. She’s happy to be reconnecting, sure, but she’s even happier to have something to stick it to Luca right in the gonads—his archnemesis from childhood, now the father of his only niece.
“That asshole is the only reason I’m even calling you right now, Luca, so you can cool your jets.”
I hear Luca then, but only because his voice has risen to a roar. “What the fuck, Rocky?”
“I can see your anger is still a problem, so we’ll talk later, when you’ve had time to calm the hell down!”
Without missing a beat, Rocky pulls the phone away from her ear and hangs up immediately. My eyes widen, but I can’t help but laugh. My God, I feel like I’m nine years old all over again. Granted, there’s a little bit saltier language being used now than there used to be, but the gang is most definitely back together.
The formerly knobby-kneed girl looks back at me with perfectly violet eyes, and my whole heart jumps to tell her I love her.
We are in control of our own destiny.
Whether it’s a plan we’ve had forever or a plan we never saw coming—it doesn’t matter.
All I know is I sure as hell picked a good one.
Two months later…
Raquel
“I’m sorry, Rocky,” Luca says, and his voice shines with honesty. My brother’s blue eyes are genuine and earnest as he apologizes for what has to be the tenth time since I arrived at his and his fiancée Billie’s home in the Hollywood Hills.
Ever since I finally called him back a few months ago—and he calmed down about an hour later—we’ve been in constant contact. When Harrison and I finalized our plans to make a trip out to LA to settle a few things with our old apartments, we knew getting together with my brother needed to be a part of it. Given the fact that he can’t take a shit without someone wanting to know about it and my step back from Hollywood has made me scantly accessible to the paparazzi, dinner at my brother’s house seemed like the best option.
It’s the first time we’ve seen each other in what feels like an eternity, and I can’t deny, it feels good.
“I was a selfish dick,” he continues. “I know that. But I was also a big fat fucking mess.”
It’s just the two of us outside on the patio now, beside a gorgeous infinity pool that showcases one hell of a view of LA. It seemed like Luca couldn’t wait to get me alone as soon as Harrison and I arrived with Ellie in tow.
I’m not entirely sure if it was because he wanted the bad blood between us settled or he wanted to be away from his biggest childhood enemy, but I can’t be picky about the reason either way. Because whether their youthful rivalry still lives on or not, at least no punches were thrown in the entryway. And we’re mending fences.
Harrison took Ellie into one of their guest bedrooms to change her diaper, and Billie is working on finishing up dinner. Luca’s loveable dog Bailey greeted us at the door but quickly excused himself to cling to Billie’s every move. Apparently, the dog favors her unabashedly.
And Luca is apologizing relentlessly to me. He wants me to forgive him, that much is apparent, and truthfully, I already have.
Life is too short to hold grudges against people who are clearly good on the inside.
But that doesn’t mean I can’t have a little fun with him for a little while longer. I mean, he was MIA for eight years; surely I can screw with him for another ten minutes.
“You were definitely a dick,” I agree with a little smile. “Probably the biggest dick ever, to just leave your sister behind.”
His responding sigh is forlorn and even kind of pathetic. And I probably shouldn’t be enjoying it this much. But man, it feels good to be having a conversation with my sibling at all. “Do you think you’re ever going to be able to forgive me?” he eventually asks, and I shrug.
“I guess that depends.”
“On what exactly?”
“If you can promise me you won’t turn into fucking Houdini again and disappear for another eight years.”
He smiles at that. “That’s a promise I can definitely keep.”
“And even though I’m in New York and you guys are in LA, you need to call me. And visit. Especially once my niece or nephew is born. I want to see you at least once a month.”
