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Foreign, and welcome.
I cleared my throat. “So, did they have a big hand in raising you?” I tried to pull the topic away from me again so I could stop squirming.
“I guess they did,” Lorenzo said, nodding. “Not so much after they left to come to the States, but before that. We have a very big, very close family, and everyone is in everyone’s business.”
“That sounds frustrating,” I said. “I hate it when family gossips.”
“It’s not like that, though,” Lorenzo said. “We’re in each other’s business because we care. It’s nice to have a whole support network. We always have someone to turn to, you know?”
“Actually, I don’t know,” I said and turned my half-empty bottle around and around in my hands. “You’ve seen how my parents can be. It’s a dog-eat-dog world in our circles, and that sort of translated into our family, too.”
Lorenzo frowned. “I wasn’t with your family long enough to know that. Your parents always seemed very supportive.”
I snorted. “Yeah, supportive as long as we’re doing what they want us to do. Noah married Ava to get my dad to buckle, it wasn’t love at first. Now, he’s moved away from Seattle to get away from the whole tradition and ridiculous expectations.”
“Woah, back up,” Lorenzo said. “Noah did what?”
I laughed, thinking back to the way Noah had married Ava on a whim, promising her a shit ton of cash if she posed as his wife so that my dad would give him a position in the law firm. My dad had made a stupid ultimatum, and my brother being my brother, had found a loophole.
Lorenzo listened intently before he burst out laughing.
“I can’t believe he did that. They look so happy and in love.”
I shrugged. “They were lucky. The stars somehow aligned for them. I think my brother and Ava are perfect together.”
Lorenzo shook his head, turning his thoughts inward.
“It’s because of my family being as tight as they are that I decided to go back into the business,” he finally said. His face was pensive, and I struggled to read his emotions. “I always wanted to break out on my own, but I realized how much I would lose, and the sacrifice wasn’t worth it.”
“So, you chose to give up something you wanted for the sake of keeping your family?”
“Something like that,” Lorenzo said, nodding. “It’s part of growing up—realizing what’s important and what isn’t.”
“Hmm,” I said.
I couldn’t say the same. If that was what growing up meant—sacrificing some things to keep others—I hadn’t grown up yet.
A pang shot through my chest. For just a second, I wished I had what Lorenzo had. I wished I had a family that was supportive and kind, a family worth fighting for the way he had. I shoved the thoughts away. That wasn’t what my life looked like. It was better not to want something like that when it would never happen that way.
Although, if I was with Lorenzo, and his family became my family… I shovedthatthought away even faster. What the hell was I thinking? I didn’t do long-term. I didn’t consider getting married.
That would just give my dad what he wanted and fucked if I was ever going to do that.
Although, having Lorenzo seemed worth not sticking it to my dad for a change…
My stomach rumbled so loudly, Lorenzo looked at me.
I blushed. “Do we have any trail mix left?”
“Unfortunately, we don’t,” Lorenzo said. “If we’re not found soon, we’re going to have to hunt.”
“What!” I cried out.
Lorenzo smirked. “You know, kill for food.”
“I know what huntingmeans.You can’t do that.”
“If it’s about survival, we do what we have to.”
