His smile spreads across his face. Eyes full of vivid emotion.
I feel it in my chest.
“Oscar Felipe Oliveira,” my mom calls from the kitchen. “Why are your cupboards full of junk food?” She curses in Portuguese. “How do you expect your sister to eat?”
I focus more on Jack.
He’s radiating, his smile unable to wane. He clasps my hand, and he’s the one leading us as we descend the stairs to the bottom floor.
How do I expect Jo to eat? I answer my mom, “With the mountain of arroz e feijão you brought over, that’s how.” She has containers upon containers of homecooked food stacked on the counter.
A perk to inviting Joana to live with me.
“And thank God I did,” my mom says, finding space in the fridge. Her curly hair is styled in frizz-less ringlets. She carries herself like a famous soap star, and when she spins on me, she sighs at the welt on my cheek and goes on about how Quinn and I should be banded together as brothers.
Get that.
Want that.
Do not have that with the baby bro right now.
They see our brotherly relationship as a work-in-progress with highs and lows.
I kiss my mom’s cheeks and introduce Jack. “This is my boyfriend.”
She hugs Jack before he can even say, hi. “I remember seeing you at some family events.” She gives him a tighter squeeze, and she means the Hale, Meadows, and Cobalt families. She backs up. “You’re usually carrying a camera around.” Her hand touches her heart. “You have such a beautiful smile.”
Jack is smiling that hundred-watt smile. For sure, I’m taking partial credit for summoning it. “You’re the gorgeous one, Mrs. Oliveira,” he says warmly. “Casting directors would hire you for beauty shots on the spot, and I’d probably be put on a waitlist.”
Yeah, right. I almost laugh.
My mom looks beyond flattered by Highland, as I knew she’d be. “Call me Sônia. Oscar’s father is Rodrigo.”
Right now, my dad is more preoccupied with Jo and boxing. He holds up his palms and calls out combinations. She punches lighter than she would if he wore pads.
“Come on, faster,” he coaches.
She smiles, then fakes left but misses the uppercut he requests.
“Jo,” he frowns. “Listen.” He taps her temple.
“I did,” she snaps.
Our mom sends Jo a disapproving look for backtalking.
I cut into that fast. “Dad, this is Jack, my boyfriend. He has to head out soon, but I wanted you to meet him before he leaves.”
Jack steps forward and shakes his hand. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”
My dad scowls so well, he could scare the hair off a fucking grizzly bear.
I rake a hand across my unshaven jaw.
Jack tries to hold eye-contact, but Rodrigo is shaking his hand for two beats longer than normal.
I’m thirty-two. My dad shouldn’t be treating meeting a boyfriend like a job interview into the family.
Jack Highland is qualified to be with me because I say so. “Dad,” I interject, “is this a staring contest or are you going to talk to him?”
He gives me an annoyed look, then tells Jack, “I read about you online, of what Oscar didn’t tell me.”
I catch a rough noise in my throat.
“All good things?” Jack asks with a charismatic smile.
“Eh.” He lifts a shoulder, then walks away.
Jack looks baffled, his face slowly dropping.
I wrap an arm around Highland. “It’s not you. He’s just playing around.”
“Rodrigo,” Mom chastises.
“Dad,” Jo snaps.
He spins back then tells Jack, “You have a good handshake.” He eyes Jack’s six-four height. “Collegiate swimmer? I saw an article about your high school championship. You must work hard.”
Jack nods, ejecting a tense breath. “It wasn’t easy.”
My dad nods back, eyes shifting to me. “He’s a good fit.” His lip rises, just slightly, but that might as well be a million-watt smile from Rodrigo.
I excuse myself from my family to say goodbye to Jack. In the hallway alone together, he combs a hand through his hair. “I almost shit myself.”
I laugh, and he keeps breathing out in relief until he laughs with me. Our eyes fasten, and the noise tapers off, replaced with something sweeter.
“I have a question,” Jack breathes in. “How long have you been keeping that secret?”
“That I’m in love with you?”
“Yeah.” He nods.
My pulse speeds. “A while.” I pause. “You don’t have to say it back if it’s…” I taper off, and I grin at his emerging smile. “What’s so hilarious, Long Beach?”
“You really think I don’t love you?” Jack says with a laugh. “Oscar.” He shakes his head, and then his face contorts in seriously bad emotions. Ones that’ve been plaguing him lately. “Your love is one of the only things keeping me afloat right now. I feel like I’m…” He sighs out heavy tension.
“Hey.” I curve an arm around his shoulders. We hug tight and sway to the tempo of our breath and pulse. A minute passes, and I start singing to him. Not a slow sensual song, but something upbeat and fun.