Coming Home (Morelli Family 6)

“That’s because he’s not an idiot,” he remarks dryly.

“Adrian tries to be my friend sometimes, but Elise won’t let him.”

Now he grins. “That’s because she’s not an idiot.”

“Well, you’re not afraid of Mateo; you can stay at the mansion while you’re in town and I can get my Vince fix.”

Shaking his head, he smiles faintly and looks down at his drink. “As much as I’d love to be your temporary plaything, I’m pretty sure I’m not welcome at the mansion anymore.”

“Not plaything, playmate. I think it would be okay,” I say, though recalling Mateo and Meg being a little bitchy to each other this morning, I wonder what kind of mood he’ll be in. Of course, Mateo’s spending the night in my bed tonight, so I can make sure to go the extra mile and put him in a good mood. Since Vince is coming to dinner and we’re getting along so well, Mateo will probably be in the mood to remind me who I belong to. Anticipation and arousal swirl within me briefly at the thought.

Mm, I miss him.

Drawing my cell phone out of my purse, I open up my messages and send him an emoji heart. Nothing more, just a little heart.

“What are you doing?” Vince asks.

“I think I’m drunk already.”

He snatches my phone, frowning at the display. I already closed the app, but he opens it back up to see what I sent and now I’m frowning, suddenly remembering what it was like with him. I’m lulled by the casual, lighthearted fun here at the bar, but the reality of us sucked. It wasn’t like this at all, it was bitter, strained, and shot full of holes by the man I just drunk-texted a silly heart to.

Vince puts my phone face-down on the counter, glancing at his glass again. He takes a sip, and I realize it’s the first one he’s taken in a while. I am putting a significantly bigger dent in my drink than he is, and that’s not how this used to work. Of course, he did drive, and he probably isn’t used to drinking as much now that he doesn’t have family dinners at the mansion.

“How does that all work?” He doesn’t sound angry, but the lightheartedness we had just a moment ago is no longer present in his tone.

“My relationship?” He nods. I’m not sure I want to tell him about this, because I’m trained not to mention Mateo unless I want to piss him off, but I remind myself it isn’t like that now. “It’s usually easier than you might think. In some ways it’s harder. It’s really just like any relationship—there are easy patches and hard patches. And because our relationship extends to three people and not just two, it shifts. Sometimes things have been really hard between me and Mateo, but they were okay with him and Meg, and okay with me and Meg. Other times, like right now, things are great with me and Mateo, but then that makes things a little harder on me and Meg. I mean, it wouldn’t, if we did everything right all the time, but no one does everything right all the time. Sometimes I hog him. He always lets me. And it’s not really fair to Meg. That’s why I brought her some cupcakes today.”

“Do you think cupcakes would suffice? She seems pretty mad at you.”

I shrug, grabbing my drink and bringing it to my lips. This martini is strong. I blink a few times, trying to focus. “Um, no, probably not, but it’s worth a shot, right? It’s always weird for me when they get back from a couples weekend, too. I miss him, even though it’s only a couple days, and I don’t love thinking about them together in some tropical paradise. He tends toward the tropical paradises. And I still hear from him, so I assume she still hears from him when he’s with me, but I don’t know, he usually keeps that stuff kind of separate for me. He knows I have a jealous nature.”

Nodding, eyebrows rising, he says, “Yeah, I’m honestly surprised you can make that work. You were way more possessive with me.”

“I know. Even at the end it made me angry to think of you with anyone else. I don’t know why it works with him, but it does.”

“Does it still make you angry to think of me with someone else?” He only sounds vaguely curious, so I’m not alarmed.

“No, not really. I mean, it’s a little weird, I guess. But I really want you to be happy, and I don’t think you’d be happy alone all your life. You crave love too much for that. I want you to have that. I’m sure I’d dislike your girlfriend if I ever met her, because old habits die hard and that’s just who I am, but I still want you to have it. I’m happy in my relationship. It would be super shitty if I only wanted us to be happy and not you.”