“I wasn’t scowling.” She gives me a bored look. “Okay, just a little. But it was toward your outfit, not you.”
She scoffs. “Never pegged you for a caveman, Tony. Can’t control your big boy emotions?”
My reply is cut off by Nikki’s cell phone vibrating on the table. My sister’s blinding smile stares back at me. I swipe to accept the video call and bring the phone to my face.
“Oh, no. He’s offed her, Evan. And he stole her phone!” Amelia shrieks.
I can hear Evan chuckling in the background as I reach below the table and drag Nikki’s chair closer to mine. “Here’s your proof of life, sis. All’s good over here. How are you feeling?”
“Nikki!” she screeches so loudly I have to click on the side of the phone multiple times to lower the volume. “How are you? Are you guys getting along? Is Tony being an ass? I just got off my pain meds today, so the brain fog has faded. I’m all here. Firing on all cylinders. Ready to go. Locked and loaded.” She snaps her fingers repeatedly while her left eye twitches.
Evan comes into view. “Sorry, guys. She’s already had a couple of espressos and is climbing the walls being stuck at home. She still needs to take it easy, and it’s snowing over here, so she can’t do much but drink caffeinated drinks and call every single family member.” He smiles down at my sister. Damn, how did I ever miss the way he looks at her? Do I look at Nikki like that? My eyes land on her profile, and she continues to giggle at Amelia’s antics.
“Amelia! I’m so glad you’re feeling better! We’re doing great over here. Tony even agreed to try to be less of an ass. Can you believe it?”
I drape my arm over her chair and pinch her arm out of the camera view. She squirms in her seat but keeps her attention on the phone screen. Amelia starts talking again, but Evan’s looking right at me, and something tells me he noticed me teasing Nikki. The look on his face is calculating, and the last thing I need is to have Evan and Amelia meddling in our business before we even get down to business. So I quickly say our goodbyes and end the call, ignoring Amelia’s disgruntled face.
“Hey! I wasn’t done talking to her. I still haven’t thanked her for all the cute outfits she ordered for me,” Nikki pouts, making me want to kiss it off her until she’s smiling again.
I allow my eyes to wander all over her body, like I’ve done dozens of times today. “Yeah, we’ll have to send her a thank you note or something.”
Nikki slaps my bicep. “Will you quit it? Who knew being your friend would come with all this flirtatious territory? I’m gonna need you to tone it down and put a lid on it.”
Friend.
As if we could ever be just friends.
But I’ll leave it for now and ask a question I’ve always wondered.
“Have you ever met your dad?”
Nikki almost spits out the sip of water she just took. “Well, that’s a sharp left turn if I’ve ever seen one.” She tries to joke, but the smile is wiped from her face once she realizes I’m actually curious. “Are we just going to get all the sob stories out of the way today? Is that the game plan? Or are we doing ayahuasca later to cleanse all of our demons?”
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I know it was a lot to talk about your mom earlier, so if this—”
She waves me off. “It’s not a big deal. I don’t have daddy issues.” She scoffs. “Now, mommy issues? That will keep us in these chairs for the remainder of this trip.” She shakes her head. “But to answer your question, yes and no.”
“How is it yes and no? Have you met him or not?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Then uncomplicate it.” I huff.
“Okay, you brute. Simmer down.”
“Sorry. Go on.” I don’t even try to hide my smile. I love when she calls me out on my shit.
She rolls her eyes. “Long story short, my parents were never married. They met in Miami and had this whirlwind romance. After six weeks, my dad gave my mom a spiel about having to leave Miami due to his new job, and that it’d be best if their romance ended. Enter plot twist.” She points to herself. “Mom was already pregnant with me. But that wasn’t enough to keep Dad around, so he left.” She shrugs.
“Wow. What a piece of shit. I’m sorry, Nikki.”
“Well, I should mention that he did pay my mom child support every month, and a little extra in case I was ever interested in sports or extracurricular activities. It’s still shitty, but many people have it way worse. My mom and I were never strapped for cash, and he’s always remained a present being in my life. Just never in person.”
“So…” I start, not knowing what to ask next, but Nikki saves me the bother.
“I’ve had phone calls with him all my life. He’s always sent me cards and gifts for my birthdays and Christmases. But once I became a preteen, I cut off all communication after pleading for years for him to come and visit me. He always fed me some bs about not being able to because of his job, so I just assumed he had a whole other family, and I was his dirty little secret.” She offers a pained smile. “After college, and lots of therapy, I decided to reach out to him again. I figured if I could accept my mom for who she is, why not my dad? I know it’s still a shit situation, but it’s a better alternative than me having to walk around with all that anger in my soul.”
“You’re a much better person than me, Nikki. That’s for sure.” I pull her in for a side hug.
