∞∞∞
Instead of heading back to the penthouse where the silence, the emptiness, and the absence of Hayley would suffocate me, I drive for over an hour and pull up outside my parents’ huge house in Staten Island, the house I grew up in.
I let myself in and head into the living room where I find my mom, dad and my brother sit around the fire, chatting, the record player in the corner playing soft music that fills the room.
“Kyle,” my mother greets, surprised to see me. She jumps up from her chair and embraces me in a tight hug. “I didn’t know you’d be stopping by.”
“Hello, mom,” I say, squeezing her gently. I glance over her shoulder towards my dad and my brother. I let go of her and walk over to my father, shaking his hand. I turn to my brother and clap him on the back.
“I’m going to make some coffee,” my mother announces as she floats out of the room towards the kitchen.
She returns a few minutes later with four mugs of steaming hot coffee. She sets them down on the coffee table.
“We haven’t seen you in a while, Kyle. Where have you been?” my mom asks.
“He hasn’t told you guys? Kyle here has met a girl,” Luke chimes in.
Fuck.
Here we go.
My mother gasps, her hands flying to her face to hide the huge smile that spreads from ear to ear.
“You met someone? Why didn’t you tell us? What’s she like?” she asks. She grabs my arm and drags me over to the sofa and pulls me down with her. She angles her body towards me. “Come on, I want to know all about her.”
“Her name's Hayley,” I start. “We, uh, met at the casino.”
Isn’t that the truth.
“And?” my mother prompts.
“And...” My mind is flooded with her image. Her smile, the smile that almost brings me to my knees every time I see it, those green eyes that have me falling at her feet. “And, she’s... amazing. She’s kind and caring, beautiful, funny, and smart...”
“Holy shit,” my brother chokes.
“Language Lucas,” my mother warns disapprovingly.
“Sorry, mom. Holy cow, my big bro's in love,” Luke corrects himself.
“Are you?” my mother asks. “Does she make you happy?”
“Yeah, I think I am. And yes, she does.”
“Never thought we’d see the day, Ellen,” my dad says, wearing a proud grin.
“We’d love to meet her.”
“I could bring her over sometime.”
“That would be wonderful. Bring her around for dinner one night, I’ll cook.”
“Alright.”
I’m standing in my childhood bedroom.
The door squeaks open slightly, and my dad pokes his head around the door. “Mind if I come in?”
“Sure.”
He walks in and perches on the end of the bed, looking around the room fondly.
He sighs softly. “Only seems like yesterday when you were in here, playing with your toy cars and your Lego sets. Now my boy’s twenty-six years old and in love. Where the hell did the time go?”
“You’re not going to go all mushy on me are you, dad?” I ask, laughing.
He chuckles. “No. Just miss it when you were little, you and Luke running around without a care in the world.”
I sit on the edge of the bed next to him, leaning forward to rest my elbows on my knees. “I did some stuff, dad. Shitty stuff,” I begin.
“Okay?”
“I saw her at the casino one night and she stole my breath away, I had to have her, but like the asshole I am, I didn’t just ask her out on a date like a normal guy, no, I tricked her father into a card game that he had no chance of winning just to get closer to her.” I confess. “I made him a deal, Hayley in exchange for money.” I hang my head low in shame.
“Jesus Christ, Kyle,” he rubs his jaw in contemplation. “Why the hell would you do that?”
“Because I’m an asshole. Because I wasn’t thinking. I was so consumed by her I had to have her, any way I could.”
“Where does she stand with all this?”
“She knows what I did and for some reason she decided to forgive me. I’d do anything for her, dad.”
“Does she know, about everything?” he asks.
“Yeah, she knows about him.”
He nods. “You trusted her, you never trust anyone.”
“I trust her, and she’s not just anyone... I love her, dad."
Jesus. It’s real.
I’ve said it out loud for the first time and it feels amazing.
Why the hell was I so afraid to say it out loud?
He scrubs his hand over his jaw and smiles. “Have you told her?”
I shake my head. “I almost did, but I chickened out like a coward and got the hell out of there.”
“Love is a risk. It’s amazing but it can be heart breaking at times, and yet it’s the most wonderful thing in the world. It’s the scariest thing you could ever do, letting someone into your heart and trusting them with it, trusting them not to break it. Being able to love someone takes bravery, and strength. Love makes you do things you never thought you could do. It changes you and brings out the best, and sometimes the worst in you, love is the biggest risk you can take. For me, life without love isn’t worth living. The question is, is she worth the risk?”
I take a moment to process what my father has said.
“Yes. She is.”
He claps me on the back.
I smile. “When the fuck did you become so philosophical?”
His head falls back in laughter. “What are you talking about? I’ve always been this wise,” he jokes.
I join in with his laughter.
“I’m proud of you, son.” He wraps his arm around my shoulder, bringing me into a hug.
“Thanks, dad.”
Chapter 24
Hayley
The sound of my phone buzzing next to my head jolts me awake. I roll over groggily and pick it up, it’s two am, there’s a text.
Hey, sorry about leaving so suddenly earlier, it wasn’t because of you. I was wondering if you wanted to come for dinner and meet my family
