“You look so handsome, son. Taking care of yourself, I see.” She pinches my cheek and then turns her focus to Sydney beside me. It’s in this moment that I realize that Sydney looks a lot like my mom—dark hair, light eyes, similar build. Huh, weird.
“You must be Sydney. My word, you are beautiful. Javi,” she says, facing me again. “What is this beautiful young woman doing with you?”
Sydney chuckles beside me as I roll my eyes. “I ask myself that question every day, Mom. This is Sydney Matthews. Sydney, this is my mother, Linda.”
“Nice to meet you.” Sydney extends her hand in greeting. They shake hands as my mother casts me a quizzical look.
“Likewise, Sydney. Come in you two. Selena has been slaving away in this kitchen for hours now and Andre is firing up the grill. I’m sure you’ll have to roll me back to the guesthouse later, but it will be worth it.” She winks and then grabs Sydney by the elbow, leading us further into the house.
“You want something to drink, babe?” I call out to Sydney as I watch my mother claw her nails into her.
“Just water will be fine.”
Selena chimes in. “No, no, girl. No water today. You need a beer or a White Claw.”
“Oh! Did you get the watermelon ones?” Sydney beelines straight for my sister as I find myself smiling at them. Last weekend we had dinner with her and Andre and the two of them solidified their friendship. They bonded over White Claws and their love of Friends as we played a rather entertaining game of Cards Against Humanity. They also formed a bond through giving me shit. As much as it irritated me to be ganged up on, knowing my sister accepted Sydney and I together made me feel more at ease about our relationship. Selena even pulled me aside that night before we went to bed and told me how much she loves Sydney for me. Her stamp of approval, even though she’s younger than me, gives me hope that maybe this could all work out after all.
“Yup. Here you go.”
The sound of the can popping means the evening is under way as my mother drags Sydney outside to meet Emilio.
Emilio is taller than my dad was, and since I inherited my height from my mother’s side of the family, he actually looks like he could be my real father. He shoots me an approving look with a raise of his eyebrows when he sees Sydney, making one more admiration of the woman I’m seeing ticked off for the evening.
Once the food is finished and our plates are full, we all settle in around the table and the inquisition starts.
“Alright, Sydney. So how did you meet my Javier?” My mother takes a bite of her pasta salad as everyone’s eyes dart across the table to the woman sitting right beside me. I reach for her hand under the table and give her a comforting squeeze before she finishes chewing and answers.
“Well, Javi and I actually went to school together.”
“Oh? Were you two friends?”
Selena and I both chuckle before I reply. “Not really.”
“Let’s just say we didn’t exactly run in the same circles,” Sydney adds.
“Okay. So how did you get here?”
“We ran into each other at The Jameson.”
“The honky tonk down in Fort Worth? Javi, what on earth were you doing in a place like that?”
Selena pipes in. “That was my doing, Mom. I dragged him out so he didn’t become a hermit.”
“Ah, I see.”
“And Sydney actually ran into me,” I correct her.
“You just can’t seem to let that detail slide, can you?” She chastises.
“Nope. Until you start telling the story correctly, that will forever be my tag line.”
Sydney rolls her eyes and then takes a sip of her drink. “Fine. I ran into him and spilt his drink in his lap. I was … a little drunk.”
Selena snorts. “More than a little if I remember the story correctly.”
“Okay. Okay …” Sydney laughs as her cheeks turn pink. I kiss her temple and then urge her to continue. “A few days after that night at The Jameson, I showed up at Andre’s gym for the self-defense class they offer and ran into Javi again. Seems my annoyance was only a momentary defense until we gave in to the attraction we felt for each other.” Sydney’s eyes find mine, sparkling in the lights cast under the eaves on the patio. The woman definitely wore me down, but I certainly can’t complain now.
“Ah, I love that. My Javi can be a tough nut to crack. So, why did you sign up for the class?” My mother adds, and in that moment I realize I never asked her that question. Selena clears her throat next to me as her eyes bounce over to Sydney, and my girl tenses in her seat. Is there something I’m missing?
“Um. Well, about two months before signing up for the class, I was attacked outside of my office while getting into my car. The man held a gun to my head as he pushed me into my car from behind.”
“What the fuck?” I bark out, rage running through me like lightening.
“Javi,” my mom warns.
I shoot my gaze at Sydney, whose nerves are apparent all over her body. “Why didn’t you tell me that?”
“Because you never asked,” she answers meekly. “I’m fine, obviously. It was a friend of a defendant who was on trial at the time for murder and my father was the judge on the case. He was trying to scare my dad by scaring me. But all it did was give me crippling anxiety and a loss of sleep.”
My teeth grind together as I watch Sydney try to act unphased
