Chapter Fifty-Four

**

“You gonna stick by me?”

“Maybe…”

**

The next morning, I woke up alone. Not surprising. Dom never did sleep in late, even when he could. I stretched, then rolled out of bed. Stretched again before digging around in Dom’s drawers, grabbing a pair of his sweats and a t-shirt to wear.

As soon as I opened the door, I could hear the noise from downstairs. Sounded like Leon and Vince were already going at each other. Had to laugh at them as I was getting a bagel and some O.J. out of the kitchen.

“So you ready to lose, pumpkin? ‘Cause I can already feel my wallet getting fatter…” Leon taunted. I could almost picture the huge ass grin on his face, even though I couldn‘t see him.

Leon never got tired of ragging on Vince… Seemed like he’d made it his goal in life to get a reaction. Never worked, though, no matter what he tried. V always just smirked and shrugged it off, when any other guy would’ve kicked Leon’s ass.

“So who’s playing?” I asked as I walked into the family room.

“Raiders,” Leon said, trying to lean around me so he could see the tv.

“Figures…” I muttered. Leon’s been obsessed with the Raiders for years. Even when they were up in Oakland, and even now that they’re back up there. You’d think there weren’t any other teams in the NFL, if you just knew football from watching it with him…

“So V, who you rooting for?” I asked, sitting down next to Jamie.

“For anybody but the Raiders!” Mia laughed as she walked up behind me and leaned over the back of the couch.

“Well shit, girl, tell me something I didn’t already know, wouldya?” I said, grinning as I reached over Jamie to ruffle Vince’s hair.

“Packers,” Vince said, grinning back at me.

“Oooh…Brett Favre!” Mia squealed as she walked around and sat down on the floor in front of me. “He’s cute!”

“Yeah, whatever, Mia!” Amber laughed.

“He is!” she insisted.

“Yeah, if you like preppy white boys, I guess…”

“Hey now!” Leon immediately protested, throwing a pillow at Amber. “You love this white boy!”

“She said preppy white boys, Leon… And…” I laughed, looking him up and down. Wifebeater, baggy sweats, big ass tattoo on his shoulder… “somehow I don’t think you qualify!”

Jamie just kinda sat there on the couch and looked at all of us like she wasn’t sure what to think. Or it could’ve been that she was hung over…

“Game started yet?” Dom asked as he walked through the back door.

“Nope,” Vince answered, not even looking up.

“Yo, dawg, where you been?” Leon asked. Like Vince, his eyes were glued to the tv, waiting for the opening kickoff.

“Had some business I had to take care of,” Dom answered, practically throwing himself into the big chair across the room.

I narrowed my eyes and stared at him. Something in his voice was just…off.

“So you know anything about football, Jamie?” Vince asked, draping his arm across the back of the couch so it rested against Jamie’s shoulders. “Or you just as much a virgin to that as you were to racing cars?”

“You’ll just have to wait and see…” she said, laughing a little.

I noticed she didn’t move away from his arm. Amber caught my eyes and I nearly busted out laughing at the grin on her face.

“What are you two laughing at?” Vince asked, looking back and forth between the two of us.

“Oh, nothing…” Amber said in a sing-song voice.

“I think we need more food,” I said, standing up and tugging Mia up after me. Amber jumped up a second later and followed us into the kitchen, leaving Jamie out with the boys.

“Are they just too adorable or what?” Mia asked while she got some bowls out of the cupboard.

“Definitely,” Amber answered.

“You know,” I added, “I don’t know if I can even remember the last time I’ve seen Vince acting like this…all cuddly and almost romantic, even…”

“It’s good for him,” Mia said.

“Did you see them last night?” Amber asked, getting the soda and beer out of the fridge.

“Oh, definitely!” I laughed as I grabbed the chips and dip.

“Wait…what?” Mia asked.

“You didn’t see them?” I asked. “Damn girl, you must’ve really been knocked out when Dom took you to bed! They were all cuddling and shit…you know, when you lay on your side and the guy’s behind you with his arm wrapped over…what‘s that called?”

“Well, I missed that too,” Amber laughed. “But this morning when I woke up, Vince was flat on his back and Jamie was lying practically right on top of him…using his chest like a pillow…”

“You people need to tell me about these things!” Mia said. “And am I really the only one in this house now with nothing romantic going on in their life? How fucking pathetic is that???”

“Oh come on, girl,” I said, walking over to Mia and draping my arm around her shoulder. “It’s not that bad…”

“Yeah…there’s always Brett Favre!” Amber exclaimed, finishing my thought.

“Good luck finding a preppy white boy in this house, though…” I said before we walked back out into the family room.