Chapter Thirty

“You gonna stick by me?”

“Maybe…”

**

I almost couldn’t watch Dom and Amber putting on their show, even though I knew how fake it all was.

“Shit,” I sighed, leaning against Leon, “tell me again why we thought this was a good idea?”

“Did we ever think it was a good idea?” he laughed. “More like it was our only idea…”

“Hey,” I protested. “I had another idea. It’s not my fault you guys wouldn’t let me go kill that bitch, Julie…”

“Letty, you know violence ain’t the answer…”

“Shit…I could take Julie. And Johnny. And Lance. Those two are fuckin’ pussies, man.”

“Uhm…hostile much?” Leon asked, running his hand over my arm, trying to keep me calm.

“Come on… Take Lance… Have you seen the pants he wears? Those snakeskin ones, I swear, they’re from the juniors department at Macy’s. Swear to God, they are. I saw a pair just like them when your mom drug me shopping for my birthday.”

“Damn, girl,” Leon sighed. “You do know that Johnny and Lance are both here, right? Or are you just trying to die young and drag the rest of us along with you? I swear, between you and Dom, I’ll be lucky to live to see my twenty-fifth birthday…”

“So,” I said, nodding towards Dom and Amber and changing the subject, “what d’you think they’re talking about over there?”

“Eh,” he said after a minute. “They’re probably talking about how cute the two of us look tonight.”

“Leon!” I laughed, smacking his arm. “Be serious!”

“What…you worried about Dom or something?”

I was quiet for a minute before answering. “Nah…not really. I know Dom, know how he feels about me. But…he is a guy…”

“You sayin’ guys aren’t trustworthy or something?”

“Oh, come on, Leon! Guys suck!”

“Gee, thanks…”

“I’m not worried about Dom,” I went on, like I hadn’t even heard Leon. “I trust him… It’s other people I don’t trust. I see how other girls look at him, you know?”

“He doesn’t even see those other girls, Letty,” Leon said quietly, trying to reassure me. “It’s like they don’t even exist, as far as he’s concerned. You know, when someone walks into the garage, he always looks to see if maybe it’s you, even if it’s the middle of the day and he knows you’re at school. Even when he’s talking to other people at the races, they never have all of his attention. He’s always looking around for you, checking to make sure you’re okay. Don’t you see that?”

“Yeah, I do…” I said slowly. “But that still doesn’t keep other chicks from trying to get in his pants…”

“Oh, come on, Letty!” Leon protested. “Like you even need to worry about them. Even if Dom weren’t completely in love with you, you’re so much hotter than the sluts who hang around the races!”

“Yeah?” I questioned, smiling a little to myself.

“Totally!”

“Well…I guess you’re pretty hot yourself, man,” I replied, laughing.

“You guess? Come on, girl…”

“Okay, okay, fine,” I laughed. “You’re hot.”

“I am, aren’t I,” Leon smiled. “You know, they’re lucky we’re related. Although, you know what they say…”

“What’s that?” I asked absentmindedly as I watched Dom and Amber, trying to ignore the way his hands played over her waist.

“Incest is best, right?”

“Leon…you’re such a dork, you know that? I don’t know how the hell Amber puts up with you…”

Just then, Amber leaned into Dom, his hands wrapping around her as they kissed.

“She looks…kind of into him…” Leon muttered to himself as we watched them. “You don’t think…you haven’t seen Amber looking at Dom the way those other chicks do, have you?”

“Uhm…no,” I said, looking at Leon. “Are you crazy or something? Amber looks at Dom the exact same way that Mia looks at him. Like they’re brother and sister, you know. This must be damn weird for her. For both of them.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Leon replied, still sounding unsure.

Just then, Hector walked up to Dom. And as lame as it sounds, as much as it makes it seem like I didn’t trust either Dom or Amber at all, I couldn’t help but be relieved when they stepped away from each other. Leon must’ve felt the same way, ‘cause I could feel him relax next to me.

“Well,” I said, stepping towards Leon’s car so we could head to the starting place, “I guess we should go watch…so I can play the jealous ex-girlfriend and all…”

“Yeah,” Leon laughed. “I just wish this night would hurry the fuck up and end already…”