Page 35 of Sour Notes

My mom looks over at us with an indulgent smile. Little does she know that word slipped out because that’s what she looked like to me on Halloween before I fucked her like a dirty dog.

Me.

I’m the dirty dog, not Mia. Just FYI.

“Taki, why haven’t you ever called me Angel???” Maria shouts across the table to Mia’s dad who looks perplexed by everything transpiring tonight.

You and me both, daddy-o.

“Maaaarrrriiiaaaa.”

“Don’t you Maria me, Taki.”

Oh, Jesus, there’s a good chance World War III’s about to start across the dinner table. Maria's every inch the fiery Mediterranean. As is her daughter, for that matter.

Mia glances at me mischievously, a smirk playing on her lips.

I’d worry if I wasn’t so relieved to have her back.

“So, like my patrol puppy was saying…”

Her what now?

No.

Hard pass.

Over my dead body will she ever refer to me as a puppy again. What the hell do I look like? I might be gone for this girl, but I’m not some limp-dicked wiener.

“…It ended up being just the two of us, and we just talked the night away.”

“That’s no different from your usual status quo, though. What changed this time?” Ellie quirks a brow, looking between the two of us.

My sister, ladies and gents. Nothing gets past her.

“She looked breathtaking. I couldn’t take my eyes off her from the second she walked into the bar that night. I don’t know what changed, I just know something did. I felt like I might drown if I didn’t kiss her the second we were alone. So I did.”

Well, they say the best lies are rooted in truth, don’t they? At least I can’t forget what I’ve said.

Mia’s shocked eyes lock with mine, her delicious soft plump lips slightly agape, just begging to be kissed.

For the second time tonight, the silence is deafening. Our mothers both dab at their eyes with napkins, sniffing. The sound's starting to feel like nails on a chalkboard, and I’m getting close to snapping.

I need them to stop.

Why the hell has Mia thrown us into this crazy?

“Kiss her, Uncle ZeZe. We wanna seeeeeee!” Izzy bounces up and down on her chair in excitement.

God no.

I can’t kiss her in front of them. The second my lips touch hers, I’ll lose the last shred of rationality I have left.

“Don’t be silly, honey. I think we should eat now, our dinner’s getting cold.” Mia smiles at Izzy, a faint flush coloring her cheeks.

“Noooooo, Mia! Kiss, kiss, kiss!” She taps her fork on the table, amidst chuckles from everyone.

Well, everyone but us.