Edge of Glory (Friendship, Texas Book 1) (8 page)

“Yeah, well, they read it when it got delivered to the restaurant for the stand out front. They just so happened to see their daughter holdings hands with a swimmer when she was supposed to be spending the night at her friend's."

"Uh, well, Sofie was there too and we just happened to run into the guys when we went bowling." It wasn't a total lie and I hoped it would work with my parents.

Sonny sighed. "If that's the story you're sticking with, you'd better get pretty good at your poker face before you come home."

I dreaded every turn on the way back to my parents' house. It was the first time I’d actually drove the speed limit since I got my license. I was trying to live my last moments of freedom before I would probably be grounded for life.

Sonny was outside smoking when I pulled in. He looked up from his cigarette as my tires crunched on the gravel.

"You know those things will kill you,” I muttered.

He smirked, tossing the cigarette down and twisting it underneath his shoe as I stepped onto the front porch. "Yeah, but Pops will probably kill you long before these cigarettes take me out."

"That bad?" I kicked at a stray rock.

"See for yourself." He opened the door, stepping aside so I could walk in before him.

My parents' house was a mixture of their Sicilian culture with the traditional western style that every architect in the Dallas suburbs thought houses should have. The house was full of high beamed ceilings, crown molding, and oak floors, but that didn't stop my parents from putting down floor rugs on almost every square inch and oil paintings from the Sicilian countryside covered the walls. I walked through the foyer and past the formal living room, which was full of the gold and floral furniture, that Nonna swore she dragged on the boat straight from Sicily, and headed toward the kitchen.

Even though my parents had the restaurant, the kitchen was still up to restaurant quality with a huge stove and granite countertops, always filled with different spices and vegetables. Ma had her back to me as she stood over the stove. She was stirring something that smelled like basil and garlic. I looked around the corner, expecting my dad either to be sitting at the kitchen table or on the brown leather sofa in the attached living room, but the only person in the living room was Nonna staring blankly at the television.

"Your father is waiting for you in the dining room." Ma didn't even look up from the stove. Crap. She was disappointed and this was her Sicilian guilt coming through.

I nodded. "Thanks, Ma."

I walked through the living room toward the dining room. The double doors leading to the room were shut, never a good sign. I took a deep breath and looked back at Sonny, who gave me the cheesiest thumbs up he could before he plopped down on the couch next to Nonna.

I sucked in a deep breath before I threw open the doors. "I can explain—"

I stopped. I was used to seeing my dad at the head of the table underneath a giant picture of
The Last Supper
, but I wasn't used to seeing Jay and his coach flanked on either side of the table.

"Sit." Dad's thick accent poured through his lips, blowing strands of his graying mustache. I took my seat at the other end of the table. The sweat was gleaming off of his bare forehead  before he wiped his handkerchief along his brow line.

"I see the paper this morning and I think my daughter is lying to me, disrespecting her family." He put his hands out on the table, his deep almond eyes boring into me.

"Then I get a call from this Mr. Morningstar telling me he can explain."

"Yeah and then he hung up on me." Jay let out a single laugh, before my dad shot him a glare that could have melted ice.

"So then I hear a knock at my door and two men are standing there, telling me they want to talk." He straightened in his chair, putting his handkerchief in the front pocket of his shirt. "I let them in, I ask them if they want anything to eat, but they say no, they just come here to talk about my Rosalia."

I glanced over at Jay, his eyes meeting mine before he winked.

"What I was telling your dad is that Jay meant no disrespect by taking you out without his permission," Jay's coach said. "I didn't even know that your father didn't know about this relationship until Jay told me at practice this morning. I figured it’s why he’s messing up his sets. Since I have a daughter of my own, I sympathized with your father and told him that he had to come clean."

"Yes, but like I said, Mister Douglas, he should have asked me first before taking my daughter out. She still lives under my roof," Dad added, putting his hands out on the table.

"Mr. Conti…" Jay turned his attention toward my dad. "I'm sorry for thinking that Rosalia had your permission to go out with me and my friends and I promise it won't happen again.”

Dad nodded, crossing his arms over his large barreled chest. "Good, I'm glad that we have an understanding."

"But I still want to continue seeing her, as long as it's okay with you, sir. I promise to have her home early every night and only take her out when you allow it."

I stared from my dad to Jay as Dad's eyes grew so wide I swore they would just pop out of his head. "We wouldn't have had this problem if you would have just come to me in the first place, and I wouldn't have to read about my daughter's escapades in the newspaper."

Dad slammed his hands on the table, the porcelain statue of Mary shaking on the buffet behind him.

Jay and his coach slid back in their seats, the coach's eyes widening like he had no idea what he just got himself into.

I didn't even see the paper, but Sonny said it was an article in the local Friendship paper with a picture of Jay and I on the front, courtesy of TNC. I guess they did move fast.

Sonny poked his head through the dining room doors. "Is everything alright in here, Pops? Nothing broken?"

"Santino can't you see that we are talking here?" My dad raised his hands out toward me.

"Well, it sounded more like you were breaking things." Sonny walked in, folding his arms across his chest as a cocky smirk crossed his face.

"Sonny, this doesn't concern you," I hissed. What was he going to do now? Get me into more trouble? I think he enjoyed seeing me squirm.

"Watch and learn sister, watch and learn," he whispered and sauntered toward my dad.

"Pops can you really say it's been such a bad thing that a guy is finally interested in Rosalia? Especially one that has the newspaper and local celebrity gossip columns mentioning our restaurant by name?" Sonny raised his tweezed-twice-a-day-eyebrows.

"Well…no…" Dad put his hands in his lap.

"That's right. Business has been great. People from Dallas are coming into the restaurant now. And come on, Pops." Sonny slid his arm around my dad, shooting a wink in my direction. "It's not like guys are really banging down our door to get to Lia."

I wanted to glare at Sonny, but I couldn't with my dad right there. And the fact that he was right about that. He just didn't need to say that in front of Jay.

Sonny circled the table, putting his hands on Jay's shoulders. "Come on, Pops, this Morningstar guy seems all right. Who else would be willing to come in here and sit across the table, asking one of the most powerful restaurant owners in Texas to date his daughter?"

For the first time a proud smile crossed my dad's face. I had to give it to Sonny, he was good.

Dad nodded, "Okay, Santino, maybe you are right." He stood up, extending his hand out to Jay. "You have my blessing to date my daughter."

Jay's eyes widened before he stood up and briskly shook my dad's hand. I just stood there shocked as Dad then turned to Jay’s coach and they started talking about Dad things like daughters.

Sonny put his hand on my shoulder. I turned toward him. "Why'd you do that for me, Sonny? You've never been nice."

Sonny smiled, squeezing my shoulder. "Because you're my little sister and if this guy is going to have the
coglioni to come here, and ask for Dad's permission to date you, then he can't be that bad."

I smiled. "You know sometimes you aren't so bad, Sonny."

He laughed. "Don't get ahead of yourself."

With my dad's blessing, and Sonny's handiwork, I was finally allowed to see Jay again, but I was watched like a hawk. I didn't get as many late night FaceTime calls and I was more than ready to go on our first real date. Well, one my parents actually knew about.

"Mr. Morningstar, I hoped you'd still come back. Would you like some Bruscialoni?"

I heard my mother at the front door. I thought I’d be able to intercept before she got there, but she was like a freaking Sicilian cheetah.

"He doesn't have time for food, Ma, we're going to a movie," I yelled and charged down the stairs, taking them two at a time.

For the first time, Jay looked out of his element. His hands were in the front pockets of his jeans and his eyes glued on his shoes.

Every time I watched him on TV in competition, he was cool and collected. He was in the zone when he was competing. Now he looked like he was about to jump into a pool full of sharks.

"Is that what girls wear on a date now?" Ma's eyes trailed from my gray sweater and dark jeans until her lips curled in disgust at my black boots. "Back when I was dating your father, we got a little more dressed up."

"Yeah, Ma." I stepped off the bottom stair, positioning myself next to Jay. He smelled amazing. I mean, he always did. But he had some kind of cologne on that was the right amount of woodsy and manly. "You also lived on an island and didn't have to worry about a cold front."

She shrugged. "You have a point."

"You ready?" I looked over to Jay as the grin spread wider across his face.

"Let's go."

Ma's eyes followed us out the front door and I swear I could still see an olive-toned hand pull back the curtains of the front window when Jay helped me into his SUV.

"Sorry about that. I don't think she's ever going to stop offering you food. She seems to think that if she offers someone food then they won't go anywhere. She used to do the same thing to my sister-in-law Dana." I buckled my seatbelt and Jay pulled out of the driveway.

"Well, what if I didn't want to leave your house and just wanted to stay and be waited on by some beautiful Sicilian women?" He raised an eyebrow and peered over at me, his hand sliding onto my knee.

I shook my head, "Flattery will only get you so far, Mr. Morningstar."

"There are worse things I could do."

My whole body heated up and I was acutely aware of his hand on my leg. I licked my lips, quickly changing the subject. "Anyway…what movie are we seeing? I haven't even had time to see what's come out lately."

"Johnny recommended this movie about some sort of a zombie and alien battle starring that guy who used to be a professional wrestler, but now is known as that guy who was formerly a wrestler."

I ran my tongue along my teeth behind my lips, trying to think of a response. I guess the movie didn't matter as long as I got to spend time with Jay. Between work, school, and his practices, I never got any time to see him.

He laughed and intertwined his fingers with mine. "I'm kidding, Lia, I know you hate those types of movies and I would NEVER see anything that Johnny recommended, even if it was a commercial on TV."

I let out a deep puff of air, putting my hand on my chest and leaning slightly forward onto it. "Oh thank God!  I really didn't want to have to stare at some guy's eyebrows all night as he shot some CGI images."

Jay shook his head, rubbing his thumb along my knuckles. "Then it's a good thing I overruled his pick and saw a preview for some sort of romantic comedy about college freshmen or something."

I tilted my head and placed it on his shoulder. Even under the cologne he always smelled the same, with his hemp seed hair oil, an abundance of Chapstick, and a hit of chlorine. I wanted to bottle his scent and store it under my pillow for whenever I was having a bad day and could just whip it out and inhale it. "As long as I get to spend time with you, I really don't care what we see."

He squeezed my hand. "We could just skip the movie and your mom could make me food..."

I laughed. "You're not getting out of a rom com that easy."

"I think my sister made some kind of random cameo appearance in one. Or maybe she didn't. I sometimes block her out when she talks," Jay said with a laugh.

"Yeah. I tend to tune out Sonny, but I don't think the guy would be in a movie unless he actually left the DFW area."

"So what's your plans?"

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I know you complain about living with your parents and you'll have your associates degree this year. What then?"

I licked my lips, wondering briefly if he would think I was a stalker if I told him my plans for California. I decided to bite the bullet and hoped he wouldn't think I was a creeper. "I got accepted to USC for the fall semester. It was pretty competitive to get into their music business program, so I've been thanking all of my lucky stars that I did, now just figuring out all the logistics of it."

"USC? As in LA?" He raised his eyebrows, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye.

"Yeah. LA. Don’t get creeped out, though. I wanted to go there before I started talking to you. They have a great program for music business."

He smiled. "So, you want to be a music manager or producer?"

I shrugged. "Something like that. I've always had an affinity for different music and discovering new bands. I'd love to do something with that, even if I ended up just being a local DJ and got some new music on the radio."

"That sounds awesome. I've never actually known anyone that wanted to that, and in my humble opinion, anyone that has the same taste in old school punk as me would be great at it."

"I'm not that cool. Most people would think that's weird. Especially people in small town Texas."

He squeezed my hand. "Well, when we're both in California this fall you won't have to worry about small town Texas."

My body tensed up and I sucked in a breath.

And of course Jay had to notice.

"What. Did I say something wrong?" he asked.

"No. I, um, well I guess I didn't plan that far ahead with us and, you know, you have training here and my parents may still not let me go."

Jay shook his head. "Lia, your parents aren’t going to prevent you from doing something that's good for you and your future. And as far as we go? We don't need to talk about the future right now, but I do plan on going back to California. Texas was supposed to just be a break from the madness, but if you're going to the sunshine state then there isn't a reason for me not to go back as well."

Thoughts briefly flitted through my mind of going to class during the day and spending nights on the beach with Jay. But of course as quickly as those thoughts went into my head, they left. I didn't want to think of the future when it really couldn't happen. If I couldn't get scholarships or financial aid for out-of-state tuition, then I would be in Texas forever and I couldn't expect Jay to stay when his family was in California.

Since I didn't want to think about it, I had to change the subject.

I sighed and put my head on his shoulder. "So tell me more about this rom com."

***

The theatre was already packed by the time we got there. Since it was the only theatre within a thirty-mile radius of Friendship, the parking lot was usually crowded any night of the week. Jay circled the parking lot a few times before we were finally able to squeeze in one of the last rows facing the highway.

"I was hoping to get something farther away, but this will do," Jay said as I looped my arm through his and started toward the theatre.

"I know you just love taking brisk walks in this twenty degrees heat wave." I giggled and huddled closer to him.

"So Cal may have its beaches and beautiful weather, but there’s nothing like not being able to feel your face." Jay's teeth chattered.

"You’d think Texas would be a desert. I think that's what my parents thought. They didn't know about ice."

"When you're in So Cal you won't have to worry about the ice," he said.

"Why couldn't my parents have settled there in the first place? Nope. They wanted cows, I guess." I tried changing the subject off of California, though the more I thought about it, the more my excitement was building. If my parents would let me date Jay, then maybe California wouldn't be too far off.

"It must be kind of cool, having parents from a different country. Have you been to Sicily?" Jay asked, hopping onto the sidewalk.

"Yeah. A few times. Most of my family still lives there. It's not as cool as you’d think. Palermo kind of has a funky smell, but the beaches are beautiful in Mondello."

Jay smiled. "So are you going to take me there swimming? Speak Italian so I don't look like the stupid tourist?"

I blinked. I'd never made plans like traveling with any guy. Now we were talking about a move to California and him visiting my family in Sicily.

"Let's focus on date one first."

He laughed. "Technically this is like date three, so I probably deserve a trip to Sicily."

I laughed, shaking my head. "We'll talk about that after date thirty-three."

Swarms of people gathered in the lobby, waiting in line to get their tickets. Mostly high school kids, huddled in small groups and laughing about who knows what and a few older people who would constantly scoff at the kids.

I hoped no one would notice who we were, with Jay's coat and ski cap covering most of him, but hoping could only do so much.

He usually didn't get noticed. Most people would stare because he was tall and very attractive, but it was like they couldn't quite figure out how they might know him. By the time they probably did figure out he was an elite swimmer, he'd already be gone.

One of the older women turned toward the guy with her and whispered loudly, "Is that, that swimmer guy here in our theatre? You know the one with the DUI?"

I winced. Was that the first thing everyone thought of when they looked at Jay?

"Margaret, what did I tell you about staring at people in line?" The guy groaned, not even looking at the woman as she pursed her giant red lips together and tossed back her heavily teased hair.

"But, Harold, I really think it's him," she whispered again, trying not to let us catch her giant mascara clumped eyes as she peered at us over the man's shoulder.

"Margaret, just stop it."

"Excuse me." She turned toward us, her voice carrying over everyone else's with a thick two-pack-a-day tone. Her long manicured fingernails tugged her giant purse as she pulled her giant leopard print coat around her. "But are you that swimmer that's been staying here in Texas? Because you know you look just like him."

Jay smiled, "Well if you're referring to Jay Morningstar, then yes, yes I would be him."

"OH MY GOD!" she screeched. Not only did her husband turn at the sound of her voice, but just about every other person in line turned toward us.

"Harold, I told you I was right!" She turned toward her husband, hitting him with her purse before looking back at us. "A real life celebrity in line behind me at the movies!  Wait until the girls at Bunco hear about this!"

Jay just smiled, sliding his hands into his pockets while the woman rummaged through her purse. "I'm not really much of a celebrity, ma'am. Just a swimmer, coming here to see a movie."

The woman ignored him, still rummaging through her purse.

"Do you mind if I get a picture with you? The girls are just going to die!" She pulled out a giant smart phone and thrusted it at her husband before pushing me aside and sliding in next to Jay. I had to catch myself so I wouldn't fall over from the abundance of rose scented perfume she was wearing, but her smell was the least of my worries.

After her husband took the picture, slowly other people in line started approaching us with their phones out in front of them. I tried to push my way back to Jay, but I kept getting blocked by giggling teenage girls as they texted their friends and snapped picture after picture on their phones.

"Jay!" I yelled, but I was pushed against the back windows and couldn't even spot him in the crowd anymore.

"Jay!" I tried cupping my hands in the shape of a megaphone and yelling louder.

"Don't be so desperate, honey, he's just a boy." A bored looking lady with gray hair and a giant black coat scoffed at me.

I shook my head, trying to ignore her and stood on my tippy toes, trying to find him in the crowd. The lady shook her head, mumbling under her breath the word "
desperate
" before she moved forward in line.

After about fifteen minutes of trying to find Jay and just getting shoved back against the windows, I gave up and slumped down to the floor. This was the first time anything this crazy had happened with us. TNC and the  local news were one thing. I didn't expect a bunch of teen girls to fawn over him like he was the second coming.

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, thinking that it was probably Sofie with gossip I ignored it. Slowly I pulled my knees to my chest and rested my forehead on top of them. If I couldn't get through to Jay, maybe I could just take a nap until he found me.