and then gave Julia a long look. “...goodies that I’m almost done with this. I’ll bring it out in a minute.”
I knew I had to be beet red. “You sure? I can wait and take both.” They simultaneously shooed me out, and I walked out to the patio, platter in hand. I found José and Tariq playing with José’s two dogs, a pair of mini-dachshunds named Britney and Whitney, while Dani was keeping an eye on the grill with a cold beer in his hand.
This was a wild departure from my usual life in New York City, where I worked all the time and never felt like I had time for friends or outings. Between helping my parents with whatever crisis they had going on and my sister needing more and more support once Blue was born, I had no time for fun. I never made it a priority, but here in this little knot of people I’d found a space to do it, even if it was only temporary.
“Oh good! Food. I’m starving,” José said, as he and Tariq came over with the dogs on their heels.
“Don’t touch it!” Dani hurried over, phone in his hands, ready to turn the gorgeous plate of food that Julia had prepared into an Insta moment.
“Dani, you’re so annoying with that phone. You don’t even eat meat,” José protested.
Dani only raised an eyebrow, not looking up as he tried to find the perfect angle to capture the platter. “You didn’t complain about my Insta game when I showed up with those three bottles of Veuve you’ve been enjoying.”
At that, José made a show of moving out of the way. “If that is what will get us the free high-end bubbly, let’s give the man some space, people.” After a few seconds, the photo was posted and we all dug in. José moaned, his mouth full of prosciutto. “I’m declaring Rocco’s place the official meeting place of the Gotham Exiles Club.”
Tariq nodded enthusiastically while Dani took some photos of the dogs, who were circling the food on the table like tiny furry sharks.
A moment later Julia came out with Salome behind her carrying a huge cheese platter.
“More food!” Her expression seemed so pleased I felt something in me crack open. I’d been convinced growing up in my parents’ house had ruined me somehow and that this sort of thing was not in the cards. That the best I could hope for was some peace.
I looked up and noticed Julia looking intensely at me, her face curious. I wondered if, like me, she was feeling tripped up. And it wasn’t just her—although she was a big part of it. With every meetup or dinner, I wanted more of this kind of life. I caught Julia’s eye again and she shook her head and smiled, like she was enjoying herself in spite of knowing she was having foolish thoughts.
Foolishness had never ended up well for me, but I was tempted to take my chances if it got me in her line of sight.
* * *
“Are you sure you don’t want me to drive you home? You must be exhausted,” I asked as I watched Julia walk over to the side of the living room she hadn’t hit with the vacuum. “You’ve already helped me vacuum up the dog hair all over my couch.” I shuddered, thinking of the enormous ball of fur she’d extracted. “Who knew those things could leave behind so much hair. They’re barely ten pounds put together!”
She laughed at my exasperation, and shook her head at me. “I told you I wanted to help, Rocco. If you knew how rare it is for me to offer anyone help cleaning, you’d shut your mouth and give me space. My mom got a little dog a few years ago, but she is not a fan of the hair so she vacuums the house constantly. Just being around it now makes me itchy. I’m not a pet person.”
I reached for the vacuum in her hand. “Okay, let me do it, then. You do something else. I don’t want to gross you out.”
She sidestepped me, the vacuum handle still gripped tightly in her hand. “No, I’ll do it. I can’t trust that you will get all the hair out. One thing is clean, a whole other is Caribbean-people clean. So just go back to your Clorox wipes and I’ll deal with this.” She was dead serious too.