“Listen, Arlo. I don’t know if this concept is foreign to you, but sometimes it’s nice to do something good for someone. When it’s your time, pay it forward.”
“I still can’t let you pay for my car.”
“It’s done. End of discussion, babe.”
“That always goes over big,” Tamara says, watching us with her elbow on the counter, chin in her palm. “Nothing like being shut down.”
“I’ll pay you back someday.”
“You got my number. You know where and how to find me,” I tell her.
“Arlo, I need you to fill out some paperwork for our files before you go. Is that okay?”
Arlo nods, giving me another smile before moving toward the front desk and Tamara. “I have to head to work. You two going to be okay?” I ask.
“We’re good. Right, Arlo?” Tamara says, watching us carefully.
“I’ll be fine. You don’t need to stay,” Arlo replies. “You’ve done enough, and the last thing I want is for you to be late too.”
“Call me the next time you need a save, babe,” I call out, walking backward toward the door and knowing I am doing the right thing.
Arlo isn’t the type of girl you sleep with and walk away from, but all I can offer is a night of pleasure, not a lifetime of happiness.
“Maybe,” she says as the door closes and I leave her with Tamara, knowing I’ll never see her again.
5
Six Months Later
“I think I’m ready, Lily.”
She stares at me funny, tilting her head. “Ready for what?”
“To settle down. To find love. The whole thing. This party bachelor life is getting old and tiring.”
Fuck. I have to be crazy. I don’t know who’s more surprised by the words that came out of my mouth, me or Lily.
“Oh my God! Please let me help you,” Lily begs, touching my shoulder. “Please. Please. Please let me help you.”
She has always been the sweetest one in the family. She was the most innocent until she hooked up with Jett, the notorious high school playboy who nailed all the tail.
She also gave me the most shit about my whorish ways and made it her personal mission to help me turn my life around.
“I don’t think there’s any helping at this point. I’m so set in my dumb ways.”
“That’s not true. We’re going to find you love. You deserve it, Mello.” She gives my shoulder a quick squeeze.
I place my hand over hers. “I don’t think I do, Lily. You’re sweet. Maybe too sweet, and you always think the best of people, but not everyone deserves love.”
“That’s some bullshit. You shut your mouth right now.”
I jerk my head back, surprised by the forcefulness of her words. Lily had always been the meek and mild one, but lately, the mouth on her has changed dramatically. “It’s shut.”
She grabs my hands, holding them on top of my knees. “Look at me.”
I turn my head a little because I am looking at her already. “I’m looking.”
She gives my fingers a squeeze. “No more easy women. Understand?”
“But they’re fun, Lily,” I argue, getting a glare from her. The same lethal look all Gallo women perfect before they reach eighteen. “Right. No easy chicks,” I mutter.
“You want to find your happily ever after, cousin?”
“I’d like to think there’s someone out there for me. But really, let’s be honest about this…”
“Go on.” Those words are said with a dip of her chin, a move I know she’s picked up from our mothers over the years.
“Who’s going to love a man like me?”
She blinks, her eyebrows pulling down. “A man like you?”
“A serial fucker.”
Her lips twitch, but she bites back her laughter. “You are a fucker. That much is for sure, but—” she moves her stool a little closer until our knees are touching “—that doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to find happiness. You have a lot of love to give someone.”
“I think I have more trouble to give than I do love.”
“You’re filled with love, Mello. Filled with it.” She lets go of one hand, lifting her fingers to my chest and placing her palm over my heart. “It’s ready to burst out of you just like it is with every man in this family. We just have to get you to think with this—” she presses her palm harder against my chest “—and not that.” She drops her eyes to my crotch for only a second, but she’s made her point.
“That part of me has to be into it too, Lily. It’s hard to find one without the