Page 13 of All The Things: The Last Thing He Needs Omnibus

Narrowing his eyes as he pictured the quiet, geeky kid who sat at their kitchen table and scribbled notes in between glances at Colleen, Tommy nearly laughed. “That guy asked you out?” He was standing in the kitchen in his boxer shorts, serving up fried eggs and toast. “I didn’t even know he could talk.”

Colleen took the milk out of the refrigerator and started to pour it into cups, adding water like they always did. “Yes, he talks. He just doesn’t talk to you because all you do is stand around and scowl at him.”

Before Tommy took a sip from his coffee mug, he muttered over the edge, “I didn’t like the way he looked at ya.”

She rolled her eyes again. “He’s really nice and he’s really smart and he asked me and I wanna go,” she told him firmly. She stepped back as Davey and Mike ran into the kitchen and grabbed their plates.

Tommy let out a resigned sigh. “Okay, lemme know when and I’ll get the night off.” He added quickly, “I wanna meet him again, though. He’s picking you up here at the house and he’s gonna have you home by a decent hour, or swear to God, I’ll come after him.” He kissed her forehead and tried to smile. “And he better be nice.”

When the doorbell rang, Colleen stuck her head out from the bathroom. A curling iron was in her hand as she called out to Tommy, “Shit, he’s early! Let him in, please.”

Tommy brushed past her on his way down the hall, nodding his head. “Kinda rude to show up early for something like this….” He was mostly teasing. He and Mike had done some recon on Colleen’s date and the worst thing they could find was that he sometimes skipped mass to play video games. Of all the guys at Colleen’s high school who could’ve asked her out, he was probably the safest.

He stooped down to pick up some dirty laundry lying at the bottom of the stairs and tossed it into the hamper around the corner as he went to answer the door. Tommy was sure the surprise was clear on his face when he found Bobby on his doorstep. He had a cloth shopping bag in one hand and two DVDs in the other.

“Is that him?” Collin rushed into the living room. “Did he get a limo?”

“He ain’t here yet,” Tommy answered over his shoulder before looking back at Bobby. Dressed in a tight black T-shirt and even tighter black jeans, Bobby looked so good Tommy wanted to reach out and touch him. Instead he asked, “What’s up?”

With a lopsided grin, Bobby said, “I was just in the neighborhood.”

“You’re always in the neighborhood,” Tommy pointed out, not stepping aside to let him in.

“True. Gonna let me through the door? This bag is kinda heavy….”

“What’re you doing here?” Confused, Tommy still didn’t move out of Bobby’s way.

Bobby lifted the two movies up. “It’s Friday night and I heard you were on kid patrol, figured we could watch a movie and maybe have a couple beers.”

“Where’d you hear that from?” Tommy finally moved to let Bobby in.

Bobby grinned as he stepped inside. “I have my sources.”

When Colleen bounded down the stairs in her bathrobe, Tommy guessed who the ‘sources’ were. “Hi, Bobby,” she said breathlessly as she ran past them both into the kitchen.

“Hi, Col,” Bobby called out after her, but she was already gone.

“C’mon in.” Tommy ushered him through and closed the door, nearly tripping over an abandoned backpack. “Davey, get your gear up outta the floor. You’re supposed to be doing your homework!”

“I am!” Davey shot back from somewhere upstairs.

Tommy bent down to get the backpack and looked inside. “Without your books?” he shouted up the stairs. “Get your ass down here!” Seconds later, Davey was pounding down the steps. He tried to grab his backpack from Tommy’s hand, but Tommy held on tighter so he couldn’t take it. “I mean it. I want all your math done tonight and get a start on that English paper.”

Davey slumped. “It’s Friday night!”

“Yeah, so get your shit done or you’re grounded for the weekend.” Tommy was stern—he knew Davey needed a kick in the ass sometimes. His brother huffed out a frustrated breath, but he didn’t argue.

Bobby was still standing near the door, watching with an amused look on his face as Tommy and Davey had their argument. Colleen breezed past them again as she ran back up the stairs without saying a word.

“It’s a zoo here tonight,” Tommy told him as they walked into the living room. Max and Zoe were sitting on the couch between Collin and Mike, watching a cartoon, while Carrie glued small pieces of smooth glass onto a piece of cardboard.

Squatting down next to Carrie, Bobby asked, “Whatcha working on?”

She beamed at him, tilting the cardboard so he could see better. “It’s a mosaic,” she told him before turning her attention back to the project, sorting through a dish for another piece of glass. “The green is water, see? And I’m using the brown rocks for the sand, and then I’ll do the sky.”

“That’s gonna be really nice when you’re done.” Bobby ran his hand down her dark hair before he stood up again.

“Remember to keep those pieces outta the floor so the babies don’t choke on ’em, all right?” Tommy reminded her as he made his way into the kitchen.

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