Page 93 of Second Chance

“You couldn’t know I had any reason not to be. I never told you.” Admitting out loud that he hasn’t been okay and part of it is his fault for not leaning on her, on his family when he needed them, is a weight off his chest.

Gianna picks at a fingernail. “You know you’re the best big brother I could have asked for, right?”

Tony blinks, surprised. “I don’t think I’ll be winning any awards after the last few weeks.”

She shakes her head. “Forget about that. All the rest. Our whole lives. Lia. You always did your best for me, took care of me.”

“That’s my job.”

Looking up at him, Gianna forces him to meet her gaze head-on for an instant before he turns to the road again. Even without her makeup, she’s fierce, undeniable. “I love you so much for that. But I want to take care of you, too, sometimes. I’m not a kid anymore. You gotta give me a chance to be there for you.”

He lets out a long, shaky breath. “You’re right.”

“Wow.” A faint smile loosens her expression. “I’m gonna need that in writing.”

“Ha, ha.”

They’re quiet for long enough that Tony starts to consider logistics again—whether they’ll be on time or if they can get Lily into the car by force if necessary.

“Is there anything else?”

The question draws him up short.

“C’mon, Tony Baloney.” Gianna grins at him, a shadow of the know-it-all twelve-year-old who used to follow him around the whole house when he was seventeen and thought he was so much cooler than her. “License to be fully honest.”

“I wanted to talk to you about Daniel,” he admits.

She doesn’t say anything in response. Strangely, it makes him want to say more.

“It’s not on you.” He forces his shoulders to drop, his jaw to unclench. “Not at all. I never knew how to start the conversation. I never…I didn’t know how to talk about it with you or with Ma and Pa. And before him, I kinda…gave up hoping I would feel like this about anyone.”

“Tony.” She reaches out. For a moment, he panics, wants to duck away, but he’s driving and has nowhere to go. Her hand is soft on the top of his head, stroking across his hair where it’s coming out of its ponytail. It makes it easier for him to keep going.

“I never…I never got what all the fuss was about. I mean, I knew I preferred men. But I never wanted tobewith someone the way I want to be with Daniel. Thought there was something wrong with me.” He laughs humorlessly. “I was gonna move out, before Lia. Try dating; see if that would fix me. Then…”

“Then, Lia.”

“Yeah.”

Gianna rests a hand on his on the steering wheel, not long enough to affect his steering, just so he knows she’s there. “There’s nothing wrong with you.”

“I know. I—”

“Even if you hadn’t met Daniel, even if you never met anyone you cared about romantically. We’d still love you. You know that, right?”

He nods. He can’t seem to speak.

“Idiot,” Gianna adds to make them both smile.

“I also felt kinda shitty about…about being with a Lobell professor after…”

That makes Gianna laugh. “Don’t be dumb, Tony. Daniel’s nothing like Mario.”

He doesn’t tell her how comforting it is to hear that.

“Plus, you weren’t ever his student.” She pauses a moment. “Hey, he wasyourcustomer. Did you—wait, did youhit on himat theshop?”

Involuntarily, Tony remembers the first time Daniel came to the shop, how he felt an attraction so sudden and abrupt it felt as if he put on glasses for the first time after living in a blurry world. How he hadn’t been able to stop himself from flirting, how they kissed up against a customer’s car. He doesn’t need to say anything; his face gives him away.

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