Page 30 of Roman and the Hopeless Romantic
Mary broughtthe twins home around lunch, and they circled Roman, begging him to play with them. So, he made a deal.
They’d finish cleaning—child labor, anyone—and he’d take them out into the driveway to shoot some pucks.
The boys picked up as best they could, but somehow the living room looked worse than before.
“I don’t think I like this deal,” Roman grumbled as he carried the porch furniture back outside. He liked hanging with the boys. They were his brothers as much as Jesse’s. But his homework sat piling up on his desk, undone.
Jesse leaned against the doorframe to his room as Roman reached the top of the stairs. “Don’t you have a Trig test Monday?”
Roman shrugged. “Probably.”
“You don’t know?”
“I’ve been a little busy.”
“Ah, yes.” A gleam entered Jesse’s eye. “Hanging with my sister.”
“I don’t see the point of all this homework anymore. I got into USF just like half our graduating class.” Not like he knew if that was his future anymore. Would his parents force him to move to Europe after graduation? Where would he live if he went to school in Tampa? He’d planned to live at home. It was like having his own place anyway, but what now? It was too late to apply for a dorm. The Carrigan’s were great, but they didn’t need an extra person in their crowded house longer than necessary.
“You should still care, Rome.”
Roman shrugged. He didn’t understand why it mattered. He’d never had anyone other than Jesse really care about him, so he’d never known why he should care about himself, his future.
Well, once upon a time, Cass cared.
He shouldered through his door and changed into a pair of basketball shorts and a t-shirt. What did it matter? He had a job waiting for him at his parents’ company should he want it.
So, why try for anything else? Did it matter if the financial industry was not the career he wanted?
Did he even know what he wanted?
His phone rang as he grabbed his hockey stick. He considered ignoring it when his mom’s name flashed across the screen. But he hadn’t spoken to them since they left.
Bringing it to his ear, he sucked in a breath. “Hey, Mom.”
“Roman, how are you?”
“I’m good.” He didn’t know what else she wanted him to say.
“Good. Good. Are you giving the Carrigans any trouble?”
“Of course not.” He went out of his way to be a good houseguest, knowing full well they hadn’t needed to take him in, especially when they had their hands full with Cassie’s issues.
“Say the word, son, and we’ll send you a plane ticket. I don’t like the idea of putting my burden off on another family.”
“Gee, thanks Mom. Always nice to be called a burden.”
“Honey, you know I didn’t mean anything by it. Your father and I miss… oh, hold on, Roman.” She murmured something to a person in the background before returning. “I need to run.” Click.
Yep, no goodbye. She didn’t even finish her sentence about missing him, probably because it wouldn’t have been true. His parents weren’t bad people, they just had priorities that didn’t jibe with having a kid.
They always had.
He entered the kitchen a few minutes later to find Mary making lunch. She shot him a motherly smile, an expression he’d never seen from his own mom.
“Don’t you normally have Saturdays off?” Roman snagged an apple from a basket on the counter.
“With Mr. Carrigan on his business trip, I didn’t want to leave the twins. They’re quite a handful.” Affection coated her words.
