Page 27 of Without Me (Men of Inked 5)
13
Gallo Time
I rang Max’s doorbell and could hear her heels on the hardwood floor as I waited. Yesterday, after much prodding both verbally and with my pecker, Max had finally given in and said that she’d come to a Gallo Sunday dinner. I had to agree to going to her mother’s next week out of respect.
Since I’d met her mother already, although not how I would’ve liked it to happen, I’d said yes. I knew that her mother was okay with everything, but her brother, Denzel, would be there. I remembered him from the first night at the bar, when I had become a little overeager about getting to know Max. Hopefully he’d let it slide, understanding that I cared for Max.
Actually, when I really thought about her, I knew I loved her. Maybe I loved her from the moment I saw her. I never believed in that shit, but she’d crept inside me and made it impossible to forget her. I swear to shit, they should have taken my man card away from me. Next stop, I’d grow a pair of tits for the way I’d become all sappy and shit.
“Fuck,” I muttered to myself as I rolled my eyes.
I’d never admit it to anyone, but I was pussy-whipped. More accurately I was Max-whipped. She could have anything she wanted. I’d give in to everything. Everything unless it came to her health. Then I’d give nothing.
After much resistance, she had taken the DNA test for ataxia. I went with her to the clinic in Tampa, and we were told the results wouldn’t be available for several weeks, but we weren’t given a specific time frame. I held her hand, reassuring her that, no matter what, I’d stay by her side.
Outsiders would think I was fucking nuts. The woman had treated me like a piece of trash. More accurately, like a piece of cock she could use and get rid of like a cheap whore. Before Max, I would’ve been okay with it and happily moved along. She had driven me mad for longer than I’d like to admit with her “please fuck me” and then “get the fuck out of my life” statements. My head had spun from the back-and-forth.
Looking back on it, I understood where her thoughts had been in the situation. If I had a future I felt was hopeless, would I willingly invite love into my life?
I knew I was a selfish motherfucker. I’d always been, but there was selfish and then there was cruel. If I were in her shoes, I probably would’ve lived my life much the same way I had—refusing attachment and fucking my way through life.
The problem had happened when we’d both realized how special the spark truly was. Neither of us had felt it before, and it kept bringing us back together, calling us to one another like the song of a siren and luring us to each other.
I wished things had been different. I wished we hadn’t had the rocky start, but there was nothing I could do to change the past. Maybe it would help us become a stronger couple moving forward, but I knew I’d always have a sliver of fear inside me. Scared that she’d run away in a moment of panic if she were told that she was carrying the gene and would someday meet the same destiny her father had.
My heart ached at the thought. There was no way Max had the gene. I could feel it. She was too graceful, too beautiful, and too full of life to be robbed of her life by something so crippling as ataxia.
“Hey,” she said as the door flew open. She had a sexy smile on her face.
I returned the smile and let my eyes wander down her body and take in her beauty. She had on a skintight pencil skirt and a crisp white dress shirt tucked into the waist. Black sling-back heels cradled her feet. I knew I shouldn’t have known the term, but having Izzy as a sister made it impossible.
My eyes crept back up her body and settled on her face. “You look stunning,” I said as I reached out and held her face.
“Thanks. I want to make a good impression,” she replied, as her smile grew larger.
“You could’ve done that in jeans and a T-shirt.” I bowed, needing to kiss her lipstick-stained lips.
“Watch the makeup,” she whispered, keeping her eyes locked on mine. “I don’t want to have to go back upstairs and fix it.”
“I’ll be careful,” I said above her lips before gently bringing mine down on her mouth. As I released her, I said, “Let’s go. We’re going to be late, and then you might as well have had a paper bag on. Maria Gallo doesn’t do late.”
She slammed the door and started to stomp away. “What are we waiting for, then? Oh my God, she’s going to hate me already.”
I laughed at her reaction. She already had the fear of Maria in her and she hadn’t even met the woman yet.
“We have plenty of time,” I replied as I followed her down the sidewalk.
“No, no,” she called over her shoulder. “I want to be early. Brownie points always help.”
“Suck-up. I’m never early,” I said as I looked at my watch, and she laughed in response.
I’d picked her up a little early, hoping to make out a little before we headed to my parents’ house. One look at her and I knew it wasn’t going to happen. She looked too perfect to mess up. Once dinner was over, all bets were off.
I held open the car door for her, closing it behind her after she was situated. My parents had always taught me manners. I’d just chosen not to use any of them my entire life. It would have thrown off too many wrong vibes if I had.
We had a thirty-minute drive to my parents’ house. I didn’t know if I’d sat this close to Max alone and not had it lead to sex. I set my hand on her leg, needing to be connected to her as we drove. We talked about work and family. She and I were alike in that way.
Work and family were the two most important things in our lives. They took precedence over everything else. When my family asked me to do something, I dropped everything and helped. I was still the big brother, even though, at times, it didn’t seem like it. They’d all grown, found their other halves, but only Joe had start
ed a family. Sometimes, I acted like the youngest, unwilling to give up my freedom and totally join adulthood.
The drive flew by as we chatted about everything. She grew more talkative the closer we were to my parents’. I could tell she was nervous as she picked at her skirt, smoothing it over her legs, and fidgeted.
“Max,” I said as I put the car in park and turned it off. “It’s going to be okay.” I’d never brought anyone to dinner, but I knew how everyone had embraced Suzy, Mia, James, and Angel. She wouldn’t be any different.
She blew out a puff of air and closed her eyes before dragging in a breath through her nose. “Okay. I shouldn’t be nervous. Got it.”
I brushed the hair off her shoulder and ran my fingers up her neck. “It’s okay to be nervous, but I promise they will love you.”
“I’m sure your white family was over the moon when they found out you’re dating a black girl.”
“Max, they were over the moon when they found out I’m in love with a woman. Color’s inconsequential in the eyes of my family.”
“Uh huh,” she mumbled, and rolled her eyes.
“I’m creeping up on forty and have never brought a woman home to meet my family. I haven’t had a girlfriend since high school by choice. You’re different not because of your color, but because your heart. Shiiit,” I drawled with a small laugh. “They’re happy to know I’m not gay.”
She giggled. “No!” she yelled, covering her mouth. “They didn’t?”
“My siblings knew how I was. They’d seen the endless parade of women I’d been with, but not my parents. My mother secretly thought I was gay. It’s not that they wouldn’t have loved me, but I know she would’ve mourned for the children I’d probably never have with a partner.”
I immediately regretted the words as soon as they left my mouth. I shifted in my seat, thinking of a way to stop the hurt I knew my sentence had caused. She didn’t want to have children, and here I was, like a dumbass, saying that it was all my mother cared about. My stomach was in knots and no longer craved the pasta that was about to be dished out.
“Anthony,” Max said as she placed her hand on top of mine.
I couldn’t look her in the eyes. “What?” I whispered before trying to swallow past the lump in my throat.
“It’s okay, baby. I know what you meant. We’re going to have to talk about kids someday. We need to have that conversation before we get any deeper.”
Before we get deeper? I was in as deep as I could be. There was no lifeline or turning back. I was sunk, with her as my anchor.
“Max, I want whatever you want. If you don’t want to have kids, that’s fine with me. I’m kind of old to even think about having a child. I’d be almost sixty by the time they’d graduate from high school. Now, if you said you wanted to have a baby, I’d make sure to give ya one to make you happy too.”
“You’d have a baby to make me happy?” she asked as her eyebrows knitted together.
“I’d do anything to make you happy. Including a baby.” I nodded, but I didn’t know if I was trying to convince her or myself.
“You know it’s not like a purse, right? I mean, you can’t decide a baby doesn’t suit you anymore or clashes with your lifestyle and get rid of it. There’s no refund once the bundle of joy arrives,” she replied, giving my hand a squeeze. I couldn’t tell if she was trying to talk me out of it or trying to make sure it was something I wanted.
“Max,” I said as the corners of my lips twitched. I wanted to kiss her and mess up that lipstick more than anything in that moment. “I know, Kitty Cat. It’s not something I want, but I want whatever will make you happy.”
“You make me happy, Anthony,” she said before she bent down and planted a light kiss on my lips.
“I love you, Max,” I whispered into her mouth as we sat in my car, parked in my parents’ driveway.
“You’re going to make me mess up my makeup,” she whispered back. “I love you too, Anthony.” She gave me a quick peck before blotting her eyes with her fingertips.
I smiled as I watched her dry her eyes without making a mess of her perfectly applied makeup. “Ready?” I asked as I glanced at the clock and realized we were five minutes early. “Or you wanna make out for a little bit?” I wiggled my eyebrows.
She slapped me on the shoulder. “We’re going in before you ruin everything I’ve worked so hard to achieve.”
“Max, you’re even more stunning without makeup.”
“You’re a complete liar, Anthony Gallo, but thank you,” she said as she grinned and swiped her thumb across my lips. “Let’s go before I chicken out.”
“Well, we’re the first ones here, so it’s probably good to go in now. They won’t pile into the foyer to stare at you like you’re a zoo animal.”
“Oh, God,” she muttered as she grabbed her face.
“You got this, beautiful. Let’s go meet the Gallos,” I said as I climbed out of the car.
