Slowburn

Chapter 31 (Renzo's POV)

           I had my feet thrown up on a lawn chair opposite me while cutting my cigar. Me, Rocco, and Dante all drove up to my dad's house. Mom wanted us to come by for a meal since it's been a while, and we chose today. Now we were having cigars and whiskeys. We were talking business for a little while, though now it's moved on to talking bullshit, and my father and Dante talking sports. 

I snapped my fingers at my brother to slide the lighter over the terrace table, and flipped the lighter top open to heat the end of this thick cigar. I puffed my cheeks several times until the smoky finish coated my tongue. Squinting my eyes I watched the smoke climb up into the sky and disappear. 

It was sunny as fuck today. I'm glad I'm not in a suit. I would swelter. 

        With my feet up on a chair my brother had to sit two chairs away from me, but he still leaned on the table to talk to me past my outstretched legs. "Are you doing anything for the fourth of July weekend?" I almost forgot it was in a few days. 

"I have no fucking clue. Are you?" I asked him, puffing the cigar and releasing the smoke without inhaling. It's for flavor only. "Grace wanted to go on the boat...I was thinking about it. We get a couple people to come. We can make an afternoon out of it" he shrugged, swirling his glass of whiskey before sipping it.

"Yeah alright, that sounds fine" I nodded, closing my eyes and tipping my head back to feel the sun. 

        "The weather is supposed to be perfect for a boat day, so...you should invite Kat" Rocco ruined the fucking conversation. My eyes popped open, but I didn't immediately react. "She's been avoiding me," I told him calmly. His brows shot up to his hairline. "And you aren't pissed about that? Is it because she caught you with Rebel?" He asked me because he can't help himself. 

I exhaled a long annoyed breath and took a sip of my whiskey. It pairs well with a smoky cigar like this one, with a hint of spices as an undertone. "She has no right to react to that in the way that she has. She has a boyfriend, it's not like I would say she got jealous or something" I grumbled. 

I saw Dante's head pop up and look at me. "Uh...what are we talking about?" He tentatively poked in. Of course Rocco told him and got my father asking questions. "Pa, just cut it out. Fucking christ" I snapped at him.

"Oh, uh, you think Kat got jealous about you and another woman?" Dante asked the obvious statement Rocco made, which got my attention. I know this behavior. 

        "Dante, what is it?" I asked him outright, puffing the end of my cigar with no hurry. "Nothing, I'm sure the girl was embarrassed and is feeling shy about it. That's why she is avoiding you" Dante nodded. "You're acting fucking weird. Spit it out or spit your teeth" I warned him. 

It's a saying us boys used to say when we were younger and fighting sometimes. Spit it out or spit your teeth meant that you've had it, you were at your limit and a fight was gonna break out. 

He scratched at his messy hair and shrugged. "Minor detail" he muttered. I cupped my ear and he cleared his throat. "She actually isn't, uh, dating that kid...anymore" he got out. 

I pulled my feet off the chair and sat up. "What the fuck do you mean, 'she isn't dating him anymore' since when? Why the fuck do you know about it?" I turned clipped. My father sighed, seeing where this was headed. He never intervenes, he lets us fight shit out as he smokes his cigars and drinks his amber drinks. Even when we were kids he'd do the same.

        Dante is like our third brother, because when his father went to prison for a little while he and his brother Dario would always be hanging around here. His mother would sit in the living room with my mom crying about being a widow, even though her husband wasn't dead.