You're the Only One Read online

  Sighing, I rolled my eyes toward the ceiling. Sky had an unhealthy paranoia when it came to her mother and relationships.

  “I don’t know. Maybe it means she likes him and wants everyone to meet him.”

  “No. It means, they’re probably going to move in together soon, and then he’ll propose!”

  She always said any word related to marriage like it threatened her very existence. Not that I could blame her too much. Her mom had been married three times. It was no wonder Sky avoided commitment.

  “You know what will happen after that, don’t you?”

  “Yes, Sky. It’s called a wedding.”

  She finally cut her eyes away from the living room long enough to glare at me. When she loosened her grip on my arm, blood started pumping to my hand again.

  “No, Dillon. She’ll become completely obsessed with him. She’ll totally forget she has a daughter and friends, and her head will be so stuck up his ass that we’ll have to surgically remove it when he treats her like shit and then leaves her for someone else.”

  “Have I ever told you what a pleasure you are to be around? Seriously. You’re fucking sunshine and rainbows. And why is it okay for you to date a polyamorist, but your mom can’t have a boyfriend? People can change, remember?”

  “Shut up,” she muttered, obviously feeling safe enough to venture toward the kitchen counter for a handful of polvorónes, the Spanish cookies my mom made every Thanksgiving.

  “I know she’s been in some rough relationships in the past, Sky, but give her some credit. Your mom has been single for years. Maybe she’s finally found a good guy.”

  Sky didn’t seem convinced. I’d never seen anyone so annoyed by a cookie before.

  “Dillon! Sky! Time to eat!”

  Sky’s eyes went all squinty as she stared at her mom, Cathy, and her new boyfriend, Brad, across the table. I sat next to Brad, observing the entire scene. They seemed oblivious, but I knew she was filing it all away—the way they spoke to each other, the subtle touches and looks. She was searching for flaws.

  “Sky, hand me the pork chops, please,” I said, trying to snap her out of it. “Sky.”

  She blinked, and all conversations stopped long enough for everyone to watch her look around the table in confusion.

  “Huh?”

  “The pork chops,” I repeated, hoping she’d get the hint.

  Brad picked up the platter and handed it to me instead.

  “Thanks. So, Brad…how did you and Cathy meet?” I asked, trying to demonstrate to Sky the proper way of getting to know someone.

  He leaned back in his seat, and Cathy leaned forward, resting her elbow on the table so that she could join the conversation. I glanced at Sky and noticed her suspiciously watching her mom.

  “We actually ran into each other at the gym,” he said, chuckling.

  “Literally,” Cathy added, her hand going to Brad’s thigh as they laughed together.

  Sky rolled her eyes.

  “We were running around the track, and I was behind her, checking her out.” Brad paused to wink at Cathy as I tried to ignore the groan coming from across the table. “Her shoe came untied, so she stopped abruptly to tie it, and I crashed into her.”

  “It’s so romantic,” my mom chimed in from beside me.

  Cathy gave my mom a knowing smile. They were still best friends, and I knew my mom was happy for her.

  “Getting hit from the back? Sounds like it came straight out of a smutty romance novel,” Sky muttered before shoving a forkful of rice into her mouth.

  I dropped my head in defeat. The woman was hopeless.

  “Mija! Behave yourself,” my mom snapped.

  She’d been saying that to Sky for years. It never worked.

  “Don’t mind Sky. She’s protective of her mother,” my mom explained to Brad.

  He seemed to take Sky’s comment in stride. “No, it’s okay. I can’t say that I blame her. I’d be protective, too.”

  I peered up at Sky, hoping she’d be impressed with his response, but her eyes only narrowed more. If her looks could talk, they’d be saying, I’m onto you, motherfucker.

  “So, what about you?” my mom asked, focusing her attention on me.

  Oh God, not this again.

  “When are you going to get married, huh? I’m only getting older, mijo. I would like to at least meet the woman you plan to marry.”

  “Ma, don’t be so dramatic. You’re still young.”

  “Dramatic? Dramatic!”

  Oh, man.

  “It’s like he wants me to suffer,” she said to Cathy, throwing her hands up in the air. “What about this new girlfriend you have? She didn’t come with you. She doesn’t want to meet me? Is that it? She doesn’t want babies? This model?”

  “Natasha, Ma. Her name is Natasha, and yes, she does want kids…one day.”

  Sky had finally stopped staring at her mom, and her eyes were on me.

  “What about you, Sky? Do you like this…Natasha? Does she treat Dillon well?”

  Sky straightened her back, realizing my mom had just asked her a question. “Huh? Yeah, she’s nice.”

  My mom’s eyes narrowed on Sky. “Nice? That’s it?”

  Sky cleared her throat. “No. I mean, she’s gorgeous and successful, and Dillon seems happy when he’s with her.”

  Why did she look sad when she said that?

  My mom cut her eyes to me before moving them back to Sky. She didn’t say anything else.

  What the fuck is going on?

  “What about you, Sky?” Cathy asked, surprising her.

  Sky’s mom rarely asked about Sky’s personal life. She’d learned her lesson when Sky was in high school. Some things were better off unknown.

  “Are you seeing anyone?”

  Sky tucked her hair behind her ear before mumbling, “Yeah.” Then, she took another bite of food.

  Sky was probably hoping to avoid the subject. She didn’t talk to her mom nearly as much as I spoke to mine, and I was sure her situation with Logan was the last thing she wanted to discuss.

  “You are?” my mom shouted, making Uncle Ramon drop his fork.

  “It’s not a big deal, Camilla. We’re very casual,” Sky said, scooping more rice into her mouth.

  Liar.

  Sky glared up at me, most likely reading my mind.

  “Well, tell us about him. What’s his name? What does he do? Where is he? Why didn’t he come with you?”

  I shook my head and chuckled. How did she come up with so many questions so fast?

  Cathy and my mom stared at Sky, and Sky sat there, rubbing her lips together like they might magically create answers for her.

  “His name is Logan. We went to high school with him,” I said, trying to help her out. “He owns a couple of gyms.”

  “Oh, really? Which ones?” Brad asked, easing some of the pressure on Sky.

  “Solid,” Sky finally spoke up.

  “Oh, wow. That’s impressive,” Cathy said to Sky. “Is he good to you?”

  “He’s polyamorous,” Sky said, defiantly lifting her chin. “He has three girlfriends, and I’m one of them. We have an open relationship, and I think I love him.”

  Oh, Jesus.

  I took another bite of food as my mom’s jaw fell open.

  After a few seconds of silence, Cathy chimed in, “Well, that’s nice.”

  Within a few hours, I’d hung some new curtain rods in my mom’s bedroom and fixed a leak in her bathroom. Now, I was sitting on the front porch, drinking a beer, when Brad came to join me. I couldn’t blame him. Everyone else had gone home, and I was sure the women were busy discussing the latest neighborhood gossip.

  “Nice house your mom has here.”

  “Yeah, it’s not bad. A lot better than her last one.”

  My mom had raised me in the Green Hill projects of Greensburg, just outside of DC. After I’d graduated from high school, I’d worked two jobs to help her save for a down payment to buy her own place in a nicer neighborho
od. I had known I couldn’t leave her where she was.

  Two years later, when Sky had graduated, I had moved to New York, trusting that my mom was safer. Her current house was a hundred times nicer than the dumps we used to live in, and she was sure to take care of it. That also meant she’d dream up jobs for me to do every time I came over.

  “So, how long have your mom and Cathy known each other?”

  “I’m not even sure…fifteen years maybe. They moved in next to us when I was nine, and I’m twenty-four now.”

  Brad nodded as the sound of laughter came filtering through the back door.

  “That explains why you’re all so close.”

  Leaning back in my chair, I held the bottle of beer in my lap as I thoughtfully looked at Brad.

  “Don’t let Sky fool you. She’s not as tough as she likes to pretend she is. She’s protective of Cathy. She’s seen her get her heart broken one too many times.” And her nose, too.

  Brad met my gaze, and I liked that he was man enough to look me in the eyes.

  “Well, I intend to be careful with it.”

  “I hope so. I’d hate to get arrested.”

  Brad chuckled, but when he realized I wasn’t smiling, he nodded to confirm that he’d gotten the message. We each took sips from our beer, letting the tension dissipate in the air between us.

  “What are you two doing out here?” Cathy asked, smiling at Brad as she went to sit beside him.

  “Oh, you know, guy stuff,” he said, leaning over to give her a peck on the lips.

  “How are things going with you, Dillon? Written any new songs lately?”

  “Nah.”

  “You write songs?” Brad asked, seeming to perk up.

  “He sings, plays guitar and the drums, and writes his own music,” Cathy replied, sounding like a proud mother. “He’s phenomenal.”

  I drained the rest of my beer to avoid facing them. My music was the last thing I wanted to talk about right then.

  Luckily, Sky opened the back door a second later and said, “Camilla asked me to come get you guys. She wants to talk to us.”

  The fear I saw in Sky’s eyes made my heart drop.

  SKY

  Something isn’t right. I noticed Camilla’s hands shaking as she grabbed her chair and pulled it out. Dillon sat beside her, his eyes locked on her face. I knew he could feel it, too.

  “What is it, Ma?” he asked, his hand moving to take hers.

  Her hand looked so frail inside his.

  She gave him a brave smile and waved her other hand, dismissing his concern. I looked across the table at my mom, and she was nervous, too.

  Camilla cleared her throat and squeezed her son’s hand. “I have bad news to tell you. I’ve known for a while, but I chose to wait and tell you all at the same time.”

  “What is it?” my mom asked, glancing at Brad as he took her hand.

  “I have cancer.”

  I sucked in a breath and quickly covered my mouth, not wanting her to hear my shock. My heart ached for Dillon. His eyes never left his mother’s as they held each other’s hands.

  “How bad is it?” he asked.

  Tears gathered in her soft eyes, and I felt my heart breaking.

  “Stage four. It started in my ovaries, but the doctors said it spread.” She paused for a second to steel her emotions. “They think I don’t have much longer.”

  “What do you mean, they think you don’t have much longer?” Dillon asked, sounding frustrated. “Aren’t doctors supposed to help you get better? What about chemotherapy? There’s nothing they can do to help?”

  Camilla closed her eyes and lowered her head. “It’s gone too far now. I told them I don’t want chemo.”

  “What? Why not? Ma, it might be able to help.”

  Lifting her eyes, Camilla looked at Dillon again as a single tear streamed down her cheek. I bit my lips, fighting hard to keep my composure.

  “I don’t want to spend the rest of my life like that. I know it’s hard for you to understand, but I want to do this my way, mijo. It’s my time.”

  We all sat there in shock.

  This can’t be happening. Not to Camilla. She was like a mother to me, and I couldn’t lose her. I couldn’t imagine a life without her.

  Dillon dropped his head, and I reached out, touching his arm and wishing I could take it all away. They didn’t deserve this. A tear slipped out of my eye and down my cheek. I swiped it away and glanced back at my mom, who was watching me.

  When faced with death, you began to realize how much you’d taken for granted.

  Reaching across the table, I held my other hand out to her, and she took it.

  We made our own love circle.

  “Why didn’t you tell me sooner, Ma? I would have come home to help.”

  “That’s why,” she said sternly. “You have a life in New York. I don’t want you coming back here to take care of me.”

  “But you’re my mother. If I don’t take care of you, who will?” Dillon’s voice cracked, and the sound nearly broke me.

  In the entire time I’d known Dillon, I’d only seen him cry one other time, and that was when Maurice had died. If his mom passed away, he’d be the only one left.

  Camilla reached up and stroked her son’s cheek, grinning at him, despite her tears. “I don’t need you to take care of me, mijo. I need you to be happy.”

  Dillon sighed heavily, and I knew he wasn’t pleased with her response. Dillon was always worrying about his mom, even when she didn’t need it. Now that she was sick, it would kill him to leave her.

  Camilla peered around the table at all of us. “I don’t want to see these sad faces, understand? I want my memories to be full of laughter and happiness.”

  I wiped the tears from my face and straightened my back, trying to do as she wished.

  She looked back at Dillon and said, “And, when it’s time for me to go, don’t be sad for me. Maurice will be there, waiting, and then we’ll both watch over you.”

  That totally demolished what little strength I’d had left, and a sob escaped my throat as I covered my face with my hands. My mom came over to hug me, and I felt Dillon’s hand rubbing my back.

  This wasn’t fair. A person should only have to suffer so much heartbreak in one lifetime.

  My mom handed me some tissues, and I wiped my face and blew my nose. I realized everyone was watching me.

  “Mi Cielo,” Camilla said, her kind eyes squinting at the corners as a beautiful smile curled her lips.

  My Sky.

  I always loved it when she called me that.

  I sniffed a few more times and straightened my back again. I would be strong. For her.

  Then, she asked, “A polyamorist? Really?”

  The room remained silent, and her smile widened. I couldn’t help but laugh, and a few seconds later, we were all smiling and laughing with her. Even Dillon.

  As much as we’d tried to stay positive for Camilla, sadness had fallen over everyone in the house, and it was hard to shake off. Soon after our talk, she’d gone to bed, and Dillon had followed her, making sure she didn’t need anything. I’d heard her yelling at him to stop worrying so much, but we all knew that was impossible.

  I went to the kitchen and finished cleaning what little dishes were still in the sink. I was angry with myself for not helping more. She’d made that entire meal on her own without a single complaint.

  As I put the last of the dishes away, my mom came into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee. She leaned against the cabinets, and I wiped the countertops with the dish towel. It felt like there was so much to say, but neither of us knew where to start.

  “Brad seems like a nice guy,” I said, turning around to face her.

  She grinned. “I think so. I know I don’t have a great history with men, but things are different this time. I promise.”

  I dropped my gaze to the floor. “That’s good.”

  “Are you okay?”

  I looked into her blue eyes. Th
ey were one of the many things we had in common.

  “I’m trying to be.”

  “Do you really love this guy? Logan?”

  I glanced down at my hands as they twisted the dish towel. “I’m still figuring it all out.”

  Even if no one else understood that, I knew my mom would.

  “You know, I always thought you and Dillon would end up together.”

  My eyebrows furrowed. She’d never told me that before.

  “You used to follow him everywhere when you were kids, and he was always so kind to you. Most boys that age would’ve been annoyed but not him.” She smiled down at her coffee mug, as if she were remembering us as kids. “I can’t imagine one of you without the other. Can you?”

  I bit my bottom lip as I considered her words. It hurt to even think of a life without Dillon.

  I shook my head. “No.”

  My mom walked over to me and gave me a hug. I wrapped my arms around her and closed my eyes. I’d forgotten how good it felt to let her hold me.

  “Well then, maybe there’s still hope,” she whispered before kissing the side of my head and walking out of the kitchen.

  I stood there, staring at Camilla’s kitchen floor, as memories of Dillon and me flashed in my mind. There were so many—Dillon teaching me how to make a jump shot on the basketball court, the first time I’d heard him sing, the nights he’d crawled through my window and we’d stay up late, watching movies.

  My heart beat faster in my chest as more memories came…Dillon onstage, his smile, the way he laughed at my stupid jokes, our meals at Luigi’s.

  Just as soon as I started to question our decision to remain only friends, another memory appeared—Dillon with his arms around Natasha.

  She made him happy, and there was no way I was going to jeopardize that, especially now.

  Blinking, I sighed and tossed the dish towel on the counter. Dillon had every quality I would want in a boyfriend, but his happiness meant too much to me to endanger it. Looking around the clean kitchen and down at my shirt that was now soaked with dishwater, I decided I needed to take a hot shower and go to sleep.

  After saying good-bye to my mom and Brad, I watched as they walked together to Brad’s truck. He opened the door for her, and they kissed before he closed it. I grinned, feeling myself soften toward him. I was happy to see my mom with someone who seemed to really care about her.