64. Lucia
sixty-four
Lucia
Ari rushes home after today’s early afternoon game. I need to meet with Dr. Coltrain because, apparently, becoming the new Head Trainer means my input is valuable when it comes to hiring a new trainer to fill Logan’s spot.
The position is officially open, and we spend at least two hours going through applications and resumes, weeding out the ones that don’t have the right qualifications and compiling a list of people we’d like to interview.
At least we’ve narrowed it down now. We’re still going to have to do a lot of interviews, so I know this process is far from over, but we’ve got it started, and that’s step one.
When we finish for the day, I trudge to my car and head back home.
The elevator ride feels like forever—there are definite downsides to living in a penthouse—but I do eventually arrive.
I open our front door, and I’m practically assaulted by the strong aroma of coffee.
“Ari?” I say, hanging my bag and umbrella on the hooks—at least the rain waited until after the game.
“Kitchen,” he calls.
I walk out of the entryway and find my boyfriend smiling widely from his perch on the kitchen counter.
“Why do you look so happy?” I ask. The Stars lost this afternoon, so it’s certainly not because of that.
In response, he holds up a mug and hands it to me. But not just any mug. It’s my favorite Me Goose-ta mug.
“What is this?” I look at him curiously because I’m seriously confused right now.
“Take a sip,” Ari urges me, and I finally relent.
“Mmm. Is this a peppermint mocha?”
“Yes,” he smiles. “Made with the brand new espresso machine we have.”
I glance past him and find a large coffee maker that we definitely didn’t have when we left for the game this morning.
“You bought a coffee maker?”
“I bought you an espresso machine. I know how much you love peppermint mochas, but they’re seasonal.
It’s easy to find peppermint syrup online, though.
Use the syrup, milk, and ground espresso, and you can have your favorite drink whenever you want.
We have regular espresso right now, but you can find decaf as well. ”
I smile at his absurdly sweet gesture and drape my arms around his neck. “You know pregnant women can still have some caffeine, right? We also still have no idea if I’m pregnant.”
Ari gives me a sheepish grin and brushes my hair out of my face. “Still just dreaming for now, Spitfire.”
I take his hands and rest them over my stomach. “If not now, one day. One day, your child will be right here. For now, we live our lives and wait for that time. We have forever, Ari.”
“Yes, we do.”
He kisses me tenderly before we’re distracted by his phone ringing.
We seem to always get interrupted by the phone.
Ari sighs and grabs his phone. His features harden when he looks at the screen.
“It’s your dad, isn’t it?” I ask.
“Yeah. Don’t really want to talk to Tom Morgan right now, but I also don’t want to get torn a new asshole the next time we talk for ignoring him today.”
I pull myself up and sit on the counter next to him. “Well, I’m beside you now. You choose whatever you want to do.”
Ari gives me a soft smile, kisses my cheek, and reluctantly answers the call.
“Hey, Dad,” he says, and his tone is so different than what I usually hear. When he talks to his mom, he’s lively and happy. He’s the exact opposite right now.
I can’t hear anything his dad is saying, just a stern voice that’s unintelligible on the other end. If this is how he always sounds, I understand why Ari doesn’t enjoy talking to him.
“Yes, I’m aware that I’m thirty.” He leans his head back against the cabinet. “It’s not disrespect; I was just acknowledging what you said.”
I rest my hand on his thigh and give him a reassuring squeeze.
“No, I still have no interest in joining the military, Dad. I enjoy my current career.”
Ari sighs, and I can see him shrinking in on himself. I’m really not liking this.
“No, I’m not planning marriage right now, but I do actually have a girlfriend.
” He’s silent as he listens to whatever shit his dad is saying now.
“Yes, I know, but we’ve been together for a couple of weeks.
I’m not rushing into marrying her.” He gives me a sympathetic smile before he says, “I’m with her right now. Would you like to meet her?”
He throws the phone on speaker, and I muster as much faux-sweetness as I can. I may be irritated with the man already, but he’s still my boyfriend’s father. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you.”
“Wow, you really do have a girlfriend,” he says gruffly.
Ari pinches his brow. “Why would I lie about that?”
Before his dad can reply, I state, “My name is Lucia.”
“Lucia?”
“She’s Spanish,” Ari replies quickly. “Her parents are from Spain.”
“It’s lovely to meet you,” I chime.
Ari looks at me and chuckles at my attempt because we both know this won’t be lovely.
“Yeah,” he replies dismissively, and I can already feel anger flooding me. His dad is a piece of work. “At least she’s a girl.”
I look at Ari in confusion, and he just shrinks even further in on himself. “Yes, we wouldn’t want anybody to talk now, would we?”
“Do not backtalk me, Ari,” his dad booms.
I have to bite my tongue to keep my mouth shut.
“You know what?” Ari says. “Fuck this.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m tired of being your pawn. You’ve only ever cared about how I reflect on you.
You don’t give a damn about my happiness.
You’re glad Lucia is a woman because having your son be with a man would just make everyone clutch their pearls and pray for my soul.
Well, guess what, Dad? Your son is bisexual.
I could so easily have ended up with somebody you deem unacceptable. ”
I watch Ari in reverence. I can tell this outburst isn’t typical of his conversations with his dad, and I’m so proud of him for standing up for himself.
“The hell you are,” his dad yells. “No son of mine is a—”
I cut him off before he can even finish that heinous thought.
“I’m gonna stop you right there, Tom,” I assert, and Ari’s eyes widen as he watches me. “What you’re not going to do is fucking disparage your son for his sexuality. Ari is free to love whoever he wants to, but based on your reaction, I can see why he’s been so hesitant to tell you.”
“I don’t know who the hell you think you are—”
“I’m Lucia Torres,” I shrug. “I’m your son’s girlfriend, but you already knew that. You just don’t like that I have the audacity to call you out on your homophobic bullshit.”
“Ari Morgan, if you don’t tell h—”
“I’m not going to tell her to do a goddamn thing,” Ari pipes in. “She’s doing what I should’ve been doing for years. I’m your son, but you’ve certainly never treated me that way. In your eyes, I’m an extension of you, and only you can decide how I live my life. Fuck that.”
“I will not be spoken to this way, Ari.”
“You don’t have authority here, Tom,” I chide.
“Respect is earned, not given, and I get the feeling you haven’t respected your son a day in his life.
But that’s okay because I’ll respect him enough for both of us.
Ari is incredible, and I’m sorry you never gave yourself the chance to actually see that. ”
Ari sits up straight now, no longer sinking in on himself and instead standing tall.
“Lucia is right. You have never respected me. You were only worried about me being seen with my male friends and what people might think about that, but that’s because you never saw the men I was actually with.
I don’t need your support or blessing for any of it, though.
Honestly, my relationship with Lucia is a first for me because of you.
But I’ve learned what not to do and that starts with not fucking cheating on a woman I claim to love. ”
“Ari—”
“Save it, Dad. I honestly just don’t care anymore.
I’ve kept in contact with you solely because we’re family, but I’m starting to see there’s really no point to it.
Every conversation has always been you asserting your assumed authority over me, and me walking away with my tail between my legs.
No more. I’m fucking done. If you can’t respect me or Lucia, there’s no need for us to speak.
We might be blood, but we don’t have to be family. ”
“I’m not going to tolerate this bullshit, Ari.”
“Your opinion on this doesn’t matter,” I add. “Your son is thirty fucking years old. He can make his own decisions, and that includes cutting people out of his life who bring nothing but toxicity.”
“You know my number,” Ari states. “If you ever think you can respect us and not talk down to either of us, give me a call. Otherwise, don’t fucking bother.”
Ari hangs up the call and sets his phone on the counter. Then he immediately leans over and kisses me desperately, sinking his fingers in my hair and swiping his tongue into my mouth.
I get lost in him for a moment, but I can’t let myself go completely.
“Ari,” I sigh. “I’m sorry if I—”
“Sorry?” He laughs darkly. “Why would you be fucking sorry? Lucia, you stood up for me, and I love you more now than I did even ten minutes ago.”
“I couldn’t let him talk to you like that. He doesn’t get to talk to you like that.”
“With your support tonight, he won’t have another opportunity to. I’m done with him. I don’t need his shit in my life. I’ve been really fucking happy, and he’s not going to ruin that for me.”
I smile and press my forehead to his. “I’m so fucking proud of you, Ari.”
“Honestly? I’m proud of myself.” He grins before kissing me again. It starts soft before the intensity ramps up. “I need you, baby. Right fucking now.”
“So take me to bed.”
Ari slides off the counter and slips me into his arms, carrying me bridal-style to our bedroom.
I’m so happy to see him be himself out in the open. I know it’s only to his friends and family, but up until he told me, Cole was the only person he was out to. And that was for eight years.
He’s becoming so much more confident in himself, and I love watching him just be him.
I’m so glad I get to see it from right by his side.