Ride Home To Me

Chapter 19

I dab the smallest bit of lipstick across my lips before heading downstairs to join the team in waiting for guests to arrive. My ma's on a night shift and Tony's out of town, so Dom's having a party. Leon's pulling out the drinks and Jessie's fiddling with some bags of chips, but other than that everyone's more or less just sitting around. I smirk.

"Damn, where the fuck is the funeral guys? This is supposed to be a party. Mia get over here and dance with me," I say, putting a CD into the stereo and turning it up. Mia giggles and comes to dance with me in the living room, Vince and Letty not too far behind us.

People finally start arriving, and by about 8 the house is bustling. I lean on the arm of the couch right above Letty and notice two girls standing against the staircase making out. Letty notices my staring and bumps my leg.

"What's the matter Gabi? Wanna join 'em?" she smirks. I shove her and shake my head.

"Nah," I sigh. "Just wish I could do that without being afraid of it."

"Well what's so scary about it?"

"Let, they probably aren't even actually lesbian. So many of the chicks you catch like that are just doing it to catch a guy's attention and look sexy, and it works. Lesbians are pretty much reduced to a porn category to be enjoyed by dudes. How does that not make romance scary when you're like me?"

Letty exhales. "Damn, girl, I didn't even think about it like that."

I just shrug and nudge her. "I'm gonna get a drink. Want anything?"

"Just get me whatever."

I push myself off the chair and go into the kitchen, grabbing two coronas from the fridge, then going back to the living room. Letty thanks me when I hand her the drink, and I plop down onto the couch next to her.

Letty leans up against me and lets me slide my arm across her shoulders while she gets comfortable resting on my chest. We stay there, chatting a little bit, watching as guests start getting drunk and boys and girls dance together across the living room. After a while I notice Vince stalk across the living room. He looks pissed.

"Yo V, what happened?" I reach out and grab his arm.

"Mia tried heading up to bed but some dude made a move on her. She ran over to get me." My jaw drops and I look around for Dom, failing to see him anywhere around. He's probably upstairs getting laid. I look to where Vince was headed to see Leon in a heated conversation with a guy he has backed up against the wall, looking smug.

"Dickhead. Dom hooking up with somebody?" I ask Vince. He nods and shakes me off to go join Leon, probably to help him wipe the smug smile off the guy's face.

Letty whistles and grabs Vince's attention. "Yo boys! Take it outside."

I get up and follow them out, bumping into Mia. Letty takes her straight into her arms and starts muttering to her reassuringly, right as the boys pass by.

"Yo buddy if I can't touch Toretto's sister lemme at least get some action with somebody else huh?" I hear him saying. He locks eyes with me and whistles, still being jostled by Vince and Leon. "Aye nobody's wanting that one so far, lemme take her home."

My jaw drops and I narrow my eyes. Before anyone can do anything I shove Leon aside and hook the guy right across the jaw.

"Don't fucking talk about me like that you asshole."

The dude narrows his eyes at me, touching his cheek, and suddenly lunges at me, slapping me across the face. I hear people running over, and Letty and the boys yelling in the background, but I don't care. I punch the guy right in the eye and then knee him so he doubles over, before I'm pulled off by Leon. He shoves me towards Letty and Mia, who try calming me down, but all I can see is Vince and Leon yelling and running the guy down the street. I touch my cheek and sigh as Letty starts yelling at people to go home.

"Let's get you some ice," Mia mutters, taking me inside.

Later that night Dom comes downstairs and sends a chick out the door to find the five of us sitting in the living room with ice packs and blankets wrapped comfortingly around his little sister.

"The hell happened to you all?"

Mia walks over to Dom and lets him wrap her up in a hug. I gesture at the rest that they get to tell him, then get up and go into the kitchen. I grab a glass and fill it with cold water, jumping up to sit on the counter.

"You okay?" Vince's deep voice startles me. I wave him off and nod my head.

"Yeah, it ain't even a scratch. I'll be fine."

Vince leans against the counter next to me. He hesitates, then exhales and says, "So, uh, you got any crushes Gabi?"

I cough and turn to hide the heat in my cheeks. "Why-why do you ask?"

"Oh I don't know. Call me curious."

"No, I-I don't think so."

"You sure? Nothing?"

"Nope," I calm down and raise the glass to my lips to avoid talking.

Vince nods a little too deeply, furrowing his brow. "Cool cool, so you definitely don't got mad feelings for Letty?"

I spit out the water and start coughing. Vince has to pound my back a couple of times to help me out.

"Where the fuck did that come from?" I sputter.

Vince raises an eyebrow and says, "My perfect eyesight and not-so-dumbass brain. Gabi," he lowers his voice, "I saw you guys wrapped up together on the couch. You're not a touchy person. It ain't like you to do that even with your friends. I think you like Letty. Do you?"

I narrow my eyes at the fact that more than annoyed, I have this huge wave of relief that washes over me as soon as he says it out loud.

"Yeah I like her," I mutter. "You can't tell nobody, V, I swear-"

"Hey, hey, I won't. Don't worry."

"I really wanna hate you right now for knowing," I admit, chewing on my lip. A tear falls down my cheek. "But it kinda feels good knowing somebody else knows."

He wraps me up in a hug and rubs my back. "Come on. You should get some sleep. You stayin' here tonight or goin' home?"

I wipe the tears from my eyes and Vince hands me my water.

"Nah Ma's at work, I'm stayin' here."

Vince crashes on the couch and Leon takes Jessie home, so I head upstairs to Mia's room. I find her talking with Letty on the floor, but they go quiet as soon as I walk in. Feeling a bit awkward, I close the door behind me.

"Got room for one more on the floor there?" I ask, walking over to join them. That night, when I feel Letty scoot close to say good night, I think about how Vince now knows what I've had sitting on my shoulders for months. Looking at Letty, I know what I have to do. I don't want our hugs to become awkward, or for her to be uncomfortable sitting next to me on the couch. I don't want any of it to change, and I don't want it to affect our friendship now or in the future. So I move a few inches away from Letty, stay quiet, and go to sleep.