All I've Never Wanted(64)

Carlo frowned, pondering the offer. He wanted to keep a close eye on Rico, but it was true. He’d been so stressed since Rico came back that his head was about to explode. It would be nice to hang out with his friends and relax a bit. “Maybe.”

“Carlo…”

He couldn’t help but smile. “I know, I know. I’ll be there.” He ended the call and glared at Rico, who was fiddling with a picture on his nightstand. “Don’t touch that.”

“Tsk, tsk.” Rico picked up the photo, which was of Carlo, Roman, Parker, and Zack at Machu Picchu. The photo was taken a few years ago when they’d gone to Peru during summer break. “Who was that? One of your little friends? I haven’t seen them in a while, it’d be nice to say hi…”

“Leave them alone,” Carlo ground out.

Rico set the picture back down, a hurt expression on his face, but Carlo knew it was an act. “You know, you’re always so nice to everyone except me. What do you think I’m going to do? Kill them?” He laughed.

“You can’t blame me. Who knows what you’re capable of?” Carlo snapped.

“That didn’t stop you from picking me up Wednesday night.”

“I had no choice.”

Rico’s eyes darkened. “I told you, Carlo, I’ve changed. You said so yourself. Things change, people can change too.”

“Not you.” Carlo suddenly felt as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders. “You never change.”

Rico frowned, looking away. “That’s not true. I’ve learned my lesson.”

Carlo clenched his jaw. “We’ll see about that. Breaking into others’ rooms doesn’t necessarily help your case though.”

Rico shrugged. “That was just for kicks, to see if I still got it. You

worry too much, little bro.”

“You can’t really blame me, after what you’ve put this family through,” Carlo said tersely. “I have to be somewhere tonight, so do your best and try to stay out of trouble.”

Rico chuckled. “I swear, sometimes you act like you’re my older brother and not the other way around.”

Carlo’s lips thinned as he brushed past Rico, grabbing his keys. “Well, someone has to be the adult around here.”

And with that, he stormed out the house, leaving his brother behind.

CHAPTER 16

“I’m not going in there.”

“Stop being such a wuss!”

“I’m not being a wuss!”

“Yes, you are!”

“No, I’m not!”

I crossed my arms stubbornly over my chest and glared at the violet-eyed boy standing in front of me. There was no way in hell he was going to get me into that room.


Roman matched me stare for stare, and I don’t know how long we would’ve stayed there if Carlo hadn’t come along, holding a giant bowl of buttery popcorn and a bag of Hershey’s Kisses.

My nose instinctively twitched as the smell of popcorn hit my olfactory senses, and I couldn’t help but tear my gaze from Roman’s to stare at those tiny little foil-wrapped balls of deliciousness in Carlo’s other hand. Well, they’re not really shaped like balls, but you know what I mean.

Roman smirked smugly, obviously thinking he’d won the stare down.

“You did that on purpose,” I said accusingly, pointing at the food.

Carlo cast an amused glance in my direction. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You know I can’t resist chocolate and popcorn!” My mouth literally watered as I reached to grab a handful of buttery goodness.

“Nuh-uh.” He pulled the bowl out of my grasp. “You’re not getting any unless you promise to go in there and watch the movie with us.”

I pouted. “Carlooo…”

The Colombian smiled cheekily and turned to walk into the Fioris’ private theater. “See you soon!”

Unable to help myself, I stomped childishly after him, but not before I heard Roman mutter, “Oh, now you go in,” under his breath.

In all honesty, I didn’t really mind. I was glad Carlo actually showed up for the dinner party, since I haven’t seen much of him in the past few days. He’d been a bit moody and distracted at the beginning, but it’s nice to see he was back to making fun of me again.

Although I am not at all happy about what we were about to do. How did a dinner party turn into a scary movie viewing, anyway?

I was about to go take a seat next to Adriana when Zack plopped down into the cushy leather chair with a groan. Considering the boy had destroyed almost half the food all by himself, I was surprised he could still move.

With a sigh, I took the only seat left—right in between Carlo and Roman.

“So what are we watching? No Strings Attached?” I chirped faux cheerily, hoping to plant the idea in their head.

“Nice try.” Adriana picked up the remote and pressed a button. The lights immediately dimmed, and I shivered a bit as the giant movie screen flickered to life. “We’re watching The Grudge.”

I suppressed another shudder as I thought about the creepy DVD cover. This was not going to be fun.

One hour later

“Aaaaaaahhh!” I was nearly crying as I buried my face in the tiny nook between Carlo’s shoulder and the back of his chair, my nails digging sharply into his arm.