I turned around awkwardly. Mia was wiping the counters with a sponge. She briefly darted her eyes towards me. For a split second we made eye contact. Then she looked away. Boy was she mad. She was taking it out on the counters for the time being. That was fine with me. I stood there, watching, not really knowing what to say. We hadn't exactly ended on a warm and fuzzy note yesterday. Damn Letty, always forcing me to see Mia in a different light.

"You just gonna stand there all day watching me?" she finally asked irritated.

"No," I responded, still not making a move.

"Well?" she asked.

I just stood there.

"Spit it out, Dom. What have you got to say to me?"

I looked at her.

"Alright, well I don't have time for this. Some of us…"

I cut her off. "Why didn't you want to tell me about your, boyfriend," I said, the last word difficult to choke out.

"Because I knew you would react like this."

"Mia, you didn't even give me a chance. I didn't have a choice about how to react. You blow up at me and run off. Next I hear you're with some fuckin' prick I never even heard of. How'd you expect me to react?"

"Prick, huh? That's real mature," she responded. " Listen, I don't want to fight with you. Lot's happened since you've been gone, Dom. There's a lot you don't know."

"Yeah, I've realized that."

"Why don't you trust me? When have I ever given you a reason not to trust me?"

"I do trust you, Mi," I told her, trying to calm down.

"You don't act like it," she said, stepping back from me.

"Mia, you're my sister. It's my job to take care of you, watch out for you. I promised Dad. And, I know I ain't done a very good job with that these past couple of years since Dad's been gone. But, I'm back now and I want to."

"Yeah but what does that mean? Take care of me? I'm not a little kid. I can take care of myself. I haven't really had much of a choice, have I?"

Ouch. That stung.

What did 'take care of' mean? I didn't have a clue. But, I felt like I probably needed to give her an answer.

"I just don't want you to feel like you got to hide shit from me," I said, my voice softer. I moved towards her.

"Well so far you haven't really handled things well," she said, her body still stiff, but she didn't move further away. I felt like it was a step in the right direction.

"So, what then? That's it? We're just gonna be strangers livin' in the same house?"

"No, that's not what I said. Don't put words in my mouth, Dom," she said, her brow wrinkling back into frustration.

"Then say what you mean," I said.

"We both know that the reason you're down here talking to me about this. Letty made you. She wants everything to be okay. But, listen, I grew up, Dom. Maybe you haven't noticed. But, I'm an adult now. And that's the kind of life I'm going to live. But I want to be a family with you again. I really do. You just have to recognize that and stop treating me like I'm a little kid. If I bring a guy over you don't like, that's not really your call to make."

I thought about it for a second. What she said made sense. I didn't like it. But it made sense. I wanted Mia to be her own person in her own house. And, I figured if she felt comfortable then I would be able to watch her closer. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Fine. But you can't date any of my friends," I warned.

"Don't worry. That's definitely not an issue," she laughed.

"Okay, good."

"Well, I'm glad you said that. Because Ricky's coming over here for the BBQ that you're going to throw tonight," she said. She smiled, and threw the sponge at me before she walked out of the room.
Simple reflexes caused me to catch the sponge in midair. But my brain had not quite registered the rest of it until she left the room. I was throwing a BBQ- okay. That sounded like fun. But Ricky was coming. That did not sound like fun. I was going to have to try. I promised myself that I would try, for Mia.

I flipped the chicken over with the grilling tongs, checking to make sure the barbeque sauce equally covered both sides. It was almost cooked to perfection. Letty walked up to me, sticking her hand in my back pants pocket. She squeezed my ass gently, enough to cause a reaction though. I looked down at her.

"You gonna be nice?" she asked suspiciously.

"I'm always nice," I softly grumbled to her.

She let out a sarcastic laugh before walking over to the cooler. She opened it quickly and grabbed two beers. She used her belt buckle as a bottle opener to pop off the caps before handing one to me. It was sexy in a Macgyver kind of way.

"This may help," she joked.

I lifted it up and took a long swig. As I sat the bottle down, I heard a loud exhaust heading towards the house. I looked over to see a neon green Accord with a modified exhaust and a front end conversion. I was fairly confident that the enhancements under the hood were minimal to nonexistent. Without even noticing, I raised my eyebrows and shot the car, as well as the driver, a disapproving look.

A younger guy, who looked to be in his early 20's, got out of the car. He was wearing basketball shorts and a white tee-shirt. He strutted up the driveway, appearing very casual and comfortable.

Mia walked out of the house carrying a plate of food. As she made her way down the steps, she noticed Ricky walking up the driveway. She quickened her step and approached him, hands still full. When Mia walked up to Ricky, he pulled her close to him and planted a passionate kiss on her lips. Though I had not taken my eyes of Ricky since he pulled up, I quickly changed my facial expression after this overt display of affection.

"Dom," Letty said.

I hesitated, still staring down the kid that was kissing my baby sister.

"Dom," Letty repeated, a bit louder.

I turned my head and faced her. She shot me a look. I knew that look. It meant chill out. That was easier said then done. My jaw was still clenched. I had a deep urge to go kick his ass. But, I abstained.

Mia and Ricky made their way up the driveway. Leon, Vince, and Jesse joined me in sending Ricky an adequate death stare. Mia just smiled.

She walked up to the picnic table and sat down the food in her hands. Ricky stood there, saying nothing but exuding confidence that was pissing the entire team off more and more by the second.

"Um, Ricky this is my brother Dom, Letty, Vince, Leon and Jesse," Mia said, making her way around the grill and picnic area. "Everybody this is Ricky."

"Sup," Ricky nodded to the group, not addressing anyone in particular.

"Okay," Mia stated, after no one responded. "Well how's the chicken coming Dom?"

"Just about completely dried out after having to wait so long," I responded, still eying the guy.

"Well, I'm sure it will be great. Why don't you put it on the plate and bring it to the table," she insisted.

She walked over to one side of the picnic table, leading Ricky alongside, and took a seat. The team had not moved. It looked like they were frozen statues, with only their eyes following Ricky.

"Come on guys," Mia stated after several seconds. "Sit down," she said, more demanding.

Leon was the first to comply. He took a seat at the end of the table, closest to Mia. Letty followed suit, sitting directly across from the happy couple. Vince reached into the cooler, grabbing another beer, but holding back. Jesse looking around nervously, checking my face before sitting beside Letty. I placed the chicken onto the plate and made my way to the head of the table. Vince followed him, shuffling his feet like a rabid dog getting ready to pounce. He was forced to take the last seat right across from Ricky.

"Looks good," Leon said, with a slight effort to break the thick tension that had surrounded the group.

"Oh yeah," Jesse replied. Everyone looked at the chicken hungrily. No one was willing to take the first piece.

Unknowingly, Ricky reached out and grabbed a steaming hot piece. "Uh, hold up. You got to say grace," I finally spoke.

"Huh?" Ricky replied, obviously confused.

"It's a tradition. The first person to reach out and grab food has to say grace," Mia informed him calmly.

"Oh, uh, I don't really do that," he spoke.

"You do if you eat at our table," I stated gruffly.

"Alright, man, well I'll see what I can do," he said, sarcasm dripping from each word. "Good food, good meat. Good God let's eat," he said, and looked up.

Each member of the team exchanged glances. What the hell was that supposed to be? Leon looked over at me. I had to bite my tongue from making a comment.

"Alright, let's eat everybody," Mia said cheerfully. She was trying to pacify the situation.

TBC

So, It's been forever since I've updated. But I had a baby then I had writer's block- so that's a pretty good excuse. Anyway, I'm back in the game. So, is Dom gonna kill him? Guess we'll have to wait and see. He may…

AJ