Page 21 of Pomegranate Kiss (Charmed in Charleston #2)
Chapter Twenty-One
D ukas Christmas dinners were something of legend, where not only the entire family gathered, but many of their extended relatives as well. Aunts, uncles, and cousins all crowded in Lex’s folks’ place who welcomed these mass takeovers with a zeal that made her wonder if her parents were insane. With the way each of them had turned out, the crazy thing was probably genetic.
Still, after the tumult of the past few weeks—hell, the past few months—she didn’t feel like dealing with her forty-some family members crammed inside the house. Cam had been silent ever since the club—no texts, no calls, and no random run-ins. Lex should’ve been relieved. And yet, she hated the way they’d left things between them. Lex couldn’t bear to think how much she must’ve hurt Cam that night.
There didn’t seem to be any way this would pan out without one of them ending up with permanent scars.
Danny had been giving her lingering glances all evening, and since her sister-in-law wasn’t interested in switching siblings, it had to be about their mutual acquaintance. Maybe Cam had come clean with Danny about the situation. More of a step than Lex could hope for, if she were being honest. All she’d needed was some action, anything, to disprove all the decisions Cam had made, some sign Cam wouldn’t string her along for the scorching sex until she hopped lanes to the easier route.
Either way, she’d stuffed herself to oblivion with Mom’s moussaka and baked fish and had drunk enough wine to float herself for the night. The hazy numbness had become far too familiar a friend at this point.
Lex leaned against the exterior of the house. The scents of roasted meat, spiced apple wine, and fresh baked bread lingered outside the house, filtering from inside. Multi-colored Christmas lights twinkled along the roof of her folks’ place, and the windows glowed with electric candles in each one.
Even with the chill nipping at her arms, she was glad she’d left her jacket inside. She needed some of these bracing winds to knock some sense into her. She lit her cigarette and slumped to the ground, placing her dwindling wine glass beside her. It would need at least a few more fill-ups from the family wine cabinet for her to make it through tonight intact.
“Oh look, she’s drowning herself in alcohol again,” Adrian said in a loud voice as he stepped out the front door. He’d dressed up classy like usual in his slate button-down shirt and charcoal slacks, every inch the successful doctor. Meanwhile, even on Christmas, Lex wore her Doc Martens, a pair of fleece-lined leggings, and a slouchy long shirt that came to mid-thigh. She’d thrown on a little extra eyeliner for effect.
“Fuck off, we’re all drinking. It’s Christmas, asshole,” Lex shot back, lifting her middle finger.
Matty slipped out after him and lit a cigarette, the embers glowing against the night sky. Her little brother had also ignored the “dress nicely” memo in his white shirt, biker vest, and ripped up jeans. “You’ve made it a champion sport lately, sis. Mitch and I have both agreed to put you at a three-drink maximum at the Gin Mill.”
“There are plenty of other bars in Charleston,” Lex responded, more than a little irritated these fuckers talked about her behind her back. “At least I’m not getting into fights and ending up in jail again. Take the progress and shove your judgements.”
“What phenomenal options you leave us with,” Adrian drawled, plopping beside her. He had a knowing look in his eyes that made her want to punch him in the face. Matty continued to lean against the wall on the other side of her, taking a drag from the cigarette to puff the smoke in the air.
Lex gasped and clutched her chest. “Adrian, what ever will you do, dirtying those posh pants to muck down here with the peasants.”
“Ha, funny. Stop playing the distraction game, Lex. You’re not as good at it as you think you are. You know Danny tells me everything, right?” Adrian continued, as if he didn’t notice the daggers she shot at him. “So, I know about her.” He didn’t say Cam’s name, and for that she was grateful. She didn’t think she could bear hearing it aloud right now.
“Hey, it’s just your fuck-up sister failing to turn a straight girl, yet again,” Lex rasped, her throat raw. She sucked in a deep inhale and blew the smoke out with enough force to take down a building.
Adrian nudged her in the leg. “The others weren’t your fault, Alexis. No matter how much you want to blame yourself. Back in high school, you had a bad run of shitty people who used and abused your trust, which you’ve always been a stingy bastard with.” He delivered it in the big brother tone that brooked no room for arguments, even though she’d spent her entire life arguing him. “And before you protest, remember you’re talking to the guy who wasted way too long with a manipulative bitch who was in our relationship for the prestige.”
Ugh, this was why she hated her older brother. Half of the time he made far too much sense. And he didn’t arrive with doe eyes and dulcet words like Cal either. If Cal had come out here for this care and share, she would’ve punched him in the face. The stars twinkled like crystals in the velvet sky above them, and Lex stared up, letting out a low stream of smoke as if it might stand a chance at reaching them.
And Matty stood there in silence smoking his cig and pretending like he wasn’t listening to the conversation. Her little brother acted so much like her it wasn’t fair to him because he’d have a lion’s share of heartbreak in his future. Volatile powder kegs like them pushed away every good chance that wandered their way or found some avenue to fuck things up.
When it came to Cam, she knew she should’ve spoken up sooner. Lex should’ve told her how she felt, that with her, the commitment didn’t seem so terrifying. Yet she’d let her own fears speed down the freeway, and after the way things shattered between them, she didn’t have enough faith to believe again.
“Whatever. She’s determined to stay in the closet. Even nabbed herself an arranged marriage, courtesy of her folks,” she spat out, ashing her cigarette on the grass. “So sticking around is a recipe for heartbreak.”
“Maybe she needs to know if she comes out, she won’t lose everything,” Matty said, his voice distant in a way they didn’t dare probe. As nosy as her family was, they all knew how volatile Matty got when people questioned his sexuality, even though they’d known he was gay for years. “Sounds a lot to me if her folks are so locked in certain ways and beliefs they’re trying to arrange a marriage for her, they wouldn’t have the best reaction to any announcements that she’s a lesbian now.”
Lex swallowed, her throat tightening. Fuck Matty for making sense too. She’d seen the hesitation in Cam’s eyes, the darkened tone when she’d referred to not everyone having the same reception to coming out. Lex had been lucky, she knew that. Yet she had been letting her own fears and damage numb her tongue, too afraid of being wrecked again and not being able to glue her pieces together any longer.
She at least owed Cam one final talk. Ever since the woman had been home for winter break, she had shown a persistence in pursuing her that she never did during their six-month agreement when everything had been in secret. If Cam could try to push past her own shit, Lex could do the same.
She tapped the end of her cigarette, watching the ash drift to the ground like snowflakes. “The lot of you are nosy motherfuckers, you know that? I was just sitting out here getting drunk on Mom’s cheap syrah and there you had to go talking sense into me.”
“We all know how feelings repulse you, dear sister,” Adrian responded, amusement in his tone. “But we’re all in this together. We might be way too overinvolved in each other’s lives, but the Dukas family sticks together, through whatever life throws at us.”
“Yeah, yeah, save it for a speech at the next family wedding, bro. You’re already working overtime saving lives—you don’t need to save all of us too.” Lex lobbed a punch in his arm.
“You’re going to hate me, but I’m turning your own words around on you,” Adrian warned. “I remember a wise woman telling me not so long ago, ‘I’d fight a whole army, even fight my own demons, to hold tight to someone who inspired that sort of passion.’”
“She sounds like an idiot,” Lex responded. Adrian’s words settled in her gut a lot like resolve. “Next time tell her to shut the hell up and mind her own business.”
“Like that’s something this family’s capable of doing,” Matty said with a snort. “I’m shocked no one’s set up an intervention for Nellie. Greg missing out on Adrian and Danny’s wedding was the last straw.”
Nellie had been having problems ever since she and Greg got married. After a three-month honeymoon phase post-wedding, he’d spent the ensuing two years either working longer hours or being such an intolerable shit most of the family couldn’t stand being around him. Lex already had had many a shouting match with the homophobic asshole, and he never failed to set Matty off.
“Trust me, a Nellie intervention is in the works. She’s been getting more miserable with every passing month they’re still together,” Adrian reassured them. “Mom, Cal, and I have been talking.”
Lex placed a finger in her mouth and made a gagging noise. “Ew, the Feelings Trio. Remind me to stay home on that family dinner.” She glanced over to her brothers, Matty still staring into the distance while smoking his cig. Adrian’s eyes crinkled around the edges as he dared a smile. Warmth pulsed in her chest despite the empty threats to herself that it would stay hollow forever.
She lifted the glass of wine and tipped the remaining contents into the grass. “There, assholes, that was my last drink of the night. Happy now?”
“Yeah,” Matty shot back. “That means there might be some left for the rest of us now.”
Lex snorted. “Let’s be real, Uncle Noel’s the problem child in there. Hide your beer, hide your whisky, because he’ll be guzzling all of it down.”
“I think he’s already induced himself into an eggnog coma,” Adrian muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. “That’s up to Carrie and Brian to deal with, thank fuck. I’m just here to make sure he doesn’t need to be rushed off to the ER.”
“Good thing you could make it tonight,” Lex said, elbowing him in the side. When her brother began working at the hospital, holidays were a dice roll based on his schedule, yet as the ever dutiful eldest, he always found a way to make it up to everyone. “What would we do without Saint Adrian to lecture all of his wayward siblings? Watch out Matty, he’s going to reprimand you for spending so much time with your gang of motorcycle heathens.”
Matty rolled his eyes even though a wicked smirk lit his lips. “Like you’re one to talk, ex-con who full-times at a tattoo shop. We were pretty much born the problem children.”
“Shoo, Problem Child Number Two. You too, Saint Adrian. Let a girl have a little alone time out here,” she said, waving at them. “I wanted to savor a cigarette in peace and quiet before you lot took it upon yourselves to stomp out here and interrupt me.”
Adrian pushed up from his squat with a grunt and then brushed off his knees. “Come back in soon, though. You know I’m going to need help breaking up at least one fight.”
“Joy,” Lex drawled.
“Yeah, save me from throwing the first punch at Greg.” Matty flicked his cigarette into the grass, earning a dirty look from his older brother. Adrian headed inside first, and Matty swung down to pick up his discarded cigarette before he followed.
Lex lit another one. She hadn’t been lying. After the talk they had, somehow the bowlines in her mind untangled. As much as she hated her too-involved family sometimes, she loved those stubborn fuckers with all her heart. She stared out over the rolling lawn of her parent’s front yard and all the cars cluttered along the road and parked on the grass. From inside, she could hear the bark of laughter, the steady buzz of conversation.
For years, she’d felt adrift, like she needed to hop on her motorcycle and drive out of town. The tethers of her family had wrapped around her arms like constraints, at least until she’d landed in jail after the one rally. She still didn’t regret going to the protest—no way could she stay silent while queer rights were under threat, but Adrian had commented that maybe she hadn’t needed to throw punches. When she’d come out, even from the short stint, her perspective flipped. This place had made her want to run for years, but now she found herself wanting to stay.
She wanted the stupid family dinners. She wanted the stable job at Inkspirations doing work she loved with the family the folks at the shop had become. And her time with Cam made her realize more than ever that she was done with the mindless flings, done with all the nameless faces she fucked. She wanted something real, something lasting.
Lex lifted up her phone and scrolled to Cam’s number. Before she could get too much in her own head about it, she began to type away.
I owe you a real talk at least. So, name the time and place, and I’m there.
Merry Christmas,
Lex
She sat there for a couple of minutes looking at the stars and letting smoke drift from her lips up to the aethers, as if she cast wishes to the wide expanse above her. Her phone buzzed with a return text. She scrambled to pick it up.
Meet me at the Waterfront Park, same spot as before on the 28 th . Three PM. I miss you.
Merry Christmas,
Cam
Lex tried to stifle the flutter in her chest at the words. A few fights hadn’t been enough to extinguish the way she felt about Cam, but if they couldn’t come to a resolution, she’d have to find a way forward without her.