Rick wasn’t so utterly incompetent as to not get someone to cover for him. He almost said so, but it was nice the kid cared.
“Easton has been there for the last hour.” Rick ditched the snowflake tie and lobbed it toward his bed. “I told him to call you when he gets tired of it.”
Maybe no tie would work?
“Answer the phone if he calls. I promised him backup.”
Diego snorted. “What made you assume I don’t have plans too?”
For the same reason it never occurred to anyone that Rick might have plans. They were two bachelor peas in a cereal-eating pod.
“Do you have plans?”
When Diego said nothing, Rick walked out into the living room and aimed a kick at the back of the couch.
“Fine, fine,” his nephew grouched. “It’s not like my ass has anything better to do.” He added in a low mutter, “Quinn’s out with Grass.”
Four words that Diego would never say in front of anyone else. As unrequited crushes went, that one was going on strong. Rick clapped a sympathetic hand to his nephew’s shoulder.
“You’re not wearing a tie?” Diego asked.
“Should I?”
“How should I know?”
The two stared at each other. Yeah. This was going to go fabulously.
Diego started smirking, earning a light growl from Rick. “Shut up.”
The kid was too smart for his own good, his eyes catching on something Rick had accidentally left out. “Dude, what are these?”
Rick grabbed for the stack of index cards he’d left on the coffee table next to his wallet and phone, but Diego was faster than he was.
“Compliment her appearance?” Diego turned over the card and read the other side. “No politics or religion?” He dropped down to the couch, laughing so hard, tears streamed down his face. “This is the most pathetic thing I’ve ever seen.”
A second, somewhat offended growl escaped Rick’s throat. “I haven’t been on a dinner date in a while.”
“You can’t walk into a restaurant with a stack of cheat cards.”
“It’s better than staring at her and saying nothing. And I’m not going to bring them,” Rick added, reaching for the cards again. “I’m just studying them.”
“Like this is a test? Wow, you’re pathetic. Here, try it out on me.”
“I’m not using a card on you. You’re my nephew.”
Diego smirked. “And I’m not dealing with you dragging your sorry ass back in here after you crash and burn. Compliment me.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Glare for glare, neither one of them backed down. Finally, Rick groaned. The kid had a point.
“Fine, but you can’t make fun of me.” Rick dropped on the other end of the couch, the notecards in his lap. Diego sat there, waiting. And waiting. And waiting some more.
“Are you seriously not going to say anything to me?”
“This is weird,” Rick grumbled.
Diego rolled his eyes from beneath his baseball cap. “Tell me you like my hair or some shit.”
“I can’t see your hair.”
“Fine. Tell me you like my shoes.” Diego kicked his dirty tennis shoes up on the coffee table. The part of Rick that appreciated his coffee table not being covered in a day’s worth of mud and snow grimaced. Diego waggled his toes pointedly.
“I don’t like your shoes. They’re disgusting. Buy some new ones. And I’m not practicing lying to her.”
“Then find something you do like about me.” Diego waited while Rick thought about it. “Really? It’s not that hard, asshole.”
“It’s not that easy.” Rick couldn’t help but grin at the deeply offended expression on Diego’s face.
“Whatever, man. I don’t need this. Enjoy blowing it.”
Still, Diego sat there while Rick fiddled with the stack of cards.
“You’re loyal.” Rick didn’t look at the kid as he stared out the window. “When Jen left, I thought you would go with her. Real glad that you stayed.”
Diego cleared his throat, as uncomfortable receiving a compliment as he was giving them. “Aunt Jen didn’t appreciate you the way she should have.”
Rick opened his mouth to defend his ex, but Diego grunted sourly, cutting him off.
“You put up with a lot from me when you could have sent me to the state. Every lie I told you, every time I snuck out. All the fights I got into. You never kicked me out, even though I deserved it.”
“You were hurting,” Rick said quietly. “You’d lost a lot. You didn’t need to lose more.”
Diego didn’t answer, because they never talked about that. The car accident that had taken his family—including Jen’s sister, Diego’s mother—was a topic permanently off-limits.
Instead, he cleared his throat, and Rick continued to stare out the window until whatever Diego was feeling had been shoved as deep inside as the kid could force it. Rubbing a rough hand over his eyes, like maybe he’d had an itch to scratch, Diego leaned over and took the cards from Rick. He slouched down in the couch a little more as he read the top card.
“What are three topics you shouldn’t bring up?” Diego asked.
“Politics, religion, and exes.” Rick had been studying.
“Three topics you should bring up?”
“Her job, her interests, her future dreams and endeavors.”
Making a face, Diego said, “That sounds awful.”
Rick stood. “Yeah, but she’s awfully pretty. I’m going to have to wing the rest of these. I need to go pick her up.”
Diego didn’t wish him luck, but Rick didn’t expect him to. It was enough to know that if this went bad, there would be a bowl of cereal waiting for him when he limped back home. He’d cleaned his car, filled it with gas, and double-checked the oil and antifreeze. He’d showered, shaved, and done his best not to look like an idiot. The only thing left was not to be late. The rest…well…he didn’t know. Rick wasn’t good with this kind of thing, and he never had been. Lana Montgomery was about to realize how big of a mistake she’d made asking him out. Climbing into the driver’s seat, Rick started the engine and then sat there, hands gripping the steering wheel.
“You can do this. Her name is Lana,” Rick repeated to himself. “Just Lana.”