Murders & Romance: A Psychic Detective Romantic Mystery (Isaac Taylor Mysteries Book 5) by Lashell Collins (ready player one ebook .TXT) 📗

Before he even pulled onto the street, he was already giving his nephew an earful.

“Could you have been any ruder tonight?”

“Would it have killed you to smile at least once? Or maybe pretend to have a good time?”

“Jada was being so nice to you. Couldn’t you have responded in more than one syllable grunts?”

“Everything that came out of Charlie’s mouth, you pounced on. You never gave the kid a break!”

Mateo never responded.

Not one word.

He just slumped down in the seat and looked out the window.

By the time he pulled into the driveway of their house, Pete felt like a heel for laying into him. Jada was right. He had to stop trying so hard. And he had to stop making Mateo the bad guy. They would never become the foursome he wanted if Mateo felt bad about it, right?

“Ah, you’re home. Como estuvo la pelicula?” Julieta asked as soon as they walked into the house. How was the movie?

“It was good,” Mateo responded in his typical teenaged monotone. He walked over and kissed his grandmother on the cheek. “I’m going to bed.”

He turned for the stairs without another word.

Pete watched him go and flopped down on the couch.

“Algo salió mal?”

He stared at her.

“Did something go bad? Uh, yeah… I think so. The boys bickered and argued all night long. The only time they didn’t was during the movie. They fought over everything, even what pizza toppings we should order, and which ninja in the movie was the greatest.”

Julieta smiled. “Sounds like they had a great time.”

Was she for real?

“That is exactly what Jada said. But the bickering drove me nuts! I couldn’t relax and have a good time because I was so worried about their constant arguing.”

“Mijo, kids are just like adults. They need to feel each other out a bit. And they do that by bickering and pushing each other’s buttons. It’s how they relate to the world and each other while they’re learning how to become adults. Remember the way you and Paulina used to argue?”

Those words brought a torrent of memories, good and bad, rushing to his mind, and he couldn’t help but smile.

Back in the day, his big sister had been his best friend in the world. But there were times when they would fight like dogs and cats from hell — screaming at each other, bickering, trading punches and barbs.

He stood and bent over to kiss Julieta on the cheek.

“Gracias, mamá.”

“For what?”

“For reminding me what it’s like to be a kid. Good night.”

“Buenos noches, mijo.” Goodnight my son.

Pete left her and went upstairs. He stopped at Mateo’s door and knocked.

“Yeah?”

He opened the door and stuck his head in.

“Hey. Can I come in for a minute?”

Mateo sat up from his reclining position on top of the covers and lowered his headphones. He gave Pete a withering look, and Pete closed the door behind him and pulled over the straight-backed chair from Mateo’s desk. He turned it around backwards and straddled it to sit down.

“Listen… I want to apologize for my rant on the way home. I want you to know that it had nothing to do with you. That was all about me being a nervous wreck over this whole thing.”

Mateo gave him that same expressionless stare he’d given Jada, and Pete watched it slowly morph into curiosity.

“What whole thing? Why are you nervous?”

Pete sighed. “I just need to remember that, just because I love Jada, I can’t expect you and Charlie to get along right off the bat. Or at all, really. No matter how much I may want you to.”

Mateo twisted his lips and looked down at the bedspread, and Pete could see his mind working. He really wished the kid would be more forthcoming with his thoughts because trying to guess was getting Pete nowhere.

“I like Charlie okay.”

It was a mumble delivered with the signature shoulder shrug, and Pete was left open-mouth-shocked.

“You do?”

He could hear the blatant disbelief in his own voice.

“Yeah. I suppose he’s like an annoying little brother, maybe. I always thought it might be kinda cool to have one. Tonight I got to know what it’d be like. It was kinda fun.”

Pete stared at him, still trying to understand exactly what had happened tonight.

“Wait, so… are you telling me that you actually enjoyed tonight? You had fun?”

“Charlie and me had a lot of fun. That’s why I didn’t understand when you started yelling at me on the way home. I didn’t know what I did wrong.”

Mateo sounded forlorn, and that was a punch to Pete’s heart.

“Charlie and I.”

“Charlie and I,” Mateo repeated.

“And you didn’t do anything wrong, Mateo. I wasn’t yelling at you. I mean, I was, but… But I’m sorry about it. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad.”

Mateo looked at him with what Pete could only describe as puppy dog eyes, and it did something to him.

“Sooo… how come Charlie knows so much about police stuff, and how you’re a good shot and all that? You never tell me that kind of stuff.”

Mateo’s question was laced with a hefty dose of jealousy, and Pete looked him in the eyes.

“Well, that’s because Charlie’s always asking me questions about being a police officer. He wants to hear my stories about different things like the shooting range, and what it’s like to arrest people, and if I’ve ever had someone shoot at me. Things like that. Lately, you don’t seem to care much for my job, so I don’t talk about it with you.”

“Oh.”

Mateo looked down at the bedspread again, and Pete watched him.

“I think your job is cool.”

“You do?”

He found that hard to believe. But then he remembered the way Mateo had questioned Ike during dinner, asking him all sorts of police related questions.

Mateo nodded.

“Some of my friends… well, my old friends. They didn’t like cops. But I think that’s because they were always doing bad stuff.”

“I think you’re right about that. And I gotta say, I’m glad you’re not hanging out with those guys