He’d driven the whole distance without knowing what he was doing, his chest so tight he couldn’t breathe. It was just one night they’d be apart, but it hurt like the beginning of the end. Tomas knew how his brother would react. He’d seen it that first time, when he was fourteen. Felt it still like a sting across his cheek. The lights were on at his parents’ house. Tomas slipped out of his truck and got his and Jesse’s bags from the back. The last thing he wanted to do was deal with his parents. Chardonnay and Sushi scraped and barked in the backyard, yowling intermittently. Tomas would have to bring Char in for the night to calm her down. Right as he pushed the key into his lock, his parents’ porch light turned on. Tomas pushed his door open, trying to avoid them, but a voice rang out from his parents’ front door. “Tomas,” Diego called to him. He jogged down the concrete path to the driveway.
