Despite Miguel’s protests, Dominic helped him finish his shopping.

On some level, he sympathized with the guy. Not only were his arms useless, but he was being forced to work with someone he couldn’t stand. Dominic had watched Miguel struggling to try and figure out how to contribute to their partnership. It was nice to see him out here making the effort to figure things out.

“So listen, I can’t sleep and I haven’t had breakfast yet. Why don’t we head back to my place and test your ingredients while I make us something to eat?” suggested Dominic as they left the store together.

“I already ate,” Miguel answered without hesitation.

“Fine. You don’t have to eat. We can still work on your list.” Dominic was honestly trying to make an effort. Even after everything that had happened between them, he was willing to at least try. Every time he suggested something he felt like Miguel was determined to fight him on it.

“You didn’t seem interested in my plan a few hours ago. What’s so different now?”

“Why’s it such a big deal? I’m trying to meet you halfway here. I’m honestly trying, Miguel. Maybe if you weren’t being such a combative ass you’d realize that.” Dominic turned away and began walking up the street back towards his apartment.

“You’ve got my groceries,” Miguel called out after him, sprinting several steps to catch up. “I bought those myself.”

“Good job, do you want a sticker?” Dominic’s good mood was eroding quickly. The slender little omega with the piercing green eyes was getting under his skin again.

“What I want is for you to be at least a little bit honest with me.” Miguel moved to stand in front of Dominic. “Why fight me on a plan and then suddenly you’re willing to go along with it?”

“Why does there need to be a reason?” Dominic sidestepped him. “I saw you in the store buying the ingredients. I saw your list. I realized you were making an effort. I decided to see if I could help. Since, you know, we’re supposed to be a team.” He rolled his eyes and started walking again.

“That’s really it?” Miguel sounded unconvinced.

“I’m a simple guy.” Dominic shrugged. “I take life as it comes. Planning everything out isn’t really my style. But since you’re going to the trouble I thought I’d offer to help. If you’re not interested in the help, then fine. Do it yourself.”

“Last night...”

“Last night I was pushing you to figure things out. You were just standing there watching me, and it was getting on my nerves. I felt like you were just using me for my arms. So I pushed you. You can’t physically cook, and if you’re going to sit there watching me cook every single night for the next four months it’s going to drive me crazy. So you needed to figure out what else you could contribute.” Dominic glanced sidelong at Miguel. There was a thoughtful expression on the little omega’s face, but he didn’t speak.

They walked in silence until they reached Main Street.

La Bonita had begun to burst into life. The crowds were starting to grow, and people were beginning to drift through the shops. The smell of breakfast was now thick in the air and somewhere nearby a steel drum band had begun to play.

“Are you coming with me or not?” asked Dominic as he held Miguel’s bag of groceries out for him to take. They were now standing at the foot of the stairs leading up to Dominic’s apartment.

Miguel seemed to hesitate. He glanced around for a moment as if looking for the answer in the faces of the strangers walking by.

“Do you remember when tío Isaac took us fishing?” asked Miguel. “We were out on the water for hours and hadn’t caught anything.”

Dominic clenched his jaw. They’d agreed to leave the past behind, hadn’t they? Bringing up Tío like this was clearly a violation of that agreement. Still, he bit back the bile in his throat. “I remember fighting with you all day long. You threw my favorite pair of shoes overboard.”

“Yeah, but that was after you called my mother a whore and said my dad wasn’t my real dad,” countered Miguel.

“I was just repeating what I heard my dad say.” Dominic’s grip on the handles of the plastic bags tightened. Why was he bringing all of this up now? That was ancient history.

“Just...the point I was trying to make was that you and I have always fought. Even before everything that happened with Tío. We’re two very different people.” Miguel looked back at Dominic with an unreadable expression on his face. “That’s why every memory I have of you has to do with us fighting, bickering, or competing in some way.”

“And?” Dominic was doing his best to try and look past the fact that Miguel had completely broken one of the founding principles of their agreement. He was trying to avoid the rush of anger flooding through him at Miguel’s constant references to Dominic’s uncle. It was growing more difficult with each passing second.

“And, I just think that maybe fighting is what we do. We bickered, but then we beat up the bullies on the playground. We’d fight, but then we’d spend the whole day exploring the forest.” Miguel looked up at him and offered a slight smile. “We fight, we move on. We’ve spent so much time being angry at each other that I think we forgot that our arguments don’t have to mean that our partnership is doomed.”

“All I asked was whether or not you were coming upstairs.” Dominic rolled his eyes. “I didn’t need a trip down memory lane. Which, if you remember, is something we explicitly agreed not to do.”

“I just realized that no matter what happens we’re going to fight. I wanted to make sure we both understood that that doesn’t mean everything is doomed every time we disagree.” Miguel frowned as he reached for his grocery bags.

Dominic jerked the bags away before he could grab them. “I’m only going to say this once. I’m not going to repeat it again. If you want this to work then you’re not going to bring up Tío again. He thought of you as family, but you lost that right a long time ago. We agreed we’d start from zero and move forward without our past burdens. If you violate that agreement again, I’m pulling out of the partnership, and there will be no second chances.”

Silence settled over them as they stared at one another.

“Can I have my groceries?” asked Miguel, daring to break the silence after several moments had passed.

Dominic grudgingly passed the bag to him.

“I’m going home,” announced Miguel, as soon as his bag was firmly in hand. “Get some sleep. We’re going to have a lot to do tonight.”

* * *

Their little spat outside had wound Dominic up. Even after eating breakfast, he was still wide awake. He lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling, and trying to force Miguel out of his head. The argumentative little jerk had had the audacity to bring up Tío to his face. Even after what had happened in the cemetery the other day. Even after they had agreed not to talk about it anymore. Did he have no shame?

The image of Miguel’s soft little smile after making his point drifted through Dominic’s thoughts. He ground his teeth and pushed it away.

After all of that, Miguel had finished it all off by giving him an order. Dominic had been blindsided and unable to respond before Miguel walked away. Shouting after him through the growing crowd of strangers hadn’t seemed like a good idea either. So all of the pent-up anger inside of him had been given no place to go.

Despite all of that, however, Miguel had had a solid point. They’d fought almost constantly as children. There were very few instances that Dominic could remember that didn’t involve some sort of minor squabble.

All of that was only helped along by the long-standing hatred that their fathers had towards one another. No one was truly certain what had caused their original argument, they likely didn’t even remember, but they’d passed their mutual distrust off to their sons. It was only because of Tío that they’d become friends at all.

Dominic shook away those thoughts and rolled over, trying to get comfortable.

Right now, none of that mattered as much as winning this competition. He could finally open his own restaurant and fulfill the dream he’d shared with Tío so long ago. It was a dream that tío Isaac had tried to contribute to when he died. While the money he’d left his nephew hadn’t made it to him, the sentiment still remained.

He would win this money for his uncle. He’d open the restaurant for him. He’d do everything in his power to redeem the man that had done so much for him. And he’d do it all with the help of the man that originally condemned him.

The irony was not lost on Dominic.

* * *

Miguel arrived at the bar thirty minutes before closing. He looked bright and chipper. Freshly showered and well rested. Definitely not at all how Dominic was currently feeling. He’d struggled to sleep. When he finally did, the heat in the apartment had woken him up. Even with the fans running, sleeping inside during the day was going to be next to impossible.

Not that he was willing to admit that to Miguel.

“It seems like you two are already getting into a routine,” commented Peter as Miguel took a seat at the bar. The newsman was already well into his second beer.

“We’re working on it,” said Miguel. He was clearly being guarded around Peter, unaware of Peter’s policy not to write on anything overheard after his first beer. Something about not wanting to get a reputation for being a blathering drunk.

“I haven’t seen your father around lately,” Peter said, changing the subject and directing the question towards Dominic. “Is everything okay?”

Dominic was fairly certain that his father was one of Peter’s only friends.

“I think he’s been avoiding the bar,” said Dominic with a shrug. “I think he’s angry with me for teaming up with Miguel.”

“I may have to stop by the marina and knock him around a little,” said Peter with a slight chuckle. “The two of you teaming up has generated huge interest. I was talking to one of the hotel managers this morning, and he said that reservations for the week of the competition are almost completely full up already. That usually doesn’t happen until at least December.”

“That may have more to do with Mike than with us,” said Miguel with a sigh. “I was looking him up online, he’s a pretty big deal back in the United States. His social media accounts have huge followings. Pretty sure he’s generating a lot of interest on his own.”

“Maybe, but the piece we ran on you two was picked up by several other news outlets. It’s spread like wildfire, and a contact of mine in one of the networks in the US says they’re already planning on sending someone out to cover what they’re calling ‘The Biggest Barbecue Showdown Ever,’” explained Peter.

“Either way, dad doesn’t see it like that,” said Dominic, redirecting the conversation back to the original topic. “He’s sulking because he thinks I’ve put my own interests ahead of family honor by associating with a Ramírez. His words, not mine.”

Peter frowned. “So why does he hate them?”

“I’d rather not have my family’s personal struggles blasted all over the front page of the paper, thank you,” interjected Miguel before Dominic could reply.

“You don’t have to worry about that,” chuckled Peter before finishing his beer. “I’m not about to air your dirty laundry in my paper. Your life isn’t that interesting.”

Dominic suppressed a smile as he watched Miguel shift uncomfortably in his seat.

“As far as I’m aware, our fathers had some sort of argument in the past that they never got over,” Dominic said at last. He poured Peter’s third and final beer before continuing. “I’m not sure even they remember what it was originally about. My dad would never tell me about it, even when I asked. Miguel?”

Miguel shook his head slowly, clearly reluctant to volunteer any more information. “My dad never said anything either,” he said at last. “I think Tío mentioned something about high school once as a possible source.”

“Tío?” Peter questioned, looking between the two of them for an answer.

“My uncle, Isaac.” explained Dominic. “He kind of took us both under his wing when we were kids.”

“I take it he’s no longer around then.” Peter again shifted his gaze between the two of them. The mood had clearly changed. Miguel was avoiding everyone’s gaze and seemed to be trying to make himself as small as possible.

Dominic took a deep breath before replying. “He passed away a long time ago. Probably about three or four years before you came to the island, Peter.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Peter said solemnly. If he had any other questions, he didn’t ask them. Miguel breathed an audible sigh of relief, and the tension in the air lessened somewhat.

“I’ll head over to the marina tomorrow to try and talk some sense into your father,” continued Peter. “He shouldn’t be avoiding his son because of some decades-old argument. Family needs to be cherished.”