Love by the Slice

by Heather Young-Nichols

  “Too much action?”

  Shaking my head I fell back against the open door folding my arms under my chest and said, “Too much unrealistic blood spurting. I mean, come on, it’s a car chase and magically the chick’s shirt gets torn off, she’s not wearing a bra and one of the bad guys heads get torn off by a car door? Not exactly believable.”

  “True, true.” He leaned against the door jamb across from me making no move to come inside. “So,” he took a deep breath letting it out slowly. I knew the sign. He was about to make his move. Oh, man. I wasn’t sure how long I thought he’d wait or if I thought maybe he wasn’t interested in me, but now I had my answer.

  His fingers stroked across my jaw bone as he slowly moved in closer. Anticipation flooded my body. Would I enjoy it? Would he? Would this change the whole friend zone thing? It wasn’t the normal kind of buzz I got right before a first kiss, but I tried pushing the thought into an unknown portion of my brain.

  When his lips brushed across mine softly, he paused then put a more effort behind it. I thought it might change my mind. At his insistence, my lips parted slightly giving him access and everything felt wrong. He had some skill as a kisser and on the surface, it could’ve been pretty good but it was awkward. I was awkward—stiff, holding something back and no matter how much I tried to push myself I couldn’t fully get out of my shell. He tasted wrong. My moves felt forced. Even the way his hands gripped my face didn’t feel right.

  It wasn’t because he did anything wrong. He was wrong. He wasn’t Gio and that wasn’t his fault but he wasn’t who my body demanded he be. It was all my fault for still longing for a man who’d crushed me. I pulled away quickly and words fell out of my mouth before I could make sense of them.

  “I’m sorry. I can’t…I just…It isn’t…” I took in a big breath of air then blew it out forcefully and started again. “Calvin.” He took a small step back. “I’m not ready for this and I know it sounds lame out loud. It isn’t you…man…” A hard breath escaped my mouth. “Could I sound more cliché?” His face changed from surprise to amusement. “Ok…you know I recently ended a relationship but I didn’t tell you it was one I thought I’d always be in, if you know what I mean, and it ended. And it sucked. I know eventually I’ll move on, but I’m not there yet. It has nothing to do with you.”

  “Ok.” He shrugged.

  “Really? Ok?”

  “Yeah. I’m pretty perceptive, you know. I figured this—” His hand indicated the two of us. “—Was turning into a friend thing but thought I’d regret it if I didn’t at least try to kiss you.”

  “And?” I bit my lips together waiting for what I hoped would be a playful answer.

  “Like kissing my sister. Or what I imagine would be like kissing my sister since I’ve never actually kissed her because that would be disgusting.”

  A full belly laugh exploded out of me. He got it. “Thanks, Calvin “We can still hang out and stuff, right?” he asked stepping away from me to a more appropriate distance.

  “Course.” A quick hug before I sent him on his way made me pretty happy to have a new friend.

  ***

  Our place was hopping. The season seems to stretch out a little longer each year and by late September things weren’t slowing down yet. I think we had the weather holding out to thank for that. Warm summer air continued to inhabit Harbor Point but we all knew the cooler temperatures were coming. They show up out of the blue and the tourists would scatter like rats from a ship. Thankfully, we never got much snow. Cold but no snow. Weekends were even worse than weekdays and being a Friday night, I wasn’t surprised.

  Everyone wanted to eke out every last drop of fun for the year.

  With summer having been busier than normal, Gramps looked completely worn out and I made him let me take more night shifts, especially on the busy nights. Course, I took more day shifts as well because really, what did I have to do? A big fat nothing except the occasional hanging out with Bailey or Calvin, though Calvin tapered off a little now that he knew it wasn’t going anywhere and he had school to keep him busy, too. And I liked the idea of Gramps having some downtime. It made me happy. Even if he did pop in here and there when he wasn’t supposed to. Like tonight. I knew he still lurked somewhere in the building even though he should’ve left hours ago.

  Spewing out a few orders to some of the wait staff, I turned to my newest filled table. Thankfully, Carly, Toby, and Hunter could still work weekends even though school started weeks ago. Most of the summer staff had gone back to school or where ever they came from, but those three decided to try juggling the high school thing and a job. One less thing to deal with.

  “So, have you decided what you…” My eye drifted from the order pad to the customer and all words left my brain. Gio sat at the table alone, his dark eyes taking in every feature of mine. My heart thudded against my ribs making it hard to catch my breath. I hate to say it, hated to even think it but his face was a sight for sore eyes. I greedily looked him over, wanting to verify that he was really there in front me—wanted to see if anything about him had changed. He looked the same—seemed the same. My mouth dried out as I looked at him and he looked at me. We were there, locked on each other as my breathing quickened but his seemed to stay steady. No matter what he did, I missed the playfulness in his eyes over the last two months. I couldn’t just stand there staring. I had to force myself to say something.

  “What are you doing here?” My voice wavered but I’m not sure if it was relief of or anger or a little of both.

  “I came to talk to you.” He sat straighter on the chair bracing his hands on the edge of the table. Instead, I went another way.

  I could tell him I hated him, but I didn’t. Could say I didn’t want to see him, but that wasn’t true either. I wanted to tell this gorgeous man he no longer affected me, but that clearly wasn’t true either. So many things I could or wanted to say and all would have been lies. My hands trembled so I folded them over my chest. I didn’t want him to see that. I swallowed hard as he watched me, waiting for a response.

  Everything about the way he carried himself, even though he sat at a small table alone, screamed how sorry he felt for what he’d done. He’d told me as much as well, a long time ago. I believed him even then, but sorry didn’t make things right.

  I forced myself to remember the anger I’d felt when I found out why Gio had come to town. I figured the anger would drown out the relief that flooded me at seeing him there in my personal space. The anger might allow me to brush him off even if I didn’t totally want to.

  “Listen, even if I wanted to, I’m busy.” It was the truth. “Did you want to order something?”

  He nodded then took his sweet little old lady time coming up with his order. I offered to come back several times but he said it wasn’t necessary. I think he tried to keep me there as long as he could. Instead, I tapped the pen against the pad in a quick rhythm that sounded a lot like the Jeopardy theme song. He must’ve heard it too because a grin played at the edges of his lips.

  He also ate like a nursing home patient without teeth, sitting there over two hours. I kept reminding him I still didn’t have time to stop and chat. Before I knew it, I turned around and he was gone leaving money on the table for his bill. Too much money in fact. His total came to about twenty bucks and he left a hundred. I would kick his ass the next time he came in because an eighty dollar tip was insulting. But since the money was there, I split it between the other three servers taking none for myself. I didn’t want money from him.

  Luckily things dropped off half an hour before closing and we were able to do some of the clean-up while we were still open. I got to send everyone home ten minutes early because we could all use it about then. I put the deposit together quickly and headed out hitting every light switch along the way.

  Gio leaned against the bench in front of the restaurant waiting for me like he did all those times when we were together. I came to an abrupt stop when I saw him and my breath caught in my t
hroat. I pulled my brows in as I narrowed in on him. My chest tightened as I tried to figure out why he showed up. Biting the inside of my cheek, I turned the key in the lock, sighed and spoke without looking at him.

  “What’re you doing here?” I asked through clenched teeth yet I turned to begin the walk home.

  “Making sure you get home safely.” His steps fell in time with mine, but he walked much too close for comfort. Yet it was completely comfortable.

  “Do you know how many times I’ve made this walk alone the last couple of months?” I asked with a sideways glance.

  Gio’s eyes searched the sky, for what I didn’t know. “I do. I’ve thought about it every single night.” Smooth, Gio.

  Sighing, I asked, “So, what did you want to talk about earlier?” Might as well get it out of the way.

  “Really? You’re going hear me out?”

  “It’s not a long walk. It’s not like you’re going to go away if I say no. And because I can’t think of a better way to show you I’m over all this drama. I don’t want it anymore and I’ve been doing well. So…speak.”

  I had been doing well. At least compared to how I’d been when we first broke up. He didn’t need to know I tried dating and failed. He didn’t need or deserve the details. And some of the anger had dissipated. The hurt lingered but I figured it would always be there even if one day it faded into the background. I could learn to live with that.

  “I helped put my parents in jail.”

  “What?” I stopped to be able to look at him. I had expected many things out of his beautiful mouth, that wasn’t one of them.

  “Yeah … Sal, Gemma and I … ”

  “Woah. Start at the beginning.” I started back up at a much slower rate because this, this I wanted to hear.

  “After I left, the three of us got together and decided we couldn’t live like that anymore. Didn’t want to live like that. So, we put a plan together and now they’re in jail. His parents, too. I mean it’s a country club and it’ll only be for a while but it’s something.”

  After a long moment of silence, I said, “Well, they deserve it.”

  “Yeah, they do.” A hand went through those slightly longer dark locks which looked to be the only thing that had changed about him. He’d let his hair grow. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t make them pay for what they need to. What they had us do for years…that was their worst offense, but all we could get them on were some shady deals and business practices.”

  “At least it’s something.” We fell into a slightly uncomfortable silence before something else occurred to me. “Wait. It hasn’t been that long. How had there been a trial and everything? Had it been in the news?” I had to admit I’d been avoiding all of them since he left. Mostly because it seemed every time I tried to catch up there was something about his company I didn’t want to hear. Obviously, I should have listened.

  “No trial. It was in the news but we had our shit together so they pled out with the DA. Either that or the entire world would have found out they pimped their kids for profit. And it’s all because of you.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  I snorted. “Right.” Because I was some sort of special cog in the wheel of progress or something.

  “Seriously. If I hadn’t met you everything would’ve stayed exactly the same. Sal’s never been in love. He’s never even asked a girl out just because he wanted to. I hadn’t either except for the first girl I had sex with and you. Gemma has never dated either.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s not like we could have regular relationships when we had to…” He took a deep breath. He didn’t have to say the words. We both knew what he was saying. “Anyway, defying the family could’ve had some scary consequences. Still, might.”

  I asked about the company. He said Sal took over as CEO, being the oldest it was the logical choice even if only a few months separated them in age. Gemma and Gio would remain silent partners. They’d reap the profit and have to help out occasionally, but the papers their parents signed were drawn up that way. The four elder trinity members gave all their rights to the company, stock, profit, all of it away. Gio said it was the least the kids were owed. And for the time being, The Trinity Corporation would not be focusing on expansion. So, he’d been busy.

  My mouth hung open, probably unattractively and I focused on the ground. My stomach clenched as I rubbed my hands up and down my arms to remove a nonexistent chill.

  “You’re serious?” I asked. I couldn’t believe everything he told me.

  “So fucking serious, Bianca.”

  I thought about everything he told me for another minute before saying, “I’m glad you three are getting your lives back.”

  Gio shook his head. “Not getting our lives back. Claiming the ones we should’ve had in the first place.”

  I was speechless. On the one hand, I wanted the three of them to have the normal life. On the other, I didn’t think it mattered where he and I were concerned. Just because his situation was what it was now, he still broke my heart and made me question my own instincts.

  We stood about two feet apart in front of my apartment. I puffed my cheeks full of air then blew it out.

  “I’m going to go, Gio.”

  He nodded and blinked about a dozen times.

  “Can we talk again?” he asked when I turned my back to him.

  I didn’t answer him. Mostly because I wasn’t sure what my answer would be, what it should be.

  Instead, I kept upped the speed in my step, got inside and shut the door behind me. The next night, another busy Saturday, it didn’t even surprise me when I found Gio sitting in my section. This time he ordered right away saving me the frustration of waiting for him. And when I locked up, there he stood outside leaning on that damn bench. On the outside, I put on the annoyed front. On the inside, something jumped a little just seeing him.

  “So is this going to be an every night thing? Because Gramps will love the company tomorrow night.” I said after pulling the key from the door.

  Laughing, Gio shook his head. It felt as if a weight had been lifted. This anger and pain I told people I had already let go of, I hadn’t. But it felt like it began to subside. At least a little. Each time he appeared a little less lurked inside me.

  “Ok.” He cleared his throat then adjusted his weight from side to side as we walked like he was trying to get comfortable. “I thought I’d try something.” I gave him a raised eyebrow. He said, “I could tell you, again, how sorry I am but you already know that. So, my name is Giovanni Antonio Diamati. I have a sister Gemma who is still in college in Illinois. I—”

  “What are you doing?” I asked shaking my head but not looking directly at him. Afraid of what I’d see if I did or what I’d feel.

  “You need to know me. I mean the me me. I never lied about myself—the real stuff. But I did keep things from you. I want to rectify that.”

  “It doesn’t matter anymore.”

  He grabbed my arm, stopping me in my tracks and spun me to face him. “I want it to matter.”

  “My grandparents started The Trinity Corporation thirty years ago. My parents, aunt and uncle too over ten years ago.”

  I turned away from him and kept walking toward the bank.

  “Where my grandparents had been happy with the corporation as it was, my parents wanted to expand quickly. I’m not sure who came up with the idea of using us the way they did but at some point, it was decided.”

  I knew all of that but it was different hearing it from his mouth. He didn’t sound like someone who loved what he did. He sounded technical, matter-of-fact, a side of him I hadn’t heard before.

  “I started working for them when I was seventeen.”

  “What?” I stopped to look at him.

  Gio shoved his hands in his pockets and dropped his gaze to the ground then nodded.

  I started took the four steps to the bank slot.

  “Wait,” I said dropping the night deposit in the box before heading tow
ard my place. “Are you saying they pimped you out at seventeen?”

  “Sort of.” He pulled a hand out to scratch the corner of his jaw where a days’ worth of stubble sat. A move I’d come to recognize as something he did when he’s uncomfortable. “I was encouraged to date the daughter of their friend. They wanted me to gain some experience.”

  “Nice.” I snorted again. “So, did you enjoy it?”

  Gio groaned. “I’m a guy and I was seventeen. I didn’t fully understand what they were going to have us do because Sal was close in age, they’d already made a mistake with him and … I’m a guy.”

  I knew the answer to my next question before I asked it but still, I had to. Some small part of me needed confirmation. “Have you ever had sex because you wanted to?”

  “A couple of times before, but more recently yes, every time.” Gio nudged his elbow into my arm. Yeah, yeah. “I hate that I’m telling you this stuff.”

  “Then don’t. You don’t have to.” I tried shrugging it off as if I didn’t care even though I knew he’d see right through that. I wanted to know everything about him.

  “After everything that’s happened, the least I could do is tell you everything.” We were quiet for two blocks before he continued. “I went to NYU. I’m closest to my cousin Sal, although Gemma and I are trying to rectify that. Ummm…” He thought for a moment. “I’ve only been in love once. Great girl. Beautiful, smart, funny—”

  “Flattery won’t help you.”

  “Doesn’t fall for my bullshit.”

  I laughed as we got to my apartment. This was the Gio I fell for. He really had been himself, as much as he could’ve been, the whole time we were together. I wasn’t sure if knowing he’d been himself changed anything but at least I knew for sure coming to Harbor Point to seduce me into helping Gramps sell his restaurant wasn’t his idea.

  ***

  He showed up every day I worked for the next week, walked me to the bank and then home or home if I didn’t close, giving me little glimpses into his life before we met. He didn’t seem to leave anything out. On Wednesday he reached pretty far back in his storytelling.