“Why hasn’t he said it?” she asks.
I know some people might think it’s crazy that Gia wants him to say I love you when they haven’t been dating that long, but I’ve seen them together. Hell, after the past twenty-four hours if I keep feeling like I’m feeling, I’m going to be where she is soon enough.
“Maybe saying those words isn’t so easy for him. Not all of us grow up in families where saying I love you comes out as easy as breathing.”
Gia’s family is affectionate, and she and Yana are the only two people to ever say those words to me. I’ve never heard my parents say it to each other, let alone to me.
Her head snaps to look at me. “Oh god, you’re right.” Understanding dawns on her. “I should have said it to him the first time I felt it. I bet no one has ever said it to him before.” I hear the sadness for him in her voice and it makes me wonder what kind of life Marco had and if it wasn’t far off from mine.
“You’ll be the first person to say it to him, but that’s really special.” I try and help her see the silver lining. I know she’ll say it enough to him to make up for years of him never hearing it. That’s how Gia is.
“I’m going to marry him,” she adds as she nods.
“God, I love you,” I laugh and squeeze her.
“Love you too.” She nudges me with her shoulder.
“Are you going out with your man now?”
She sighs and tucks her feet under her. “He told me he was going to a business dinner if I had plans, but he was going to call me after.”
“And by call, you know he means show up here, right?”
“I do.” She smiles. “He loves me. Maybe he doesn’t know that’s what this is, but he does. I’m so stupid.”
“No, you’re not. It can be hard not seeing where someone is coming from when you grow up differently. For all you know he might be holding back on saying it because he thinks it might scare you. He’s already pushing in pretty fast.” I can’t wait for him to meet her family. I want to be a fly on that wall. I’m so sure Marco can handle them that I bet he’ll be one of them in no time.
Gia picks up her phone and I know she’s texting him. My phone chimes at the same time and I grab it off the side table.
Aiden: I’m sorry, sweetheart, but I have to cancel. I forgot I told a friend I’d go to an event with them tonight.
“He’s cancelling.” I drop my phone in my lap, knowing I should tell him it’s fine. If I’d had plans tonight I would’ve forgotten all about them too when he asked me to dinner. I’ve been so focused on that moment that the rest of the world faded away. I can only hope that’s what happened to him too and he isn’t blowing me off.
Gia grabs my phone and reads the text. She doesn’t say anything as she studies it for a moment. I know she’s overthinking it just like everything in her life.
“I want to call him a dick, but that kiss you told me about was way too hot for him to be uninterested.”
My phone chimes again in her hand and she gets to see it before me. “He’s not lying.”
She hands me my phone back and I read what he’s sent me.
Aiden: Can I call you after?
“Men hate talking on the phone, so if he wants to call you after, he’s serious,” she says with a confident smile.
My phone starts to ring in my hand and Aiden’s name comes up. “He said after.” I show Gia it’s him and for a second, I hesitate.
“Answer it,” she orders, and I slide my finger across the screen.
“Hey,” I say as I pick up. Hey? Really? Did that sound as lame in my head as it did out loud?
“You didn’t respond, I needed to hear your voice.”
His voice reminds me of the first moment I met him and he was snapping at Christian. I don’t know why, but it makes me smile and heats me up all over.
“I was about to, but you didn’t give me much time,” I laugh, and enjoy how impatient he was for my attention. It isn’t something I’m used to.
“Tell me I can stop by afterwards.” This time he isn’t asking and his need to see me makes me smile.
“Stop by for what? A booty call?” Gia asks and apparently her hearing is as good as Elvis’s. I smack her thigh and she lets out an overexaggerated shriek.
Aiden chuckles. “I won’t cross the threshold of the front door. I only want a goodnight kiss.”