“Umm. Really? Already?”
“Yeah, I promised my little sister I’d be home to read to her.”
It’s a lie. Lizzy can read chapter books to herself now. At nine, she’s been displaying signs of being Carl Manning’s child.
“Okay,” my date says disappointedly.
We stand and start out of the restaurant. If he spent more time talking to my face and not my chest, this night might have ended differently. I might have let him put one of my nipples in his mouth.
I smile to myself as my phone starts to ring in my hand as if my thoughts were heard. I send it to voice mail as I climb into my date’s car.
Is it bad I don’t remember his name? He climbs in behind the wheel and glances over at my chest and I don’t feel bad at all. My shirt isn’t even that tight or low. If it were, I wouldn’t blame him.
I suck my teeth when my phone rings again. “Excuse me, I need to take this,” I murmur.
Maybe this is Ava. I wouldn’t want her to think I don’t want to take her calls. I answer and lift the phone to my ear.
“Hello?”
“Why haven’t you been answering my calls?”
“You’re not my dad.”
“Don’t play with me, Ny. Where are you?”
“I’m headed home from a date. How can I help you?”
“Put your phone on speaker.”
“What?”
“Metti il telefono in vivavoce. Do you understand me now?”
I pull the phone from my ear to make sure I’m hearing correctly. Gio has lost his damn mind with all that bass in his voice. This is the first time he’s called me in over two years, and he wants to boss me around. I rant in my head but place the phone on speaker.
“Okay, now what?”
“Whoever the fuck you are, don’t say shit, just listen. You better take my girl home right the fuck now. I know five hundred and sixteen ways to commit a murder and get away with it, but I love to learn new shit and I don’t like to repeat myself. Don’t become a lesson, cocksucker.”
“Are you for real?” I snarl.
“Fuck around and find out, Ny.”
“I’m hanging up.”
“Yeah, all right. Your ass better be home in ten and call me b—”
I hang up before he can finish. I look at my date and roll my eyes. He looks like he just shit his pants. Yeah, he’s not my type, but that shit Gio just pulled has my nipples so hard they hurt.
I bite my lip and smile. However, I don’t plan to call him back. Let him stew and see how it feels.
I’ve got something for him.
Jace
I stand in the corner of Gio’s room up against the wall, my arms folded over my chest and one leg crossed over the other as I watch him on the phone with Ny. His face has turned red with anger. This isn’t good. He was already in a shit mood.
“She’s on a fucking date,” he seethes after hanging up the phone.
“She wasn’t going to sit around forever.”
“Shut the fuck up, Captain Obvious.”
I hold my hands up. I knew this was coming. I haven’t been to see Nyla in so long it physically hurts.
I know I’m needed here but I also think Gio has been keeping me from her to keep us from getting too close in his absence. I get it but he’s ruining this for us. Many would probably wonder why I’m obsessed with Nyla and have waited on the sidelines like this.
They’re my family. All I’ve ever wanted or known. This is something I know I can have.
I just have to be patient and do my part. Where my family is from, this isn’t uncommon. Denmark was part of the communal revival movement, my dad was very active in the community, even after his breakup with Ava and their unit.
It’s what I know. After my parents were killed. I longed for a family of my own, a safe place, love—and that has always been Gio and Nyla. So I will wait and hope Gio doesn’t destroy it before it comes together.
He waves his hand in the air as if waving off the call and his anger. This gets my attention because his mood changes right before my eyes. The calculating Gio comes out.
I move to sit in the chair facing him as he sits on the foot of his bed. The video game we were going to play is forgotten.
“This Ming, you still think she’s a fit? Is she still in Ny’s life?”
“Yes, she’s the only one you liked. They’re still friends. They skate together.”
“Skate?”
“Yeah, Nyla took up roller derby. She and Ming are on a team together.”
I watch him take in that information and bank it. It’s amazing to watch him work. More so because we think alike.
“Do you think you can get her to come here?”