Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 96129 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96129 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
“You know I had a massive crush on you, right?”
He glanced at me quickly. “When you were dating Gabe?”
“Before that. Like, the biggest crush ever. I never even wore makeup unless I thought I might see you, and I only did because all the girls you hung out with wore makeup.”
“And because you couldn’t have me, you decided to date my brother?”
“No. I mean, he was really persistent.” I felt my face heat up. “And he wasn’t bringing all of his dates into the ice cream shop only to ignore them and flirt with me in front of them.”
“Gabriel is a fucking asshole.” His lip twitched as he shook his head. “I told him I liked you and he talked me out of asking you out. I swear two weeks hadn’t even passed before you started dating.”
“You’re kidding.”
“I wish I was.”
“That’s so messed up.” I felt my brows pull in as I thought back on it. “Did you hate him for it?”
“A little,” he said. “I tried to tell myself you were just a girl.”
I scowled. “You definitely had a lot of them back then.”
“And yet, I wanted you.”
My heart dipped. “Dom.”
“Like I said, I have you now, and that’s what matters.” He kissed the back of my hand and chuckled as he lowered it. “I still can’t believe you never made it to third base with him.”
“Your brother is a perfect gentleman.”
“Well, then. It’s a good thing I’m not.” He winked.
My heart dipped again.
Ugh. I was so screwed.
26
DOMINIC
We pulled up to Loren and Catalina’s Greenwich house at nine in the morning. I watched as Rosie took it all in, eyes wide, mouth dropped. She was amazed at the house, and I decided I was going to buy one on this block just for her. For us. The homes we grew up in were pretty damn big, but not like this. This was a waterfront home with an iron gate, a fountain, a sprawling front and side yard, and a backyard complete with a beautiful pool. It was a dream, for sure. It had never been my dream, but if it was Rosie’s, I’d make it a priority. Fuck. I sounded like Lorenzo. Like Gio. And I couldn’t even deny or say I hated it. As far as I was concerned, Rosie was it for me. I tried to think about what my brother would say about all of this but pushed it aside. I’d deal with it when he called, or when he finally came home. It wouldn’t make a difference anyway. I looked up at the sky and silently asked my mom to forgive me for the thought. God, I wish she was here for all of this. She’d know exactly what to say to me, to Gabe, even to Rosie. I met her on her side of the car. She was still looking around.
“This is insane,” she said, “I mean, we’ve been to big houses, but this . . . people our age own this place?”
“They’re a little older than us, but not by much.” I bit back a smile. If Loren had been out here, I’d say he was much older just to fuck with him.
“I would ask what they do for a living, but honestly, I’d rather not know.”
At that, I grinned. I threw an arm around her and headed toward the front door. “He’s a lawyer and she’s a ballerina, so not much to tell.”
She glanced up at me and the look on her face told me she didn’t believe me.
“I’m serious.” I squeezed her to my side and kissed the top of her head. Damn, her shampoo was intoxicating. Or maybe it was just her.
“And that’s where their money comes from?” she asked wearily.
“Not all their money, but you said you don’t want to hear about that part.” I pulled away and winked at her as I opened the door.
“Oh.” She shook her head as she walked in. “Do you just open the door to people’s houses? Shouldn’t we ring the doorbell?”
“Nah.” I glanced back at Marco and Nico, noticing two gift bags in Marco’s hands. “What are those?”
“Oh, I brought that,” Rosie said. “We can’t just show up at someone’s house empty-handed, especially if they’re going to feed us.”
I looked up at Marco, who shared the same look as me. He’d been here the last time I tried to bring something to Thanksgiving. I just hoped Cat wouldn’t automatically hate Rosie because of the gesture. I couldn’t imagine anyone hating Rosie though. I reached for her hand. I’d never been a hand-holder; I’d always thought it was stupid, especially inside a house. Like, what is the person going to do, run away from you, go hide in the bathroom? What was the point of holding their hand? But here I was, doing yet another thing I didn’t normally do because, with her, I wanted to do it, and yeah, I didn’t want her to run away from me. We walked into the kitchen, which smelled so good already, and found Lorenzo doing something to the turkey, Cat and Emma preparing a recipe as Isabel washed dishes and Gio dried them. They all looked so fucking domestic. Rocco and Enrique walked in through the back door, having a quiet conversation. The fact that Enrique was here wasn’t totally shocking. He and Lorenzo went way back, but he’d never spent Thanksgiving with us. The only one missing was Dean, but he lived down the block and always got here late.