Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 78011 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78011 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
“That’s crazy. It’s too much,” I tell him.
“How much do you make a year?” he asks me, and I glare at him. “I can tell you, and so can your father, I make a shit load of money.” I don’t say anything because what I want to tell him is to go fuck himself. “So that settles that.”
I start getting up. “Don’t throw your money around. You may make a shitload, but I make pretty decent money.”
“Yes, and you’ve taken care of our child for the past six years by yourself. Let me do my share.” He gets up, looking at me.
I throw my hands in the air. “I’m not going to win,” I say more as a statement and not a question.
“I’d like for him to start spending time here,” he says softly, and although I knew it was coming, it still hurts my heart. “It might be hard at the beginning for him to adjust but—”
“We can start this weekend,” I tell him. “How about he spends Saturday night here?”
“Um …” He looks down at the floor and then up.
“Oh, sorry, I didn’t even think that you might have a date or something.” I want to swallow the words back.
“No, it’s not that,” he says. “Saturday night, I usually go to my parents’ house. I was going to break the news to them that they are grandparents.”
“So how about Friday night?” I ask him, and he nods.
“Now about introducing him to other people in your life,” I start to say, and he puts his hands on his hips. “I would like it if we maybe discuss it.”
“What other people are you talking about?” He crosses his arms over his chest.
“Well, I don’t know if you’re with anyone or not.” I try to make it seem like I’m asking for Aiden, but if truth be told, I’m fucking dying to know.
“Why does that matter?” he asks, looking at me, and I see him trying to bait me.
“Look, Luca, I don’t know you,” I tell him honestly. “I don’t know if you’re a serial dater, or if you have a girlfriend.” He starts to say something, but I continue. “And it’s fine if you are with someone. I’m just saying I don’t want Aiden to meet everyone like it’s a revolving door,” I say, now using my hand going in a circle.
“Can I speak now?” he asks, and I nod my head. “You’re right, you don’t know me, just as I don’t know you. I will say that I will never introduce him to anyone who doesn’t mean anything to me,” he says and comes closer to me, so close I can smell his woodsy smell. “As for if I’m a serial dater, I haven’t dated in years. Seven, to be exact.” He gets closer and closer. “So I don’t have a girlfriend. Only because they had to live up to this woman I met seven years ago,” he says the last sentence, and I stop breathing. I don’t move, and I feel as if he’s about to say something else when we hear Aiden yell from upstairs. His eyes are on mine, and I can see the little gold flecks.
“Can I have a snack?”
His voice breaks the spell, and Luca walks away from me, shouting up the stairs, “Come down and have a fruit.” Aiden groans.
“I guess that means I just did my job as a parent.” He looks at me, smiling. “A groan means he’s unhappy, so I made the right choice.” He stands with his hands on his hips. “Look at me, being a parent.”
“Yes, it does.” I smile at him, tucking the hair behind my ear and looking at him. His chest beams with pride, and I think it’s going to be okay.
Chapter Nine
Luca
“Okay, hold on a second,” Nick says on speakerphone, while I make notes about what else I want to suggest. Eliahn and Aiden left an hour ago to get him washed and ready for tomorrow. “You actually told her that you haven’t dated since her?” He had just called to see how the day went, and I told him everything. Not my smartest move, but he would have found out eventually.
“It’s not a secret that I don’t date,” I tell him while I twirl the pen I’m holding between my fingers.
“Oh, I know it’s not a secret,” he says. “But when you say it out loud, it just …” He exhales deeply. “Sounds wrong.”
“What are you talking about?” I laugh.
“You’re a good-looking guy,” he starts, and I groan. “I’m being serious, and people would say you’re a catch, not people who I know or talk to but other people. Those people’s people.”
“You mean normal people?” I tap the pad with the pen.
“I wasn’t supposed to tell you this,” he says, and then you hear him walking. “All Mona’s friends get a hard-on for you, but don’t worry, I told them all you are gay so they don’t pounce on you at every turn.”