“Maybe.” I don’t even look at him and I don’t pause, but I’m only being partially truthful.
“There’s no maybe about that shit. You can’t take your eyes off her.”
I grunt.
“You going to make her yours or pussy out?”
I give him a side-eye. “You still bed-hoppin’?”
“Well, duh. I’m a senior. I’m all about the pussy.”
I shake my head. “You got to grow up sometime.”
“Next year when I’m playing pro ball,” he says like, somehow, that makes any sense. “But again, are you going to date that chick or what? She’s a primo piece of ass.”
I give him an icy stare. “Do not ever, under any circumstances, refer to her as a primo piece of ass.”
He jerks his head back before he gives me a shitty smirk. “Yep. I knew it.”
“What are you two arguing about?” Lucio sits down across from us, almost blocking my view of Tilly.
“Her.” Vinnie ticks his chin toward the living room.
Lucio rubs his chin as he stares at me. “Did you make her yours yet?”
“No.”
“Why not?” Lucio shrugs.
“It’s complicated.”
“Brother—” Lucio starts to say, but I cut him off.
“I know. I know. But there’s more than just my past we’re working through. We’re taking things slow.”
“You can take it as slow as you want, but you better lock that shit down.”
He’s repeating the words I said to him about Delilah. I knew that crap would come back to haunt me someday.
“I will,” I grumble.
“I mean it, Angelo. Lock it down before you lose it,” he tells me again, pointing at me like I’m not hearing his words.
“I said we’re going slow.”
“I’m not saying you need to sleep with her, but you need to make sure she isn’t sleeping with anyone else.”
I level him with my gaze. “She’s not like that.”
Lucio lifts his hands in the air. “I wasn’t saying she was, but you both need the security and certainty.”
What he’s saying isn’t wrong. With our pasts, we needed everything clear-cut so there’s no chance either of us would feel a sense of insecurity or worry. The last thing I want is for Tilly to even think another woman had a shot at me.
Every day at work, I get at least a half-dozen phone numbers. Each and every one of them ends up in the trash because there’s no way I’m dating a customer. While I’m a man with needs, I’m also a father and have to think of my children before my dick.
Tilly’s chatting with Delilah and Daphne on the couch and paying no attention to me. I’m fine with it. I want her to feel comfortable around my family. If she doesn’t, there wouldn’t be a future for us.
“You better take her on a date,” Ma says as she walks back into the kitchen.
