23
Bianca
Life hasa way of putting things into perspective.You’re riding high one minute, and then the world slaps you in the face the next.It’s like the universe’s cosmic way of reminding you that happiness is fleeting and fickle, ready to be snatched away at a moment’s notice.
We spent four glorious days soaking up the sunshine in the Caribbean and somehow didn’t stay in bed the entire time.Vinnie delivered on everything he promised and more.The man is a skilled lover, but there’s more to him once you start peeling back the layers.
He lifts my hand to his lips as we wait at the stoplight just a block away from our building.“I wish we could’ve stayed longer.”He glances at me for a moment before the light turns green.
I sigh, feeling the same way.I love Chicago.It’s always been my home.The loud sirens, endless traffic, and people moving around the city, dotting the sidewalks as they hurry to wherever they’re going.
I push my head into the headrest, knowing these are the final moments of our intimate escape before reality comes crashing in again.“Maybe we can go back after your season is over.”
Vinnie turns to me with a smile, his fingers now laced with mine.He gives my hand a small squeeze.“You’re not done with me?”
I shake my head and laugh.“I guess I’m not.”
He pulls into his parking spot in the underground garage, puts the car in park, and turns to me.“I don’t know how to say what I’m going to say.It’s like a foreign vocabulary and something I haven’t done since high school.”
“Okay.”I draw out the word and stare at him with a confused look because he’s not making a ton of sense.
“If I come off like a moron, cut me a little slack.You’re a writer and have a way with words, but I’m an athlete, and I usually use my body to show what I mean.”
His body spoke volumes to me on the little island somewhere in the middle of the Caribbean.
“You’re doing just fine.”I try to give him confidence.
My words aren’t as eloquent as he thinks.I have editors who help me not sound like a complete idiot half the time.
He reaches across the center console and grabs my other hand and is now holding both of them.He looks at me with his green eyes, a soft and warm expression on his face as he takes a deep breath like he’s preparing for something big.“I want you to be my girl, Bianca.I’ve danced around the topic and said you were mine in not so many words, but I want us to be a couple officially.”
I turn my body to face him, my brown eyes to his green.I’m completely rocked by his statement.Ever since my abuela said Vinnie and I were meant to be together, he’s said he agreed.But I figured he was full of shit and saying what he thought I needed to hear for me to go all the way.
The small bit I knew about Vinnie was that he was the quintessential athlete.A player on and off the field.Nowhere did I find any mention of him ever having a long-term girlfriend.He wasn’t a womanizer per his reputation or based on the comments I found about him on social media and from my limited experience with him.He was unapologetically a lover of women and didn’t make commitments before now.
My reply hangs in my throat as my stomach does this weird flip-flop thing I describe so often in my books but have never experienced myself.“You want to be exclusive?”
He nods and squeezes my hands gently.“I don’t want to see anyone else, and I want you all to myself.”
I’m speechless, and that’s something I rarely experience.“You want to go steady?”
Even saying the words is ridiculous.I’m immediately thrown back to high school when the boy I had the biggest crush on finally asked me out.I didn’t sleep with him first like I did Vinnie, and as with most high school boys, that had been his goal—not falling in love and living happily ever after.
Vinnie nods.“Well,” he says and pauses as his cheeks turn pink, “I know I sound like an idiot, but I want you to be my girl.I want the world to know you’re mine too.”
I squirm in my seat, and the car suddenly feels small and warm.My heart’s racing, and I’m ready to say yes because Vinnie Gallo has made the last few days feel like a fairy tale.But something stops me.My past always has a way of worming its way into anything good.“When was the last time you had a girlfriend?”
He glances upward and grimaces.“Four—” he shakes his head “—no, maybe five or six years ago.I don’t know.I was in high school.”
Vinnie’s the first person I’ve ever slept with that I wasn’t already in a committed relationship with.Every single one ended in disaster with my heart broken.Although I write romance and happy endings, I’ve never found one myself.With heartbreak after heartbreak, I started to give up on the possibility that I was destined to find love.
Six months ago, after an awful and very public breakup, I decided I would not only swear off sex, but men and relationships too.It wasn’t hard since I rarely leave my place and never put myself in a situation where I’d be tempted into the bed of another man.
The constant ups and downs of relationships made it impossible for me to write.It’s hard to write about a dreamy guy sweeping a woman off her feet, when in real life, someone’s busy stomping on my heart and making me feel like the most insignificant human being.
“But now you think you’re ready?”
He furrows his eyebrows, and I can see he’s hurt by my question.“Damn, Bianca.I didn’t ask without a lot of thought first.”
