I needed to express my fears to her so I could make her mine.
THIRTY-ONE
PRESENT
Iwent to find Gio, who hadn’t been around as much as usual. He was probably giving me space with Serenity. “Are you awake?” I asked, knocking on the door.
He quickly opened it from his desk chair next to the door. “What’s up, man?”
I inched closer into his room. “Do you mind if we drive separately there tonight? Serenity wants me to stay over after dinner.”
He wiggled his eyebrows. “Going to get lucky?”
I rolled my eyes. “Maybe, we were close last night, but I stopped us.”
He scrunched his face in confusion. “Why would you do that?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I need her to know how I feel before we have sex.”
“She’s too beautiful to waste time with a guy who won’t have sex with her. You'd better express those feelings soon before you lose her.”
I didn't respond to his comment. “I’m going to go get ready,” I said, shutting his door. He obviously knew nothing about her.
Gio and I had gone thrift shopping and found a couple of button-up shirts to pair with black slacks. Mine was white with geometric line designs, and Gio's was navy blue with small diamonds and polka dots. I even gelled my hair so I could make a good impression on Emma.
Gio was dressed, sitting at the table when I came out of my room. “Don’t we look spiffy?” he said, standing up.
I tucked in my shirt. “We do, don’t we? I wonder what the girls wore.”
He stood up, grabbing his keys and wallet. “You’ll be enamored with Serenity no matter what she wears. I saw the way you looked at her this morning in your oversized robe.”
“Okay, fair. Ready?” I asked, gathering the grocery items I’d need, my wallet, and my keys.
He walked toward his room. “I’ll be right behind you.”
Gio followed me to Serenity’s place. We walked up together with the groceries in tow.
Serenity instantly took my breath away when she opened the door. She wore a strapless, long maroon dress with slits up toward her gorgeous thighs. The dress hugged her curves, making it impossible to take my eyes off her.
Gio nudged my shoulder, breaking me out of my trance. “Serenity, you look exquisite.”
“You both look so good!” she said excitedly. “Come on in. Emma is almost ready.”
I headed to the kitchen to start preparing dinner. I kept looking over at her as I was preparing, though. I knew she could tell.
Emma soon came out dressed to impress. She was tall, almost as tall as me—almost.She wore a short, forest green, flowy dress, highlighting her long legs. I shifted my gaze to Gio, who seemed taken by her. She was also equally as tatted as he was.
“I’m Gio,” he said, extending his hand out for her to shake.
“I’m Emma, pleasure to meet you.” She placed her hand in his, and Gio brought it to his lips to lightly kiss the top. Her lips curled up slightly. “Something smells good.”
“Hi Emma, nice to finally be acquainted,” I said. “I hope you're hungry because I may have made enough for a small army. Why is cooking a normal portion of pasta so difficult?” Everyone laughed—me included.
The three chatted at the dining table as I finished cooking. Gio and Emma took over the conversation, seeming to hit it off. He had a bad breakup right before we first met, but I hadn't seen him date or bring anyone home; he always had something to say about my love life, though.
“Do you need help with anything?” Serenity asked, approaching behind me. I turned around and still couldn’t believe how unbelievably she looked.
I took a moment to admire her, and she noticed. Heat rose from her neck at my amorous expression. “Hey, pretty girl. Do you want to be my waitress while I plate everyone’s meal?”
