Page 94 of Broken Saint

I haven’t been on a date since I was fifteen and invited the girl I was crushing on for shakes one Friday night after a game.

It wasn’t a bad date. It just also wasn’t great. And my life got crazy not long after.

As I step up to the server’s station, my palms are sweating, and I feel like a complete pussy.

It’s Ella. The only girl I’ve ever felt comfortable with. The only girl I’ve ever slept with that I’ve wanted more time with. But still, this feels huge. Like I’m making some kind of statement that I’m not sure I’m ready to make.

Don’t let her go again.

Show her who you really are.

“Good evening, Mr. Rogers,” Matteo says, stepping up to the small table with a wide smile on his face. “A little birdie told me that you’re having a big night.”

Nerves flutter in my belly at the twinkle in his eye.

I’m sure that just like every football fan in town—hell, across the bloody county—he’s more than aware that I don’t do this.

“Um…yeah.” His eyes crinkle with amusement and my stomach knots.

Looking back at Ella, my eyes bounce between hers. “You still like Italian, right?”

“Pasta, pizza, and tiramisu? I’m sure I can deal,” Ella teases as relief floods me.

With Matteo still blatantly laughing at me, he leads us toward a small, secluded, private table at the back of the restaurant. Luca’s told me before that he reserves it for his favorite guests, and I couldn’t be more relieved that we’re apparently worthy of it tonight.

“You smashed it last night, man. It’s going to be a killer season with you, Luca and Kane on fire like that,” Matteo says quickly after taking our drinks order.

“Here’s hoping. Francesca gave you the time off to watch it?” I ask teasingly. It’s a running theme of conversation when we’ve been in here as a group.

“Oh, pfft. Only one of us wears the pants around here,” he states confidently.

“Will you be watching us lay the Chiefs out Sunday?”

He hesitates, making me smirk.

“I need to check with Cesca, see if we have enough staff for me to?—”

“How are those pants fitting now, huh?”

He shakes his head while Ella laughs lightly opposite me.

“I’ll be watching. Just you wait,” he confirms before backing away to get our drinks.

“He’s something.” Ella laughs.

I turn my eyes back to her just in time to catch her genuine smile as she watches Matteo slip behind the bar. Thankfully, he’s more than a couple of decades too old, and definitely too loved up for me to worry about, or that look on her face might have jealousy stirring within me.

“So this is where big bad Colton Rogers takes girls to wine and dine before rocking their worlds.”

I shake my head as I lift my glass of water from the table. “I don’t wine and dine girls, Bombshell.”

“Of course. All you need to do is smile and they drop their panties left and right.” She shakes her head as if she’s remembering watching girls at college literally throw their underwear at me. “Is this life everything you always wanted?”

“I thought it was. But it turns out, it wasn’t everything I hoped it would be.”

“So you haven’t dated anyone here?” she asks, biting on her fingernail nervously. She tries to hold my stare across the table but fails, her anxiety getting the better of her.

“I haven’t dated anyone full stop, El. You know that.”

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