Page 71 of Just A Little Fling

“Who are you asking?” Copy asked.

“Nico, of course. I know he’s not yours.” For some inexplicable reason, that left him looking dejected.

“No, Nonna, Levi’s my landlord, not my boyfriend.”

“Well, I never had a landlord who cooked my family dinner. It seems like something a boyfriend would do.”

Babbo refused to save me and just smirked while putting the last ingredients together for the dish I was supposed to be making. My mother glanced between us, trying to figure out if we were just good friends or something more. Truthfully, I wasn’t even sure anymore.

Being around him justfeltgood. He listened—really listened—like what I said mattered to him. He fucked me like he meant it. He was thoughtful in ways that caught me off guard. But did any of that make him my boyfriend? I simultaneously wanted him to stay and leave like I couldn’t decide if I was reaching for him or pushing him away. And I had no clue how to put any of it into words that would make sense to anyone.

“It looks like my chopping here is done, so I’m going to leave you to your dinner.”

Ma immediately spoke up. “You’re not leaving. You should join us for dinner.”

“I don’t want to intrude on a family dinner.”

“It’ll be tight, but we can make room. There’s always room for one more,” Nonna added.

Babbo surreptitiously beckoned me over to him and whispered, “Are you okay if I stay, or do you want me to bail? I’m good either way.”

This was the first time anyone I’d had any kind of anything with had ever met my family. I sifted through all my emotions, looking for a clue to help unravel my jumbled thoughts, but only one separated itself from the noise inside my head.

I wanted him to stay.

“Yeah, I’d like it if you would stay.”

Babbo gave me a quick squeeze of my fingers and knocked into me with a pop of his hip. “Thanks. I’m starving tonight,” he answered with an added wink that made me blush.

From the direction of the living room, I heard the distinctive sounds of a snicker, but I refused to give them the satisfaction of acknowledging it.

Until this evening, I hadn’t realized my Nonna was such a flirt. She insisted Babbo sit next to her at the kitchen table. Every once in a while, she would touch his hand and whisper conspiratorially in his ear. She’d glance at me, Babbo would follow suit, and they’d giggle and do it again. If being the butt of their joke meant she enjoyed herself this much, then Babbo had a permanent invitation.

The rest of the dinner passed without incident, mostly because my brothers managed to behave themselves. Ma asked Levi personal questions about his practice—blessedly, nothing too intrusive—and Dad kept fairly quiet. Turned out he and Levi were both hockey fans, so they talked about the local teams, college and professional, and I was more than happy to let them carry the conversation.

When it was time to clean up, Levi insisted on helping with that too. He moved like a general, giving orders to my brothers, to me—hell, even to Ma—and what shocked me most was that they actually listened. No whining, no backtalk. If I’d been the one telling them what to do, they would’ve made a production out of it, but with Levi? They just got to work. It was a nice change from the shit they—well, my brothers anyway—gave me all the time.

As we were finishing up, Ma pulled me aside and quietly told me to invite Levi to dinner the next time I came. I gave a quick nod but didn’t commit either way. It was one thing for him to be here tonight. Having him at my parents’ house was a different thing. This casual thing was becoming decidedly uncasual too damn fast.

CHAPTERSEVENTEEN

NICO

“Yay! They gone, Babbo!”

After the final,finalgoodbyes were given, I sagged against the door in relief. A switch in my brain had clicked over when I heard the door latch, allowing the tension I’d been carrying all evening to wash away from me. All that was left was my little space. The only thing on my mind was being with Babbo.

“Did you have a nice time tonight, sunshine?” Babbo stopped wiping the counter and came to me at the door. He threaded his fingers through my hair and kissed my forehead. I liked it. “Thank you for letting me stay. I liked meeting your family.”

With him so close, I couldn’t keep my hands off him. My arms wrapped around his waist, and I snuggled in close. In turn, he looped my shoulders and pulled me tight. He whispered how proud he was of me tonight, and my insides turned to goo. In the silence of the house, we stayed locked together to decompress from the evening.

“Sunshine, would you come home with me tonight?”

“Wit you, Babbo?”

“Yeah, I need some sunshine.” I felt all sorts of warm and toasty from Babbo’s words and invitation.

“Yeah, let’s gooooooo,” I agreed and moved to open the door.

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