Page 9 of Ciao, Amore

“Hot in person? In love yet?” Jade texted back.

“Stop. He’s alright.”

Dani knew what her friend’s hope was for this fake date. It wasn’t solely about her meeting a swoon-worthy guy and finally having her fairy-tale romance. Jade thought she’d meet this guy, have some torrid fuck-fest in Italy, and follow him back to New York after he’d dick-whipped her into forgetting her plans.

That wasn’t happening. She wouldn’t sleep with him, and even if she did somehow accidentally trip and fall on his dick, sex was sex. No matter how awesome, sex had never made her lose her mind before, and it wouldn’t now.

She walked several blocks, putting her headphones on to stroll and zone out. After some time, she found herself in a small green park, where she inhaled the last of summer’s flowers. The sun was warm and tender on her skin, like a lover’s kiss.

Despite her determination to forget about lust and love, she felt that fluttering in her tummy, the stereotypical butterflies, along with the sweet zing of anticipation at the idea of speaking to him again the next day.

THE PROMISE

DANI

Dani was in her room,pacing back and forth as she eyed the stacks of items along the wall under the window. She’d been sorting and organizing, but the stacks kept shifting in size as she was unable to decide pretty much anything. There was a stack for things that needed to be thrown out, things that needed to be donated, and things that needed to be stored.

“For fuck’s sake,” Dani muttered to herself as she stood with her fists on her hips, looking at the disarray. It was enough to give her the shakes.

But now she had to get ready. Nico was scheduled to arrive at five o’clock. Like they’d done when Terri, her younger sister, had gone to Japan with her ex, her parents had insisted she bring her new friend over to meet them before she went anywhere with him. She’d dreaded asking him to come over, but surprisingly, he’d said yes without hesitation.

Hopping in the shower, she scrubbed her skin and scalp vigorously, realizing her jangling nerves weren’t solely about the uncharacteristic mess in her room. She’d never been in a relationship serious enough to bring a man home. The fact that Nico would be the first, when he wasn’t even a real boyfriend, was making her a little shaky. Imagining the questions her family would ask made her downright nauseous. They’d done it when Terri’s now-husband had first come over. Admittedly, she’d dished out her fair share of grilling until he proved he was one of the good guys. The best she could hope for was that Nico would show up, shake hands, and get the hell out before the interrogations began in earnest.

When Dani got back to her bedroom, still done up in the same pinks and whites as when she was a little girl, Terri was sitting on her bed with her daughter Kiki. She was holding the baby’s hands while she bounced up and down on the mattress.

“What is that stinky creature doing on my bed?” Dani exclaimed, going over to kiss the baby and then her sister. “And what’s that stinky smell? Does she need a change?”

“Already changed her,” Terri said, pointing to a wrapped-up diaper in a see-through blue sack on Dani’s pristine nightstand.

“Ay, get rid of it. I cannot take one more mess in this room,” Dani said, scrunching her nose.

Terri rolled her eyes like a teenager and went to take the sack away.

“Your mommy has nerve, changing your poopy butt on my blanket,” Dani whispered to her niece, who favored her with a drooly smile. “When you get big enough, come live with Auntie in Italy.”

“Seriously? You really are planning on staying there forever?” Terri had returned.

“Do you think I could get dressed in private?”

Dani indicated her hot-pink terry-cloth robe. She was starting to sweat in it and needed to change, fast, before her freshly washed hair frizzed, and all was lost.

“Salty and sexy,” Terri drawled before she snatched Kiki and whisked her away for cuddling.

Dani shut and locked the door after they’d left, then got dressed. For a long time, she’d hidden her curves and fluffier parts behind loose shirts and shapeless clothes, but she’d changed that when she started Year Zero, hoping to attract male attention. When that failed, and cute clothes alone didn’t manifest a man, she’d stopped caring about what men thought of her appearance, choosing clothes that made her feel good.

The nervous excitement of seeing Nico again had thrown all that out the window. She was back to agonizing over her hair, what to wear, how to behave. The night before, she’d tried on and discarded three outfits, and even now, her heart thrummed while she made a final choice between two dresses.

Fresh panic seized her when she checked the time on her phone and saw a message from Nico.

“Ciao, bella. Found parking right in front of your house. See you in there.”

That was twenty minutes ago. He wasearly. Oh God. Ohno. Please let him have stayed outside to wait until she let him in herself.Please, please, please…

Making a command decision, she threw on a pink-polka-dot A-line white halter dress that flared at the waist. There was no time for her usual careful application of makeup. Not bothering to try to style her thick mass of curls into a braid or a bun, she fluffed it frantically with mousse and gel in a slapdash motion, then booked it down the hall and down the stairs barefoot. Her skirt poofed up like a spotted parachute when she landed on the first floor with a thud.

Dammit. She could hear Nico’s voice before she even saw him. Sure enough, he was in the living room. Literally surrounded by her father Andrew, her mother Didi, Terri and her psycho husband Ken, and their brothers Al and Rahim. Nico was laughing and talking right back like this was his tenth visit instead of his first. If he was faking being that comfortable, well, he deserved an Oscar.

Flustered, Dani paused in her tracks when he turned and saw her. There she went, imagining the look in his eyes again, that look that said he was stunned at the sight of her. That the same desire that tightened her entire body when she’d first looked at him in that diner lived inside him too. And for a minute, there was no crowd between them, only air and space that she was compelled to cross to get to him.

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