Page 94 of Finally Mine
Her phone buzzed in her pocket.
Aldo: Have fun tonight, Glo. You deserve it.
Seven words that banked a warm fire in her belly. She bit her lip. Could she believe that this choice was different, better than her last? All signs were pointing to a big, bright neon yes. The only niggling doubt she had was Aldo Moretta’s braking ability. On one hand, she appreciated that he wasn’t pushing for a fast, physical relationship. On the other, she’d gotten to the point where it felt like one more goodnight kiss and she was going to spontaneously combust.
They talked on the phone, cuddled in front of the TV, went out, cooked dinner—which to Gloria was about as intimate as you could get with your clothes on. But there was still nothing happening on the naked front. He’d kissed her. Oh, had he kissed her. And she him. But every time she thought it was going somewhere, Aldo reached into his annoying well of self-control and hit the pause button.
She got it. He wasn’t ready to chance a less-than-stellar performance. But at this point, Gloria would be properly grateful for even a C- performance.
Sophie stabbed the blender button and sent the margarita mix roiling.
“So what fat-free, calorie-free deliciousness are we ordering tonight?” Harper called over her shoulder as she let the dogs out the back door to romp around in the warm night air.
“We were thinking pizza and chicken bites from Dawson’s,” Sophie yelled over the whir of the blender.
“What about dessert?” the pretty Hannah wanted to know.
“I brought cookie dough,” Gloria announced. “We can either make cookies or eat it raw.”Classic sleepover fare.
“Best. Night. Ever,” Harper sighed, lining up four pink, plastic margarita cups on the counter.
Sophie brought the blender pitcher over and sloshed margaritas into the cups. Gloria doled out the lime wedges she’d cut, and Hannah rounded out the assembly line by plunking a straw into each cup.
“A toast, ladies,” Sophie said, raising her glass. “To the lovely Harper. May she know how lucky we all are to know her.”
“To Harper,” Gloria echoed. She looked around their tight little circle and felt nothing but joy in the moment.
“You guys! My turn,” Harper said, placing a hand over her heart. “To all of you. Thank you for being my family. I love each one of you so much.”
A chorus of awhs, a clink of plastic, and they all took their first sips.
“I approve you as a bartender,” Hannah told Sophie.
Sophie winked.
“Well, let’s get this party started,” Harper said, dialing Dawson’s and placing their order.
Gloria took the opportunity to fire off a quick text to Aldo with the kissy face emoji.
Hannah held up two DVDs. “So what do we want? Full frontal or rom-com?”
Harper dropped her phone on the counter and groaned. “You guys have full frontal at your beck and call. Let’s not torture me with it when mine is on the other side of the world.”
“Oooh! Let’s talk about boys,” Sophie said, clapping her hands.
“My ‘boy’ is your brother. Isn’t that gross?” Harper laughed.
“For tonight, I’ll pretend he’s someone else’s brother,” Sophie said airily.
“Actually, thereisa relationship I’m curious about,” Harper grinned. “Gloria, what’s the scoop on you and Aldo?”
Gloria choked on a frosty gulp of margarita.
“What makes you think there’s anything to tell?” she asked innocently, pretending that it wasn’t fodder for the whole town that they were dating.
“I have eyes and a brain,” Harper teased. “I saw some patty-cake during the Fourth of July fireworks in the park,” she explained to Sophie and Hannah.
“Hmm, Gloria Moretta. It’s got a nice ring to it,” Sophie mused.
