Page 19 of Tilly
I smirk at her. “Why not? It’s a trash can.”
“This is a study hall. Students come in here to study. Someone will see it,” she says with a mortified expression on her face.
“It’s a college campus. I’m sure it won’t be the first time they’ve seen a used condom, babe. Come on.” I offer her my hand and wait for her to take it.
“Where are you going?” she asks.
I pause with my palm on the doorknob. “We. We’re going, Tilly. Just so you and I are on the same page, what happened here is not a one or two time thing,” I tell her. “This.” I gesture a finger between us. “It’s happening.”
“What if I don’t want it to happen?” she asks.
Well, fuck. I didn’t really consider that. “Do you? Do you want this to happen, Matilda?”
She shrugs a shoulder. “It’s not that I don’t want it to happen. I just have a very overprotective family.”
“I know your family, ragazza. They don’t scare me.” I laugh.
“My father is going to want to kill you.” She smiles.
“I know.”
“And you don’t care?”
“I respect your father, Matilda. If he didn’t want to kill me for all the very filthy things I plan on doing to you and with you, I’d lose all respect for him. So, no, I don’t care if he wants to kill me.”
“Okay, but I would care if he actually did kill you. So try to dodge the bullets.”
“Don’t worry, ragazza, I’m an expert at not getting shot.” I wink as I open the door and guide her out of the room.
Chapter Eleven
My stomach is filled with butterflies. Nerves. It’s not like I’ve never been on a date before. I can sit across from a man and have a meal. Right?
I just let this man fuck me in a random study hall. And this was no slow, tender love-making. It was pure, animalistic fucking.
And I loved every minute of it. My thighs close together as I squirm in my seat. I wish I wasn’t so damn awkward. I’m so stuck in my own head, trying to make a good impression, and I feel like I’m failing miserably.
“What’s wrong?” Antonio is eyeing me from the other side of the table.
He brought me to an Italian restaurant that isn’t owned by either of our families. I don’t know if it was on purpose, but I’m thankful for the reprieve. This life can be a lot. Add in how involved everyone is in our day-to-day comings and goings, the personal aspects, and it’s darn near suffocating.
“Nothing.” I smile and tuck my hair behind my ear for the tenth time in the last two minutes.
“Bullshit. Try again. And this time, don’t lie to me, Matilda. If I ask you what’s wrong, it’s because I genuinely want to know what’s wrong. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t ask,” he says.
I take a huge breath, hold it for a second, and slowly release it. “I’m nervous,” I admit.
“Because of me? Are you… scared of me, Matilda?” he asks. There’s no humor in his voice—thank god.
“No. I’m not. I’m just nervous because I don’t want to make a bad impression.” I shrug.
“Matilda Valentino, I’ve known you forever. You’ve already made an impression on me and it’s far from a bad one.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Why didn’t you say something? Before?” I ask without lifting my eyes from the table.
