“No, what about him?” I answered, my voice falling flat with disinterest, but Bella didn’t pick up on it.
“He’s moving,” she answered.
“Wait, where? How do you know this?” I asked quickly.
I don’t know why, but now she had my attention. Maybe it was just because she hadn’t asked me why I was staring at her dad before or maybe because whenever I got her on the topic of boys, she could talk about it for hours with barely any prodding from me.
Yeah. I was a terrible person. So, sue me.
“I think it’s California. He told me about it the other day in study hall, but I forgot to tell you. He wanted me to give you his number,” she continued, and I rolled my eyes again.
“What, so he can finally try to hit it before he moves away for God knows how long? Fat chance. You know that I’m not that kind of girl,” I scoffed, and Isabella shook her head with laughter.
“That’s not how it was with Dane last year,” she teased, and my cheeks heated at the same time my gaze jerked back to the house. Vincenzo was nowhere to be seen and I sighed inwardly with relief. Isabella knew about him, obviously, but Vincenzo didn’t, and I wanted it to stay that way.
Dane was the kind of guy I shouldn’t have messed with, but I did. I’d let him take my virginity, and it was not a fond memory. Not for me at least.
He’d been nice enough about it, but that was before he’d fucked another girl the week after, and Isabella hadn’t been quite as gracious about the whole situation as I had been. I don’t know why she was bringing it up. She knew how I felt about it, so it was kind of a low blow, but maybe I deserved that.
The truth was I should have kicked him in the balls just like she’d threatened to and walked away, but I didn’t. I don’t know why.
Ever since then, I’d avoided boys my age like the plague. Isabella didn’t understand it, but I couldn’t really explain it to her either because the man I truly wanted was her father and that could never happen.
Right?
I shook my head and tried to get my wayward thoughts under control.
“You know how that ended though,” I said softly, and her face fell a little.
“It’s not going to be like that this time. He’s a good guy. A really, really good guy. The perfect kind of guy to let off some steam with, if you know what I mean,” she replied gently, and I sighed.
“And you would know this, how?”
“Because I just do. Come on, let’s get inside. I think I’ve gotten enough sun for the day,” she said, changing the subject, and I shook my head and followed her into the house.
The heat in the kitchen enveloped us as soon as we stepped inside, and I breathed in the rich smell of tomato sauce, garlic, and fresh basil.
My stomach growled.
Vincenzo was making one of his specialties, spaghetti and meatballs. He wasn’t in the room though. I didn’t know where he was. He could be anywhere in this great big house, really.
Maybe his bedroom.
In his bed.
Alone.
Waiting for me…
Goddammit.
I really needed to get my shit together today. My errant thoughts were worse than usual, and I was having difficulty getting them under control. Taking a deep breath, I tried to shake it off as best as I could, all while Bella was watching me like a hawk.
Did she know? Could she tell?
“There is no lack of dating going on, Jenna. Honestly, it’s just you,” she grinned.
“Really? Who are you seeing?”