Page 98 of Quake

I feel more comfortable with him than I ever have in my life, and I can actually see a future with him. I can picture us eloping, surrounded by no one except our closest friends and our immediatefamily members. I can see us having children, one way or another, and I candefinitelypicture all the ways in which we’d try to get pregnant.

These are all things I’d never thought about with Tyler. I always played it day by day with him, and I guess that’s because, deep down, I never had any plans for a future with him.

The soul-crushing, gnawing feeling I get in my gut at imagining going back to a life without Gianni is reason enough to tell him exactly how I feel.

“I’m in love with Gianni Elisio Amato-De Laurentiis,” I whisper into my dark office.

And I want him to know it.

Chapter fifty-five

Gianni

Monday, May 19, 2025

It’s been two weeks since Lark agreed to look into whether or not her insurance covers that damn insulin pump. Something you’d really fucking think would be covered, considering their existence drives down the rates of people with diabetes ending up in the emergency room due to a hyperglycemic episode or, worse, diabetic ketoacidosis.

But of course, the insurance companies aren’t thinking about the future. They just want to do anything they can to save a buck in the here and now.

Fuckers.

Rather than bug Lark about it because I’m sure she’d just forgotten with how busy things have been at the clinic, I figure I may as well take it off her plate and give myself, and maybe even her dad,some peace of mind.

I watch as the delivery service app moves across my screen, counting down how many stops away the package is. When he finally gets to my door, I greet the young guy, thank him, and take the package inside to figure out how the fuck to assemble this thing.

Chapter fifty-six

Lark

Itext Gianni as soon as I’m home, and his response has my stomach twisting in knots.

Gianni

Hey, little red. I’m sorry I missed you. I have an away game tomorrow and we left about an hour ago. I left a gift for you on the kitchen counter and took Rex for a walk. I hope you don’t mind. Xo, Gi.

I enter my apartment with Tiny, surveilling the space for any sign of Rex. He doesn’t come running and barking out from his bed like he normally does, but when I see him curled up in the corner of the couch, I realize exactly why.

I head over to him, scratching behind his ears as I take in the sight of my once-seemingly feral dog, now using Gianni’s sweatshirt as a cushion under his tiny ass.

I shake my head as I walk to the kitchen, and a small box awaits me. I open the package up, and what greets me has salty tears pooling in my eyes.

An insulin pump.

Not just any insulin pump, but the automatic delivery system that syncs with my Dexcom.

Goddamn this man. He’s too sweet for my own good.

Have I ever told you that you’re the sweetest man alive?

Gianni

Not recently, but I accept <3

Gianni

Goodnight, ma petite rouge. I’ll see you tomorrow night.

And when he does, I’ll finally tell him I’m in love with him.

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