Page 22 of Mass Sins

He thought about it for a while, then replied with, “I think the eggplant Parmigiana is amazing, but the classic Carbonara is delicious too.”

My mouth was watering already. “How am I supposed to choose just one?”

“You don’t have to. You can order whatever you want, and if we don’t finish it all, you take it home for tomorrow,” he suggested.

The waitress was back, and I kept my eyes on him while she put down the appetizers. He truly wanted me to have a good time tonight. He was putting me first in the tiniest ways, but they meant a lot to me.

I was never put first by any man other than my father.

It was then that I decided it didn’t matter what he did for a living, and how religious we both actually were.

If tonight went perfectly, I would want to see him again, regardless of the things he did in the past.

***

I was full after finishing my Parmigiana, and sharing a plate of Carbonara with Joska, but I couldn’t leave this restaurant without trying at least one of their desserts.

I had seen the waitress walking back and forth with desserts, bringing them to other tables, and every single one of them called to me.

“How about we get the Tiramisu and the Panna Cotta? We can share again,” he suggested.

“Sounds good to me.”

I wondered what the waitress thought of me. It usually wasn’t seen as very ladylike to eat as much as I had, but after ordering the dessert, and her brining it over to our table, she told me exactly what I needed to hear. “I always choose these two options after a long shift. These are delicious.”

She winked at me before leaving the table again, and I looked at Joska who seemed amused. “You don’t usually eat this much at a restaurant, do you?”

“To be honest, I don’t eat at restaurants often. Maybe once every four months,” I admitted. “I love to cook.”

“You do?”

I nodded. “You?”

“Yeah, me too. My initial plan was to take you to my place and cook for you, but I thought that was a bit too…forward. Didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

That was nice.

I tried to hide a smile by biting my bottom lip. “We could cook together on our second date.”

Joska liked that idea. He smiled, then his smile turned into a grin. “Deal. It’s another date, then.”

“Yes, it is.” My cheeks were bright red. Or, at least that’s what it felt like.

I couldn’t quite wrap my head around the fact that just this morning, Tabor was trying to stop me from going on a date with his brother, saying mean things about him to make me change my mind.

And while I had my doubts at first, I was glad I came.

Joska wasn’t a bad man.

He might’ve done some controversial things as a priest, but since I was questioning my faith anyway, and wasn’t sure who to believe in anymore, I thought it was only fair to just let things happen and see where this thing with Joska would take me.

For now, all I could think about was how long it would take until I’d see his dark side.

Chapter 9

BENNIE

After he had asked me out on a date last night, I had imagined we’d be talking about religion amongst other themes, but ever since meeting up at five earlier tonight, neither of us had spoken a word about that.

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