Page 22 of Lodged

The night slowly falls upon us, and a beautiful array of oranges and purples transform the sky. We walk around some more, talking about everything and nothing in particular. I don’t want this date to end.

“Getting tired?” Gio asks. I stifle a yawn as we watch a pig race. I can’t believe how cute these little piglets are. They are all wearing a different color bow tie, and their prize for winning is a huge pile of food.

“No, I think I’m in a food coma,” I tell him honestly, and he smiles down at me, those eyes of his shining bright again. There’s no better feeling in the world than to be cherished by this man because that’s exactly how he makes me feel with his attentiveness.

“Come on, let’s do one last thing before we call it a night.” I internally whine at the thought of the night being over, but we’ve been here for hours, and the fair is the busiest on the weekend. We’ve been very lucky no one has spotted us so far.

“This is what you want to play?” I ask, surprised at his choice of game. He smiles like a kid in a candy store, so I nod and get ready to shoot some aliens. The attendant gives us the air guns, and we both get in position. I look up at Gio, but the buzzer goes off—it’s go time. I focus as hard as I can on knocking down as many aliens as possible. But this game must be rigged—the damn aliens won’t go down! The buzzer goes off way too soon, and I pout as I give the air gun back to the attendant.

“Which prize did you want to win?” Gio asks, and I point to a cute husky plush toy. “How much for that dog?”

“Oh, no. You don’t have to buy it,” I say, grabbing him by the arm to pull him away from the tent, but he’s not budging.

“That one is two hundred.” The attendant grins at Gio, and my eyes almost pop out of my eye sockets.

“What? There’s no way.” I start to protest, but Gio takes his wallet out of his pocket. Before I know it, I have the most adorable husky plushie in my hands.

“Thank you,” I murmur as I bring the toy to my lips. It’s so soft and cuddly.

“You’re welcome.” Gio grins at me, and I melt at his attention.

“What are you going to name it?” he asks, curiosity transforming his face.

“Cobalt. Reminds me of someone’s blue eyes.” Understanding dawns on him, and he gives me a sweet smile.

Chapter 11

Gio Bianchi

Gio: Thank you for an amazing time, Ruin. I hope you had as much fun as I did.

I send a quick text to Ruin after I get home. For a moment, I thought I’d follow her to her place to make sure she made it safely, but I took the Range Rover with me, and I didn’t want to risk being seen in the car I lent her the other day.

Ruin: I did. Thank you for everything.

Gio: You’re welcome. I guess we’re going to have to do it again, huh?

I facepalm after I send the text. She’s going to think I’m a creep. I definitely need to work on my game. I’m so lame.

Ruin: Definitely! Good thing there are so many fun places for us to visit in the city.

Thanking my angels that Ruin just ran with it and didn’t make fun of me, I reply instantly.

Gio: You’re right. Maybe we should visit the Natural History Museum next weekend.

Ruin: Yup, I think I’ll be there on Saturday at one in the afternoon.

Gio: Sweet dreams, Ruin.

Ruin: Night, Gio.

“You’re lucky you're my best friend,” Penny says loudly as she takes a seat next to me at the cafe where we always get together on Monday’s to catch up on things. I wince because even though I left her with Vicente over a week ago in London, I haven’t seen her since.

“I’m sorry, I know I’m the worst, but if I didn’t trust Vicente, I wouldn’t have left you there.” I take a sip of my coffee, and she smiles.

“I’m not a kid, boss. I told you I wanted to stay a few more days, and Vicente was the perfect host,” she says as she goes for my coffee, but I swiftly remove it from the table before she can grab it. She glares at me, and I laugh.

“I take it things went well?” I ask after taking another sip of my coffee.

---