Page 10 of Gabriel's Album

I can’t stop myself from grinning because if she’s talking about giving Sebastian another chance, that means she’s thinking about seeing me again. I hope to god he doesn’t fuck it up. I really want Ariana to fit in with my friends, and Sebastian can be an acquired taste.

“This food is delicious,” Ariana says after our food arrives and we begin to eat it.

“The parmigiana is amazing,” I tell her. “Do you want a taste?”

“Sure.”

I slice off a piece of chicken and reach my fork toward her. She leans forward and opens her mouth to allow me to feed her. I don’t know what it is, but there’s something erotic about doing this. Maybe it’s because, when she leaned forward, it gave me a very nice view of her cleavage.

I watch her eating the chicken and she makes noises of delight over the taste of it that make my mind wander to dirtier places. As she eats, she looks at me in a strange way, then looks away. She’s quiet for a minute as she goes back to eating her gnocchi.

“What are you thinking about?” I ask her.

“Nothing much,” she tells me. She places her fork down and sits back in her chair, then asks, “Where are we going next?”

I’m going to take her to play pool. It’s one of my favorite things to do in my downtime. Sebastian has a table at his place, but I’m hardly going to take a woman there on our first date.

“Ah, that’s a surprise,” I tell her with a grin. “Are you done with that gnocchi?” I gesture to her half-empty plate.

“Sure,” she tells me, and I switch plates with her. “I love Italian food.”

“Have you ever been to Italy?”

Ariana shakes her head and sighs. “Nope, but I’d love to go someday, particularly to Venice.”

“Why’s that?” I ask.

“Well, I’ve heard that it stinks in the canals, but it’s made up for by the beauty of the place. I can just imagine spending afternoons going on gondola rides, walking through the narrow streets, taking in the amazing architecture, and buying souvenirs to bring home with me.”

She has this longing look on her face, and it makes me want to take her there, to show her the beauty of the place that she wants to visit so badly.

“I’d spend my evenings eating real Italian food. I bet there would be so many restaurants to choose from, and when dinner was done, I’d go dancing.”

She catches my eye and her cheeks flush bright pink, and she looks down at the table before shrugging.

“Anyway, that’s why. It seems like it would be a nice place to visit.”

I smile at her, then sit up as I finish off the gnocchi and assure her, “I’m sure you’ll go someday.”

“You probably will, on your future world tour or something,” she tells me with a grin on her face, causing me to laugh. “What’s your favorite food?”

“Similar, I’m a big fan of Greek food. There’s this amazing Greek restaurant in Oak Park that I absolutely love.”

“We’ll have to go there sometime.”

She smiles at me, and I like that she’s already thinking about us having a second date.

“Are you finished?” I ask her.

I’m feeling so full that I’m beginning to regret finishing off her plate, but Giovanni’s food is always so good that I tend to overindulge when I come here.

“I couldn’t possibly eat another bite,” she says. “That was delicious, but I’m so full.”

“You don’t want coffee or dessert, then?” I ask.

Ariana blows out a long breath of air as she places a hand on her stomach and shakes her head at me. “I couldn’t possibly fit another thing in, but feel free to order something if you want it. I’m happy to just sit here.”

“No, I’m fine,” I reply, grateful that we can go for a walk to the pool hall after such a heavy dinner.

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