Page 93 of Just A Little Fling

“Someone’s a liar,” I retorted quickly, but Babbo just laughed at me.

With our hands occupied and without a need to look at him, I decided to be the brave one. “What do you want out of this?”

“A relationship with you.”

I loved and hated Babbo’s willingness to be honest even when it was hard. It would be easier, at least for me, if he pretended to dance around it. There was never a need to guess Babbo’s intentions because he was so straightforward.Ugh.He made it hard to hide.

“Hearts and flowers and everything?”

“Are you a hearts and flowers guy?” Babbo’s conversational tone never wavered, never pressured me. His eyes never left the screen as we screamed around the track with our fingers flying over the controller.

“Only on festive occasions.”

Babbo’s snort was quickly followed by his shout when I cut off his car.

“What doyouwant out of this?” Babbo asked.

I’d avoided that crucial thought like the plague. I knew I didn’t want to be tied down. I knew I wanted to be with him.

“I was talking to Nonna the other day.”

“Yeah? How is she?”

“Oh, she’s good. We went out to lunch and to the garden center. You would like it, I think. They had a metric ton of rosebushes.”

“You’re gonna have to take me.”

“I will. Anyway, she said that she and PopPop had an installment plan relationship.”

“Like a layaway? I think my mom used to do that at JCPenney for my Christmas presents.”

“Uh, I guess? I don’t know what that is. Anyway. She said that every year, halfway between their anniversary, she and my granddad would decide if they wanted to stay together for another year.”

“Weren’t they married?”

“Yeah, but she said he understood she didn’t like feeling forced into marriage by society and whatnot, so he let her decide every year if she wanted to stay.”

During my explanation, Babbo’s eyes never wavered from the screen, but I knew him well enough to know he was thinking long and hard about what I’d said.

“My ex-boyfriend was fine with me going to the club and finding someone who met my needs. I didn’t mind it in the beginning and disliked it in the end. I wanted him to be the one I shared all the things with, not some random guy I just met.”

“Will you eventually want that again?” I asked.

“You mean an open-ish relationship? No. Will you?”

“I don’t think so, but I’m not ready to say absolutely not either. ”

“I can accept that.”

Our eyes never left the screen.

“Sweet Boy, do you want to try this?”

“Yeah, but don’t get sappy about it.”

Babbo raced past me on the track.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he said dryly.

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