Page 65 of Unmasking Love
“Har har, I want to have Italian for dinner.” She lifts her chin in mock defiance.
“Do you have a favorite place?” I ask.
“Yeah, Filomena Ristorante.” She says and I type the destination into the app. “It’s a little far, it’s in the city, so the closest place would be,”
“No, we’re going to your favorite place.” I cut her off. “It’s our first date and since I just planned it now and we’re dressed like this we’re at least going to your favorite place.
“This is our first date?”
“Yeah. Unless you want to count last night.”
“What about when you brought me lunch at work?”
“I didn’t eat then, both parties have to eat for it to be an official date.” I tell her and when I catch a faint blush on her cheeks I realize the pure mention of eating around her is an innuendo now.
“I can’t wait for my cannoli dessert.” She says with a smirk as the car pulls up and the glint in her eyes tells me she’s thinking the same thing I am.
Chapter 18
Harper
A Man Who Plans
I’monadatewith Aiden.
Thisis a date.
I can’t believe I questioned if yesterday was a date.
Yes he held my hand, yes he was a pure gentleman but he barely spoke yesterday.
Tonight he’s chatty!
It is amazing. It’s not that he’s a different person, it’s just a new view of the person he is. He’s still proud of his work. He’s still loyal. He’s still sexy as hell.
He’s in the middle of a story about how he tried to rescue his family’s cat from a tree when he was a kid. He ended up falling on his mom who was trying to catch him, landing her in a cast for two months with a broken wrist.
“Are your parents still in Minnesota?” I ask as the server sets down my chicken parmesan. Aiden waits until his eggplant parm is on the table before answering.
“They are. They moved back after they followed me to college.”
“They followed you to college?”
“Sort of,” he blushes a little bit and I decide to leave it be. I just can’t fathom a parent who would follow their kid. I don’t want to get into how polar opposite my own mother is so I’m going to move on.
“Where did you go to school?”
“Boston University. My parents hated the east coast though. So, when I got picked up by the Indy Flames they happily moved to Indianapolis. But, when I moved again a few months later they decided to settle back in Warroad.”
“Do you see them often?”
“Not really. I text with my mom almost every day and they visit to watch games a few times a year, depending on how much I play. Dad follows along on T.V..”
“Are they coming for Thanksgiving?”
“No, we’re actually traveling home from a game the night before Thanksgiving and it’s so expensive to fly that week. Plus, I’m not sure when I’m playing. It makes planning tricky. Will you visit your mom for Thanksgiving?”
Dangit, I knew holidays and family talk would eventually get back to me. I usually don’t bring up family on a first date but I’ve been talking to Aiden for a month. This doesn’t feel like a first date.
