Page 13 of Ready or Not
“How’d you find out about this place?”
“My parents love jazz music and played it all the time, so I fell in love with it too,” I explained, flagging down the bartender for some drinks. “Found this place a couple of years ago thanks to the owner briefly being our neighbor.”
“This place is so cool,” she continued, looking around until her eyes found mine. “Thank you for bringing me here. This is an amazing surprise.”
“Happy to know you like it.”
“Correction: I love the place.”
“Let me correct myself,” I held my hands up in mock surrender, amused. “Happy to know youloveit.”
“Thank you,” she stuck out her tongue at me, a ghost of a smile on her lips. “Get it right.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I rolled my eyes, sliding her the specialty purple pink cocktail in a couple glass the male bartender set down for us. “Here. Taste.”
“So demanding,” she took the drink from me, her fingers lingered on mine, creating a friction that sent my pulse in overdrive. I watched as she brought the glass to her slightly parted lips, her eyes never leaving mine as she took a sip. Her reaction was instant—a slow smile crept across her face, followed by a little hum of approval as she set it back down.
"Okay," she said, leaning in closer so her voice wouldn’t be lost in the music. "This is fire. What is it?”
I smirked, leaning back in my seat and letting my arm drape lazily over the backrest of the booth. “They call itLa Melodia—after a Latin jazz song. One of their signature cocktails with grenadine, raspberry, and blueberries. I’m guessing you love it?”
“I think…” she paused, swirling the drink in her glass, pretending to deliberate as her lips curled into a wicked grin, “I’ll need another before I decide.”
"Another? Really, Butterfingers?"
She laughed, yet this time… it felt different. It was like it was meant for me.
“Back to slandering me now?”
“I’m just saying,” I teased, tilting my head with a mock-stern expression, "I was there when you almost spilled all of your mojito. What’s to say you won’t spill this one too?"
She laughed again, and I felt my chest tighten in a way that threw me off guard.
Whew.
Was I… falling for her?
The thought struck me like a lightning bolt, sudden and impossible to ignore. My teasing grin faltered for a moment, but I recovered quickly, masking the rush of emotions with a chuckle of my own.
Did… was I seriously catching feelings?
Actually… Ialreadycaught feelings, didn’t I?
8 /DESIDERIO
I was stillunsure of what I wanted, however, I knew how I felt.
Like I had told myself earlier, my original plan was only to admire her and keep it pushing.
I wasn’t interested in entertaining anything romantic—not because I was scared or unready, but because I wasn’t sure what would blossom out of our interaction. Used to flings that never made it past the preliminary stage, I had grown comfortable with the fleeting nature of connections.
They came, they went, and they left no more than an echo.
Yet as we spent more time together… something started to shift.
And it made me want to dive deeper into who she was, craving to further understand her.
However, I had to ask myself if it was just the allure of something new, something unexplored, that was pulling me in…
