Page 36 of The Ground Beneath Our Feet
“Antipasti?”
My mom placed a blue and green earthenware platter of cheese, cured meats, olives, bread, and fruit on the table in front of Jessica and me. Jessica’s face was easy to read. She was terrified.Of food.
Poor girl. She was so scared she’d be out of control, eating in public. I’d finally calmed her down around me, but she still had a way to go.
Jessica and I were sitting outside at my parents’ house in the Santa Barbara hills, surveying the city below and the ocean beyond. The warm spring sun and the time change meant that the days were getting longer and sunnier.
While we sat close, we weren’t touching, even though I wanted to reach over and hold her hand. Or more.
I said, “Thanks, Mom.” With high heels tapping on the terracotta tile, my mom swished back into the house. Jessica eyed my mother carefully. My mother was the type of Italian housewife who wore pearls and heels and full makeup at all times.
Just like someone else I knew.
In contrast, Jessica’s fresh style took my breath away. She sat beside me on a pale pink patio loveseat, wearing a white and blue flowered sun dress with a little white cardigan. She looked utterly beautiful. Her hair gently curled behind her ear.
“Don’t be so uptight.”
“I’m not,” she protested. She was.
Now I did reach over and hold her hand. “Babe. We talked about this.”
“I don’t know what to do. I’m hungry, but I don’t know what to eat. Nothing is working, and I’m so hungry all the time.”
We were two weeks into her training now. Jessica had let me weigh and measure her, and the actual numbers were way smaller than what she’d thought in her head.
I was perplexed, though. She’d eaten most meals with me at home, but the numbers hadn’t changed. I’d expected her to lose water weight, but none so far. Maybe her body liked to hold onto the weight a little longer than most.
My mom walked outside with a pitcher of sangria. “It’s a lovely day to enjoy the sunshine, is it not? Look at the way it warms the Earth on this spring day. It makes me want to go for a long walk.” She eyed Jessica approvingly.
Jessica stretched out her leg and groaned. “I’m so sore from going to the gym five times a week, I don’t think I can move. Did you know that Mikey’s taken me on as a training client?”
“He told me. He’ll do a good job.” She smiled. “If you’re sore, though, you should go get a massage. That will make you feel better.” My mom clucked at her. “I’ll give you the card for my masseuse.” She headed back into the house.
Jessica muttered under her breath, “Your mom is Sofia Loren.”
I picked up a slice of apple and a piece of cheese, and held it up for Jessica.
“Try this. New way of living. Eat food slowly. And enjoy it.”
Her eyes locked on mine. I put the apple on her lips. She took a delicate bite, and her tongue touched my finger.
Fuck, I wanted that tongue to be in my mouth. Or all over my body.
I wanted to see what that tongue could do to my dick. I watched her as she chewed. The sharp, white Cheddar and the green apple had to flood her mouth with flavor.
“What do you taste, babe?”
She looked at me in wonder. “It tastes really good.”
“Of course it does,” said my mom, who’d walked back outside, not knowing she’d interrupted my erotic thoughts. “It was prepared with love.” She handed Jessica a business card. “Go take the soreness out of your body. It will feel good.”
“I’ll think about it.”
After dinner, when Jessica ate exactly half of the grilled chicken and almost none of the pasta on her plate, we returned home. She went upstairs while I watched Netflix for an hour.
Then I fed the animals, turned off the lights, and came upstairs.
Her door was open a crack. I heard a crinkle of wrapping, and I pushed open the door slightly.
