Page 29 of Fall Into You
“So,” Danielle says, “you and Liza, huh?” She leans against the wall and smirks at me.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say. I’m really a terrible liar—truly the worst.
“Right, right.” She bobs her head. “Just so you know, I’m not gonna tell Vinny, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
I narrow my eyes at her. Can I trust Danielle?
“Why wouldn’t you tell him? I don’t get it.” I shake my head at her. “Vinny would flip if he found out that I have feelings for his little sister.”
“Ohmigod, you havefeelingsfor her?!” She claps her hands excitedly.
“Shhh. Jesus!” I crane my neck to make sure no one is nearby to hear us. “What did you think this was?”
“Oh my God, this is so exciting! I thought it was just a crush, that maybe you would hang out, be her rebound or something, but I could totally tell from the moment she saw you that she wassointo you, and you were into her. I hoped this would happen.” Her smile is broad and genuine.
It annoys me that she automatically assumed that this thing was only about having a physical relationship, as if the thought of me being boyfriend material never crossed her mind. I hate that Vinny must have poisoned the well, and I shudder to think of the impression everyone in this family has of me because of it.
“I don’t understand. Why are you okay with this? Isn’t there a spouse code or something where you absolutely need to support every opinion and decision your partner makes?”
Danielle snorts. “Puh-lease. You’ve obviously never been married before.” She rolls her eyes. “First of all, always agreeing on everything makes for a boring marriage with boring sex. You need to have some disagreements, some passion and spice in your life. Second of all, the wife is always right, and the husband’s opinions don’t matter as much.” She points a finger at me. “Remember that when you get married. It will save you from a lot of headaches.”
I laugh and run my fingers through my hair. “Okay, but I still don’t get it. I thought Vinny would have ruined my reputation by telling you all of my worst college stories. Sometimes I wonder why the hell he keeps hanging out with me if he thinks I’m that much of an ass.”
She sighs. “Vinny loves you. He just doesn’t want you with his sister,” she clarifies. “I want you to understand something, Matt. Liza isn’t the only member of the Castelli family who has been struggling with the death of their father. Vinny has suddenly developed this new sense of responsibility and obligation to his family that no one asked him to take on, and he’s taking it to extremes.” She shrugs. “Most of the time, it’s not a big deal. It’s just dumb stuff like making his mom switch heating companies because the one she was using was ripping her off. Or riding Liza’s ass to go to the doctor. Things like that. But other times, it’s dumb stuff like this.” She waves her hand up and down my body. “I knew you would be able to make her happy, but he just saw the opposite result, you know? I told him that you’d probably changed since school, since he had too, and that Liza needed someone who made her feel alive—which I’m hoping you do.
“When the time comes for you guys to tell him, I’ll support it and try to talk him out of murdering you.” She smiles.
“Danielle…” I breathe. “You don’t know what this means to me.”
She scoffs. “I’m not doing it foryou,” she says, rolling her eyes at me. “I’m doing it forher. She deserves so much better than some boring idiot who constantly put down her choices and tastes, who had no respect for her family values.”
“She does,” I say.
“I can tell she likes you, because every time your name comes up, she sits up a little straighter, like a dog sitting by his master’s feet at the dinner table, waiting and begging for whatever scraps it can get. She’s the dog waiting for any bits and pieces of information about your life. It’s kind of cute in a gross way.” She smirks. “Don’t mess it up,” she adds quickly with a menacing finger pointed at me.
“What about Vinny? Should I talk to him?”
“No! God no.” She sighs. “You guys aren’t there yet. Sure, he’s gonna be mad that you didn’t tell him earlier, but I wouldn’t say anything until you arebothone hundred percent sure of what you’re doing. He needs to see her happy, certain in her decision. And I don’t see that yet. She’s still too hesitant. She for sure likes you—maybe even truly cares about you—but you have a ways to go.”
I nod. “That’s exactly what Liza said on Saturday.”
Danielle smiles. “Good. So just do that. Go on dates, make out, flirt, you know…” She raises her eyebrows suggestively. “Just don’t hurt her, because Vinny won’t be the only person you’d be getting an ass-kicking from.”
I laugh at the thought of Danielle kicking my butt, but I stop promptly as I realize that she’s in pretty good shape. She might actually get some good punches in. “Don’t worry, I have no intention of hurting Liza, and I definitely do not want to be on the other end of your ass-kicking.”
“Me?” She laughs once. “I’m not the one you have to worry about. Catterina is the one you should be scared of! We’ve both been hoping you’d get together since the vomit incident—I even purposefully stayed behind that day during the pumpkin patch to give you some time—but she’d beat you to death with a wooden spoon if you hurt her baby girl,” she says with no trace of humor in her voice.
The fact that I have Catterina and Danielle’s support means leaps and bounds for me and my relationship with Liza. Hopefully, if things go well, by December 1st we will be in a place stable enough to stop sneaking around and tell her family. And maybe with their support, Vinny will be able to see reason, and I won’t have to lose a friend in order to gain a girlfriend.
Girlfriend…
I’m not particularly excited at the thought of being beaten with a cooking utensil, but I have no fear of that ever happening, so it’s not a big deal to me.
“There will be no need for wooden-spoon beatings, I promise you.” I stick out my hand for a handshake, but she doesn’t take it.
“I don’t want to offend you or anything, but I won’t be touching your hands until you wash them in my guest bathroom over there.” She points toward a door just before the hallway that leads to the bedrooms (or so I assume). “Remember, Matthew, this is a post-Covid world we’re living in. You need to keep your hands clean and your mind dirty—not the other way around.”
DINNER IS…INTERESTING.Vinny and I are back to being friends like he never warned me to stay away from his sister or called me to make sure I hadn’t tried anything with her the day I helped her move into her apartment. We reminisce about the old days, but I try to steer him away from talking about the intense drinking and the girls—for everyone’s sake. I don’t want Vinny to keep associating me with that guy, I don’t want Liza to get upset over other girls from my past, and I don’t want Danielle to think less of me when I know I’m going to need her on my side. I need her to like me for whenever Liza feels comfortable enough to come clean or when December first rolls around—whichever comes first. And Iknowwe’ll still be together then because I can feel how right we are for each other.
