Page 30 of Depraved
Matteo takes a seat at the island by the sound of the stool dragging against the floor. “But I’ll tell you my complicated story if you tell me yours.”
I grab a box of pasta and turn around. “No way. There’s nothing to tell.”
I lob the box at him, and he catches it midair.
“Bullshit. What’s the deal with you two? And what’s this for?”
My hands smack against the counter, and I look at him humorously. “You are going to learn to cook for yourself. And why do you care…you want to take a shot?”
He laughs but stands and comes around the counter as I go in search of a pot.
“Andgetshot? No fucking way…you belong to Dante.” His answer makes me swirl around.
Matteo is standing there grinning at me while holding a shiny silver pot.
“I belong to me,” I state firmly, jumping up to sit on the counter.
I wave a finger at him and wonder how he seems to know his way around a kitchen.
“I never said I couldn’t cook, just that I don’t have to. Now, come on and spill it.”
All that charm and wit wasted on a manwhore.
“Is this what it’s like to have girlfriends? I’m glad I passed.” I laugh, watching him turn on the faucet over the stove to fill the pot.
He laughs loudly as he sprinkles salt and olive oil into the water. “Let’s make a deal. I’ll tell you one thing, and you tell me one thing.”
Against my better judgment, I nod because Matteo is hard to resist. That damn charm and those puppy dog eyes win out every time. But he’s the definition of a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I feel bad for the women who fall for his shit. But for better or worse, he’s a friend.
“I like her…you know who I’m talking about,” he starts, giving me a knowing look, and I nod. “But I fucked her sister. It meant nothing to us, but it will to her, because you know how she is with her. So now, it’s really damn complicated.”
“You fucked—” I gasp before he cuts me off.
“Eh, eh, eh. I will not confirm or deny a name,” he answers, tutting at me.
I shake my head at him but secretly love the soap opera of it.
“Your turn, beautiful.” He grins and leans against the counter.
I take a deep breath and pick at a piece of fuzz on my sweats. “I like him. Too much.”
“That’s it?” he deadpans, before checking the water.
I roll my eyes and rest back onto my hand.
“Yeah. I don’t say that lightly. I don’t ever stay in one place very long. My family always finds me, but this time, I went unseen for so long, and that fucked with my head. I did shit I shouldn’t have.”
“Dante…you did Dante,” he teases like the asshole he is.
But I ignore him and continue. “And now he’s going to stay with me, curled up inside me, like a reminder of possibilities I don’t get. It’s like this shitty lump in my throat that I can’t get rid of and can’t swallow down.”
Matteo grins, and I see the dirty thought about to come out, so I toss an orange at him from the bowl next to me. “Don’t.”
He catches it midair and tosses it back. “I wasn’t going to. I was going to say, so you really like him. And if I had to guess, you keep telling yourself that you can’t miss what you don’t have…right?”
Nail meet head.
“Something like that,” I answer.
