Chapter 2 No Flirting During Prep #3
Victoria, at the bar with Gia, turned her head immediately. Gia did too. Sophia didn’t even need to look.
“I’m fine,” she called.
Victoria lifted both hands. “I said nothing.”
Gia said, “I was breathing.”
Sophia ignored them both and looked at Vinny. “Yes. For a second.”
He nodded toward the short hallway by the back office, then stopped himself. “Actually, here is fine.”
Sophia noticed the correction. So did Gia, based on the pleased little sound she made.
Vinny shifted the trash bag to his other hand. “I’m sorry about earlier.”
“You already said that.”
“I know. I’m saying it better.”
Sophia waited. He looked at her mouth for half a second, then looked away so fast that she almost smiled.
“I shouldn’t have called you Soph like that in front of everyone,” he said. “I didn’t ask if it was all right. I just liked saying it, and that’s not a good enough reason.”
Sophia’s grip tightened on the menu. That was a good apology. Annoyingly good.
“It’s fine,” she said.
“Is it?”
She looked up. His face was serious, again. He was doing that a lot now. Sophia had no idea what to do with serious Vinny.
“I don’t know,” she said honestly.
He nodded. “All right.”
No push and no joke. Just all right. Her chest felt too full.
“I don’t usually like that nickname,” she said.
“I can stop.”
“I didn’t say that.”
His eyes flickered.
Sophia felt her face heat and looked down at the menu. “I mean, I don’t know.”
He was quiet for a second.
Then, softly, “All right.”
The word was starting to mean more than she wanted it to.
She looked up. “Did Antonia yell at you?”
“No.”
“She didn’t?”
“No. Antonia doesn’t yell. She just makes you feel like you disappointed yourself.”
Sophia couldn’t help it. She laughed. Vinny smiled, and the warm, victorious look came back when he made her laugh. Only now it looked softer. Less like winning. More like relief.
“She told me not to flirt during rush,” he said.
“That seems reasonable.”
“It is extremely reasonable. I hate it.”
She smiled. He leaned a little closer, then caught himself and stayed where he was.
“Also, she told me not to make you uncomfortable.”
Sophia’s smile faded.
“I did,” he said.
“Not exactly.”
“Sophia.”
She looked at him. He said her full name like he was making sure she knew he could. Like he wasn’t taking the other one unless she gave it.
“That matters,” he said. “If I make you uncomfortable, I need to know.”
Sophia took a moment to answer. Her instinct was to make it easy for him. It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. No big deal. She had said versions of those words her entire life. Instead, she held the menu against her chest and chose the more difficult truth.
“I don’t always know how I feel right away,” she said.
Vinny nodded slowly. “All right.”
“So if I get quiet, it doesn’t always mean yes.”
His face changed. Not offended. Hit. Like he understood that one mattered.
“Got it,” he said.
“And it doesn’t always mean no.”
“Also got it.”
“It might mean I need a minute.”
“I can give you a minute.”
Sophia breathed in. That was all. No dramatic speech and no big change. Just a minute. For some reason, that almost made her cry. She looked down fast. Vinny noticed and didn’t say anything. Fine. Right.
Gia’s voice cut across the room. “Are we done with the feelings meeting? Because the trash is leaking.”
Vinny looked down at the bag.
“Damn it.”
Sophia laughed again.
He grinned then, quick and bright. “See? This is why I need supervision.”
“You need many things.”
“Harsh, teach.”
The nickname came back, easy and safe. Teach, not Soph. Not yet. Sophia smiled.
Victoria, from the bar, muttered, “I hate that I don’t hate him right now.”
Gia patted her shoulder. “Look at you being reasonable. Gross.”
Vinny lifted the trash bag. “I’m going before this gets worse.”
“Too late,” Sophia said.
His grin softened. “Night, teach.”
“Goodnight, Vinny.”
He headed for the back door. Sophia watched him go. She told herself she was only making sure the trash didn’t leak.
Victoria appeared beside her. “That was better.”
Sophia looked at her. “You were listening?”
“Of course.”
“That was private.”
“You had it in public.”
Sophia sighed.
Victoria bumped her shoulder. “I’m serious. That was better.”
Sophia looked toward the back door after it closed.
“Yes,” she said. “It was.”
In the alley, Vinny tied off the trash and dropped it into the bin with more force than necessary.
He wasn’t mad; his hands just needed something to do.
He leaned against the brick wall, breathing in cold air.
No flirting during rush. Don’t make her uncomfortable.
If I get quiet, it doesn’t always mean yes.
That line stayed with him. It should have been obvious.
Maybe it was obvious to better men. Vinny pressed the heel of his hand against his forehead.
He liked Sophia, not the idea of her or the challenge of making her blush. Her.
The girl who could tell Victoria to back off without raising her voice.
The girl who said she needed a minute like she expected him to laugh and then looked surprised when he didn’t.
The girl who carried bread like a sacred duty and corrected him about rice.
He wanted to ask her out. Not in the kitchen, not during rush, and not as a joke.
A real date. Somewhere she would feel safe.
Somewhere she could say no without twenty people watching.
The thought made him nervous enough to laugh at himself.
Vinny Marino, scared of asking a girl to dinner.
Not dinner. Dinner sounded too much like pressure.
His apartment was absolutely not happening.
He had two sisters. He knew exactly how he would feel if some kitchen guy asked Anna or Mary to come over alone after almost kissing them in a cooler. No, it needed to be public and easy.
Food that wouldn’t make her feel pressured.
Maybe a picnic. It sounded weird for half a second, then thoughtful.
He would ask Antonia. No, Antonia would stare at him until he regretted asking.
Gia? Absolutely not. Gia would announce it to the pasta.
Victoria? He wanted to live. Maybe he could figure it out himself.
He pushed off the wall and headed back inside.
Through the small back window, he saw Sophia near the hostess stand, smiling at something Victoria said.
His chest tightened. That pull in his chest was back.
He wasn’t going to talk his way out of it. He was going to have to do this right.