Chapter 6 #7
He drags me through the crowd toward her and doesn’t let go of my waist the entire way.
He leans to my ear. "Your waist is hot."
Enough. Enough of this insanity.
My stomach does that stupid thing. Compliments and I have a toxic relationship.
I crave them, I hate needing them, and now he’s giving me one on the exact thing people used to mock me for, which makes it ten times worse.
I force a fake smile.
"Thanks," I mutter, knowing full well Sophia can’t hear us yet. "You don’t have to talk like we’re together now. She can’t hear you."
He shrugs, completely unbothered. "It was just a compliment. Who gives a fuck about her."
I swallow hard. If only my body would stop reacting like he whispered something filthier. His hand slides from my waist to the small of my back. I can feel eyes on us now. I can feel her.
"Don’t you dare fucking overdo it," I mutter under my breath as we near her. Gio doesn’t answer. He just smirks and runs his fingers through my hair. I look at him suspiciously.
"Relax," he says, tugging lightly at a strand near my ear.
"You’ve got great hair. Might as well use it."
I swat his hand away. He grabs it mid-air and holds it, lacing our fingers together.
And then Sophia speaks. "Wow," she says, smiling too wide. "Didn’t expect to see you two here. Or like… this."
Her voice is sweet, but I know her too well.
There’s acid under the sugar.
Gio doesn’t miss a beat. "Yeah, we weren’t gonna come, but I convinced him." He squeezes my hand when he says it.
I want to scream. She looks between us, head tilting.
"Really? I didn’t know you two were..."
"Yeah... shocking," he says with a dramatic sigh. "Just like you couldn’t keep your hands off me, I couldn’t keep mine off your man."
He squeezes my waist for emphasis.
"Difference is, I actually succeeded."
Damn. Beautiful performance. Oscar-worthy.
And also complete bullshit, because this is fake.
Sophia crosses her arms and scoffs. "Don’t make this a thing. It’s embarrassing."
Gio smiles. "Fuck yeah. It is embarrassing."
He tilts his head at her. "For you. For him, it’s definitely an upgrade."
Something inside me purrs. Watching him drag her like this is unreal. Yeah, he’s evil, but god, he’s so good at it. I don’t even like him, but right now I love what he’s doing.
His free hand comes up again, this time to the back of my neck. He plays with the hair there, brushing fingers along my skin like he doesn’t know what personal space is.
I can feel her watching every second of it. Sophia flicks her gaze between us. "Didn’t you say Gio gets on your nerves?" she asks, annoyed.
Before I can answer, Gio’s fingers tug hard, like he’s secretly saying fuck you, Rava, without actually saying it out loud.
He steps closer. "We were always like that. I’m pretty sure he hated how I made him feel, not me."
His fingers trail down my neck. Then he turns to her again.
"And you definitely know what I mean, since you dove into my DMs while you had this next to you."
Holy shit. He didn’t just say it, he threw it at her. He finishes his water. "Shame is a small word for what I’d feel if I were you."
The look on her face is priceless.
"But sure. He acted like he hated me at first. It was adorable."
"I still hate you."
He grins and kisses my neck. "Sure, baby."
Sophia takes a sip of her drink. "That’s cute."
I’m dying inside. Gio rests his chin on my shoulder and starts tracing invisible shapes on my arm. "He gets shy in public," he says. "But in private? Lord, have mercy on us."
"Gio," I warn, heat flooding my face.
"What?" he says innocently, eyes gleaming.
"I was just saying you’re more talkative when it’s just us." Sophia raises an eyebrow. "I thought you weren’t his… type."
"I’m everyone’s type eventually," Gio says, grinning. The silence that follows is thick.
He pulls away. "I need a refill."
"I’ll come with," I say instantly.
"No," he says, sharper than he means. "Stay. Entertain your audience." He squeezes my shoulder. "Call me if you get lonely."
Now it’s just me and Sophia, and honestly, I don’t feel awkward at all.
I’ve got too much anger simmering for awkwardness to exist. For the first time in forever, I look at her and I don’t feel like that weak, disposable little boyfriend she made me feel like. Right now I feel taller.
"You were always that evil?" Sophia says casually.
I turn slowly. "Takes one to know one."
"Didn’t expect you to play arm candy," she says, looking past me toward Gio.
I smile. "Someone had to keep him entertained. You clearly couldn’t."
She narrows her eyes. "So it’s true. You and him."
I step closer, just enough. "Mhm. And before you ask, yes, he’s as good as he looks. Maybe better. Thanks for the warm-up."
She scoffs. "You’re proud of being someone’s distraction?"
"Oh no, baby. The only distraction here was you."
She looks furious, which is hilarious considering she started all of this.
"He’ll get tired of your games."
"Maybe. But at least I didn’t have to beg for his attention through DMs at four in the morning." I smirk.
"Those were cute, by the way. That line about him fucking you like he hates you? Fucking iconic. We reread it together and lost it."
"You picked him, of all people?" she says, disgusted. "Do you even realize what you’re doing?"
I clench my jaw. "Don’t talk about him like he’s a disease."
"I didn’t mean—"
"Yes, you did."
Silence.
She exhales. "Fine. You win."
"What?"
"You wanted to get under my skin. Congrats. It worked."
She laughs bitterly. "I actually believed you were boring."
I smile. "Guess I’m full of surprises."
33) One More Word...
Gio
I sit in a corner alone. I'm watching him talk to that... thing.
That waste of oxygen, Sophia. God, even looking at her pisses me off. Her face, her voice, her empty fucking brain. The audacity. The absolute fucking nerve.
She dares to look Rava in the eyes after what she pulled?
She looks pissed. I smile. Looks like Ravioli's little revenge plan worked. She turns again, and her gaze drops to his mouth.
For exactly three seconds.
She does it again.
Rava leans his head back with that same annoyed tilt he gives me when I say something and he pretends he's mad.
Sophia puts her hand on the table beside them, too close to his. He moves his hand away.
Good boy.
I finish my disgusting juice in one swallow. Toss the cup aside. I stand. Sophia is in my way, so I pass her like she's nothing but some random background noise.
Nothing to do with me.
I stop behind Rava. I don't say a word. I just reach up and slide my hand along the side of his neck, slow, my fingers curling just under his jaw, tilting his head slightly toward me, just enough to take his eyes off her.
"Don't waste that glare on her," I murmur, close to his ear. "It looks better when it's aimed at me."
And he blushes. God.
What a sweet little thing.
His body melts the second I compliment him. I step in closer, making sure Sophia's got front-row seats.
I loop an arm around his shoulders again, dragging him closer, and my hand immediately finds his throat.
I go up and down over his Adam's apple.
It's calming. Well. It was supposed to be calming. But it only makes me want to squeeze his throat harder.
Which I don't, because Rava's nervous. Real nervous.
Why the hell is he nervous? It's all fake. An act. But the way he bites his lip? That's not acting.
That's him trying to peel it open again.
He does that in meetings too, every time Charles talks to him like he's disposable.
And then there's the other thing, that stupid little habit he has with his hands.
Left thumb, rubbed over and over with the other hand, like he's trying to sand his own nerves down.
I've noticed that more than five times. I don't know if I should do anything. It probably crosses some line I don't even know how to define.
But I want to see what he does when I do it.
So I catch his hand, slide it behind my back, and take his thumb between my fingers. I start rubbing it with the exact same pressure, the exact same rhythm, exactly the way he does it to calm himself down.
And yeah, he feels it immediately. His whole body goes still, and he turns to look at me with a face that screams, "No fucking way you noticed that."
His eyebrows lift a little. He looks at me suspiciously. I'm seconds from laughing, because the way he's looking at me is actually funny. It's like I just did a magic trick he didn't agree to participate in.
So I stick my tongue out at him.
He mirrors it right back at me.
"What the hell is this?" she snaps. God. I forgot that one was still here. I grin, lips still near Rava's jaw.
"This? Oh, this is just foreplay."
He elbows me in the ribs lightly, but he still chuckles.
I turn to her, with my hand still rubbing his thumb. "He gets feisty when people doubt us."
"Cut the shit, Gio," she snaps.
Oh. Oh, fuck no.
Now I hate her voice even more.
I look at her, dead in the eyes. "Watch your tone. You're not untouchable, and I'm not the one you wanna push."
She steps forward. Rava tenses in my grip, but I hold him still. "You're just doing this to humiliate me."
"Nah," I say.
"We're doing this 'cause we look good together."
I glance over her shoulder and spot someone in the crowd, a familiar flash of bleach-blond hair and too many bracelets. Enzo.
"Shit," I mutter. "I’m gonna go say hi, lover," I murmur, then press a quick kiss to his cheek. I turn away and my gaze lands right back on Sophia. Then I look at her and wink.
"Be a doll and don't stress out my boyfriend too much while I'm gone." And I leave.
I honestly don't get how he lasted ten months with her. I can barely handle ten seconds. I walk toward Enzo. My old friend.
He's genuinely insane, not in the cute way. What the hell is he doing here?
Last time I saw him, he was half-dead from an overdose and screaming at a dealer because they wouldn't give him more, ready to swing at anyone. His hair is still bleached, obviously. It's always bleached.