Chapter 5 #3
After Jill, Gio started to believe the relationships he’d continued without his best friend were destined to fail because Gio wanted Rafe there…for the whole shebang. The sex, the love, the forever.
Which wouldn’t bode well for either of their futures.
Keeley was different. Rafe was right about that. He just didn’t understand how.
Because Gio’s future wasn’t looking quite as bleak or as lonely as it had a few weeks earlier.
If Rafe continued to push back against this idea, Gio would go it alone, asking Keeley out and attempting to make a real, lasting relationship with her.
“We’re here,” Rafe said, dropping the conversation completely.
Gio considered continuing it, but he decided to leave it alone for now.
“What’s our play?” Rafe asked as they got out of the car. “I’m sort of new to this date-crashers gig of ours.”
Gio forced a laugh. “Let’s wing it.”
Rafe nodded but then gripped his arm, holding him back just before they reached the door. “Don’t kiss Keeley again.”
Gio thought he’d gotten a bye, but he’d been wrong. “What?”
“I don’t think…” Rafe swallowed heavily. “I don’t think it’s smart.”
Gio wanted to refute that fact, wanted to say it was starting to feel like the smartest thing he’d done in a long time, but there was something in Rafe’s eyes that caused him to hold back.
“Because of Kayden?” Gio asked, though he was certain Keeley’s brother had nothing to do with his friend’s reticence.
“Just…don’t do it again.” Rafe walked on, while Gio stood there a moment longer, pondering what he’d just witnessed.
Rafe was usually very good at shielding his emotions, but not this time. Because Gio could plainly see he wasn’t the only one suffering a bad case of desire for one Ms. Keeley Gallo.
However, while Gio was open to acting on his attraction, Rafe was fighting it with everything he had.
As soon as they entered the bar, they spotted Keeley, sitting alone at a table near the makeshift stage. The crowd around the bar was gearing up to watch tonight’s hockey game on the big-screen TV.
They paused for a moment, unseen by her. Gio glanced around the bar.
“Think her date is in the restroom?” Rafe mused.
Gio looked back at the table and shook his head. “No. There’s only one drink on the table. Come on. I don’t like this.”
They walked toward her, Keeley’s eyes widening when she saw them. “Oh my God. What are you doing here? Is this going to become a thing?”
Gio pulled out a chair, sitting without an invitation. “Date over already?”
Keeley sighed. “It never started. Asshole stood me up.”
Gio shook his head. “Keeley—”
She raised her hand. “Don’t start. I already know what you’re going to say.”
Rafe reached over and placed his hand atop hers. “I’m sorry it didn’t go the way you hoped. Did he text you at least, offer an explanation?”
She shook her head. “No. I’ve been here forty-five minutes. I texted him fifteen minutes ago. I can see that he’s read the message, but he hasn’t replied. He’s ghosting me for some reason.”
“Good riddance.” Gio grinned, though he suspected that probably wasn’t the right response. Regardless, there was no denying his mood had just gone from concerned over Keeley and annoyed at Rafe, to downright happy to be alone with the two of them in one-point-two seconds.
Something Rafe definitely took note of, given his pensive, somewhat anxious expression.
Keeley, thankfully, remained oblivious to the undercurrents at the table, finishing her glass of wine and not looking too terribly upset.
Gio sighed, wondering again if he was a fool for wanting this. Because there was too much to lose.
She was Keeley, Kayden’s little sister, and a friend.
Rafe was his best friend, and soon-to-be business partner and roommate.
Adding anything else to either mix would be reckless and dangerous.
And even as that thought came, he knew if the opportunity presented itself, he was going to be reckless and dangerous. He blamed his Moretti genes.
“To be honest,” Keeley said, “it was probably one of my better dates. The conversation hasn’t been awkward, he’s obviously not hard to look at, and since you owe me for crashing another date, you’re now buying my drink.” She laughed at her own joke. “And food. How about a plate of wings?”
Rafe shook his head. “We came for cheesesteaks.”
Keeley seemed to like that idea better. She raised her hand for the waiter. “Never mind on the check,” she said. “We’d like to order food.”
“Of course,” the waiter said. “Let me grab you some menus. Would you like drinks?” he asked Rafe and Gio.
“A pitcher of Yuengling,” Gio said, looking at Keeley’s empty wineglass. “And three frosty mugs.”
“You got it.”
The waiter left to get their drinks and menus.
“You sure you’re okay?” Rafe asked again.
“In case you guys haven’t noticed, none of my dates end well. This is pretty much par for the course.”
“I have noticed,” Rafe said. “Maybe you should give Tinder a rest for a little while.”
“Oh, totally,” Keeley agreed. “I’m going to take a page from Gio’s book.”
Gio frowned. “What’s that mean?”
Keeley leaned her elbows on the table, shifting closer to Rafe, giving him an adorable, playful grin. “How do you feel about dating amongst employees at Baros Corporation?”
Was Keeley coming on to Rafe?
Rafe was silent for a moment, no doubt letting her words sink in. Gio sat there, as dumbfounded as his friend, expecting some ugly emotion to appear.
Shouldn’t he be jealous? Upset that she was expressing interest in Rafe?
Gio waited. And…nothing. It felt like all the common sense in the world wasn’t going to help him stop his wayward, wicked thoughts. Because the truth was, he wanted Keeley, and he wanted Rafe there too, for as long as he was willing to stay.
Kayden was going to kick his ass.
Before Rafe could reply to her question, the waiter arrived with their beer and the menus, even though they all knew what they wanted.
“I’ll take a Philly cheesesteak and fries,” Rafe ordered, looking around the table.
Keeley and Gio both said, “Same,” and the waiter left to place their order in the kitchen.
“What do you mean about employees dating?” Rafe finally asked.
“Chad asked me out,” she confessed.
“Who the fuck is Chad?” Gio blurted out, louder than he’d intended.
Keeley leaned back, surprised by his outburst. “He’s a waiter at Eclectic.”
Gio had forgotten about the guy at the nightclub.
He shot Rafe a glance, and he could see his friend grappling for an answer.
Keeley had given him the perfect opportunity to put the kibosh on her dating Chad—he just had to say no company hanky-panky—but Rafe was too fucking nice to take it.
More than that, he probably saw this as a way of keeping Gio, and maybe himself, away from her.
“Do you want to go out with him?” Rafe asked.
Keeley shrugged. “We’ve talked a few times, and he seems like a nice guy. At least I wouldn’t be going into the date blind. We’ve met in person and he’s cute. So…yeah, I guess.”
Rafe nodded. “Okay. Fine. I don’t see a problem with that.” And while his friend’s words seemed reasonable and calm, Gio couldn’t help but get the sense Rafe wasn’t as unaffected by Keeley’s request as he was acting.
Gio was long overdue for a couple of heart-to-hearts—first with the man in the mirror, and then with Rafe. Because he could feel a shift not only in himself but in his friend as well. And Keeley was at the center of it.
He considered Kayden yet again and blew out a long, slow breath, trying to figure where the hell he was supposed to go from here. Because if he continued to pursue this, there was a chance it wouldn’t be just one of Kayden’s buddies taking his sister to bed. It would be two.
He put those thoughts away for now because they were a million miles from that possibility becoming a reality. Rafe wasn’t on board…yet.
So tonight, they were just three friends hanging out.
“Hey, I’ve got an idea,” Keeley started. “Now that you guys are going to be roommates and renovating the haunted mansion, I think it would be cool to film you working on it.”
“Film it? Why?” Rafe asked.
“Think about it. I capture some video as you two are working, you can talk about the ghosts, the history of the mansion, the renovation work. It would be great marketing for the inn. Amazing promotion. I can almost guarantee if the videos take off, the inn would be booked out for months before it even opens.” Then, because she was Keeley and too adorable for words, she added, “And if you take off your shirts when you’re hot and sweaty, I can also guarantee women will be lining the block to spend a night or two with you… I mean, with your ghosts.”
Gio scoffed. “I’ll leave the TV star shit to Joey. He loves being the center of attention, mugging for the camera and all that crap.”
“I’m being serious about this. I’ve given it some thought, and I really do think it would be a great way to promote the inn. I mean, you obviously want the business to be a success, right?”
“Of course we do,” Rafe said, “But—”
“Don’t say no yet. Just promise you’ll think about it. Or better yet, I’ll get some raw footage when you start working. I’ll put it together, you can watch it, and you can make your decision then. After you see what I have in mind, you’ll know I’m right.”
One look at Keeley’s face, and Gio knew they hadn’t heard the last about this. Regardless, he was determined to keep his answer a no.
But before he could say that, Rafe answered for them. “We’ll think about it.”
She smiled brightly. So brightly, Gio realized there was a good chance he’d get roped into this just because she wanted to do it so badly. Then he considered the perks. With her doing the recording, he’d get to spend even more time with her.
Gio sighed, then caught sight of someone approaching them in his peripheral vision. From the sudden resigned look on Rafe’s face, he knew it wasn’t someone he wanted to see.
“Hey, Gio, Rafe.”
Gio pasted a fake smile on his face as he turned to greet Jill.