Chapter 14 Official #3
“I mean, I want us to be real.” She gestured between them, then let her hand fall because the gesture didn’t explain anything. “I want to stop acting like I’m not already choosing you.”
Vinny stopped breathing. Or looked like he did. Sophia swallowed.
“I know school still matters. I know work matters. I know we have to be careful at Bella Luna. I know I am not suddenly skilled at all of this.”
“You’re doing pretty damn strong,” he said.
Her face warmed.
“But I don’t want to keep saying we’re just seeing each other because I’m scared of the word.” Sophia looked at him directly. “I want you to be my boyfriend.”
Vinny stared at her. No joke and no grin. For once, no immediate words. That made her nervous.
“Unless that isn’t what you—”
“Yes,” he said fast.
Sophia blinked.
“Yes?”
“Yes.” He stepped closer, then stopped. “Sorry. Too fast. But yes.”
A laugh escaped her. His face broke into a smile so open it made her chest hurt.
“I was trying to be cool,” he said. “I failed.”
“You failed badly.”
“I know.” He looked happy enough not to care. “So, what, I’m your boyfriend now?”
Sophia’s stomach flipped. The word sounded strange. Big. Kind.
“Yes.”
“And you’re my girlfriend?”
Her face heated. Girlfriend. Oh. That word was worse. Better. Both.
“Yes,” she said, quieter.
Vinny’s smile softened until it wasn’t teasing at all.
“Good.”
Sophia looked down, overwhelmed suddenly by how simple the word was and how much it changed. Not everything. But enough.
Vinny took one more step, still leaving space. “Can I hug you?”
Sophia smiled.
“Yes.”
He wrapped his arms around her slowly at first, like he was still asking.
Sophia stepped fully into him and rested her cheek against his chest. He went still.
Then his arms tightened. Not too far. Enough to feel wanted.
Sophia closed her eyes. For the first time all day, everything in her went low.
For the first time all day, there was no planner, no quiz, no secret, no almost. Just Vinny, her boyfriend.
That was going to take a minute. Vinny pressed his mouth lightly to her hair.
“Is that all right?” he asked.
She nodded against him. His breath moved through him, slow and uneven.
“You’re my girlfriend,” he said, like he needed to test the words.
Sophia laughed into his shirt. “Yes.”
“All right.”
“You sound like you’re thinking too hard.”
“I am. Give me three to five business days.”
She laughed harder. He pulled back enough to see her face. The laughter faded. The room changed again. Not sharp. Warmer. Vinny’s gaze dropped to her mouth. Sophia felt it like a touch.
He looked back at her eyes. “Can I kiss my girlfriend?”
Her heart stumbled.
“That was very fast.”
His ears went red. “Too far?”
“No.”
“Too cheesy?”
“Yes.”
“Can I still?”
Sophia smiled. “Yes.”
He kissed her gently at first. Sweet. Careful.
Then she held onto his shirt and kissed him back with more certainty than she had expected from herself.
He made a low sound and his hands tightened at her waist. The kiss deepened.
It wasn’t out of control. Not yet. But it was more than the kitchen kiss.
More than the sidewalk. More than the apartment steps.
Sophia felt the difference in her whole body.
Official didn’t make her belong to him. It made choosing him feel less like standing in the doorway.
She parted her lips because she wanted to.
Vinny paused like that one slight change had knocked the thought out of him.
Then he kissed her again, slower, warmer.
Sophia’s hands slid up to his shoulders.
His fingers flexed at her waist, then stilled like he was reminding himself where they were.
Bella Luna. Dining room. Closed, but still.
Sophia pulled back first, breathing unevenly.
Vinny rested his forehead near hers, not quite touching.
“All right?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“You’re sure?”
She smiled. “I’m sure.”
His eyes warmed. Then his phone buzzed loudly on the table behind him. They both jumped. Sophia laughed.
Vinny closed his eyes. “If that is Gia somehow knowing, I’m moving.”
He checked the screen. His face changed.
“It’s Antonia.”
Sophia’s stomach dropped. “Did we forget something?”
Vinny opened the text. Then smiled. He turned the phone so she could see.
Antonia: Lock the back door properly. And congratulations, both of you.
Sophia stared. Her whole face went hot. Vinny looked toward the office like Antonia might still be watching from inside a cabinet.
“How?” he whispered.
Sophia covered her mouth. “She knew.”
“She left.”
“She still knew.”
His phone buzzed again.
Antonia: Also, no flirting during rush still applies tomorrow.
Vinny barked out a laugh. Sophia leaned into him, laughing too. The official moment could have become too big. Too serious. Too much pressure. Instead, Antonia had somehow blessed it and managed it at the same time. Very Antonia.
Vinny typed back:
Vinny: Yes, chef.
Then he looked at Sophia. “I guess HR has been notified.”
Sophia laughed. “Don’t call Antonia HR.”
“Never again.”
They finished closing. Eventually. With more pauses than necessary.
Not too many, but enough. Vinny walked Sophia outside after they locked the back door properly.
The night air was cool. The restaurant windows were dark now, but Bella Luna still felt warm behind them.
Somewhere upstairs, a neighbor’s television played too loudly.
A car passed slowly down the street. Sophia texted Constance that she was leaving.
Then Victoria. She hesitated before adding anything else. Vinny watched her.
“Do you want to tell them?” he asked.
Sophia looked at him. Official, real. Hers to say.
“Not Gia yet,” she said.
“Please no. I want one night.”
Sophia smiled. “Victoria will tell Gia if I tell her.”
“Then Victoria waits.”
“My mother won’t.”
Vinny swallowed. That made her smile soften.
“You want to tell Constance?” he asked.
“I think I should.”
“All right.”
He looked terrified. Sophia liked him for it.
She typed:
Sophia: Heading home. Also, Vinny is my boyfriend now.
The dots appeared immediately. Stopped. Appeared again. Stopped. Vinny stared at the phone until Sophia almost laughed. Finally, Constance replied.
Mom: I see.
Sophia winced.
Vinny looked at her. “Bad?”
“Unclear.”
Another message appeared.
Mom: Was this your choice?
Sophia’s throat tightened. Vinny read it over her shoulder and stepped back instantly, giving her room to answer without him too close. He had listened to at least that part.
Sophia typed:
Sophia: Yes.
Then:
Sophia: Completely.
Her mother replied after a few seconds.
Mom: Then I’m glad you knew what you wanted.
Sophia breathed out. Vinny’s shoulders lowered. Then another message came.
Mom: He still has to meet me.
Vinny looked pale. “It was inevitable.”
Sophia laughed.
Sophia: I know.
Mom: Come home. I want details.
Sophia: Not all details.
Mom: Enough details.
Sophia put the phone away.
“Survived?” Vinny asked.
“For now.”
He nodded. “I will prepare spiritually.”
“You keep saying that.”
“I keep meaning it.”
She smiled. They stood near the side alley, the same place where he had asked her out. That felt right. Different question. Different answer. Same space.
Vinny looked at her. “I should let you go.”
“You should.”
“I don’t want to.”
“I know.”
“You have school tomorrow.”
“I do.”
“And I have work.”
“Yes.”
“And if we stand here too long, Gia will appear out of the sewer.”
Sophia laughed. “Probably.”
He took her hand. Slowly. Openly. She let him. Their fingers fit awkwardly at first because his hand was so much bigger, then better once she adjusted. Vinny looked down at their hands like he was trying not to grin. Sophia squeezed once.
“Goodnight, boyfriend.”
His face changed. Happy. Hit. A little disbelieving.
“Goodnight, girlfriend.”
She covered her face with her free hand. “That sounds so weird.”
“Yeah.” He laughed softly. “But decent weird.”
“Yes.”
He kissed her once more. Brief. Sweet. Then he let her go. Sophia walked home with her phone in one hand and the feel of his hand still in the other. At home, Constance was waiting in the kitchen. No book this time and no laptop. Just tea.
Sophia stopped in the doorway. “Hi.”
Constance looked her over. Not angry or soft either. Mother.
“Boyfriend,” she said.
Sophia’s face warmed. “Yes.”
Constance nodded once, absorbing it.
“Sit.”
Sophia sat.
Constance pushed a mug of tea toward her. “Tell me.”
Sophia wrapped both hands around the mug.
So she did. Not everything. Not the kiss in the empty dining room, not the way his hands had felt at her waist, not the way girlfriend had made her whole body feel warm and scared.
But enough. The proposal dinner. Brett beside Antonia.
Antonia saying yes. Brett saying he didn’t want to rescue or own her.
Vinny cooking something that counted. Sophia realizing she wanted to choose him clearly.
Constance listened without interrupting.
A miracle. When Sophia finished, her mother leaned back.
“That is a lot for a Monday.”
Sophia laughed softly. “Yes.”
“Do you feel rushed?”
“No.”
“Pressured?”
“No.”
“Did he ask for this, or did you?”
Sophia looked down at the tea.
“I did.”
Constance’s eyes softened.
“Better.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because I mean it.”
Sophia smiled.
Constance tapped the table lightly. “Same rules.”
“I know.”
“School stays.”
“I know.”
“Work stays.”
“Yes.”
“Yourself stays.”
Sophia swallowed.
“Yes.”
Constance nodded.
“Then I am not going to ruin your happy night.”
Sophia stared. “Really?”
“I considered it.”
“Mom.”
“But I’m trying to be better.”
Sophia laughed. Constance smiled, then reached across the table and squeezed her hand.
“I’m happy you chose him because you wanted to,” she said.
Sophia’s eyes stung.
“Thank you.”
“And he is still meeting me.”
“I know.”
“Soon.”
Sophia sighed. “I know.”
In her room that night, Sophia opened her planner.
She wrote:
Antonia and Brett engaged.
Then, after a pause:
Vinny and me official.
She stared at the words. They looked strange in ink, real. A little terrifying. She added tomorrow’s study block beneath them because life didn’t stop being life just because her heart had changed shape.
Class reading.
Work.
Study examples.
Text Vinny after. Then she opened her green notebook and wrote one more line. I chose him out loud. She closed the notebook before she could overthink it. From her phone, one message lit the screen.
Vinny: Still smiling. This is embarrassing.
Sophia smiled.
Sophia: Same.
Vinny: Goodnight, girlfriend.
She stared at it for so long the screen dimmed. Then she touched it awake and typed:
Sophia: Goodnight, boyfriend.
She set the phone down. For once, she left it within reach. Tonight, boyfriend took nothing from her. It simply sat beside everything else she wanted.