Chapter 31
THIRTY-ONE
PRESENT
Iwent to find Gio, who hadn’t been around as much as usual. He was probably giving me space with Serenity. “Are you awake?” I asked, knocking on the door.
He quickly opened it from his desk chair next to the door. “What’s up, man?”
I inched closer into his room. “Do you mind if we drive separately there tonight? Serenity wants me to stay over after dinner.”
He wiggled his eyebrows. “Going to get lucky?”
I rolled my eyes. “Maybe, we were close last night, but I stopped us.”
He scrunched his face in confusion. “Why would you do that?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I need her to know how I feel before we have sex.”
“She’s too beautiful to waste time with a guy who won’t have sex with her. You'd better express those feelings soon before you lose her.”
I didn't respond to his comment. “I’m going to go get ready,” I said, shutting his door. He obviously knew nothing about her.
Gio and I had gone thrift shopping and found a couple of button-up shirts to pair with black slacks. Mine was white with geometric line designs, and Gio's was navy blue with small diamonds and polka dots. I even gelled my hair so I could make a good impression on Emma.
Gio was dressed, sitting at the table when I came out of my room. “Don’t we look spiffy?” he said, standing up.
I tucked in my shirt. “We do, don’t we? I wonder what the girls wore.”
He stood up, grabbing his keys and wallet. “You’ll be enamored with Serenity no matter what she wears. I saw the way you looked at her this morning in your oversized robe.”
“Okay, fair. Ready?” I asked, gathering the grocery items I’d need, my wallet, and my keys.
He walked toward his room. “I’ll be right behind you.”
Gio followed me to Serenity’s place. We walked up together with the groceries in tow.
Serenity instantly took my breath away when she opened the door. She wore a strapless, long maroon dress with slits up toward her gorgeous thighs. The dress hugged her curves, making it impossible to take my eyes off her.
Gio nudged my shoulder, breaking me out of my trance. “Serenity, you look exquisite.”
“You both look so good!” she said excitedly. “Come on in. Emma is almost ready.”
I headed to the kitchen to start preparing dinner. I kept looking over at her as I was preparing, though. I knew she could tell.
Emma soon came out dressed to impress. She was tall, almost as tall as me—almost. She wore a short, forest green, flowy dress, highlighting her long legs. I shifted my gaze to Gio, who seemed taken by her. She was also equally as tatted as he was.
“I’m Gio,” he said, extending his hand out for her to shake.
“I’m Emma, pleasure to meet you.” She placed her hand in his, and Gio brought it to his lips to lightly kiss the top. Her lips curled up slightly. “Something smells good.”
“Hi Emma, nice to finally be acquainted,” I said. “I hope you're hungry because I may have made enough for a small army. Why is cooking a normal portion of pasta so difficult?” Everyone laughed—me included.
The three chatted at the dining table as I finished cooking. Gio and Emma took over the conversation, seeming to hit it off. He had a bad breakup right before we first met, but I hadn't seen him date or bring anyone home; he always had something to say about my love life, though.
“Do you need help with anything?” Serenity asked, approaching behind me. I turned around and still couldn’t believe how unbelievably she looked.
I took a moment to admire her, and she noticed. Heat rose from her neck at my amorous expression. “Hey, pretty girl. Do you want to be my waitress while I plate everyone’s meal?”
“Yes, sir,” she said with a salute. I liked the way ‘sir’ sounded coming from her mouth. I bet it was even more alluring in an intimate setting. Focus.
I plated chicken pesto pasta, salad, and garlic bread onto four plates, and Serenity took them one by one to the table. We also gathered everyone’s drinks: Mountain Dew Zero for Gio and me, white wine for Emma, and apple juice for Serenity.
“This might be the best home-cooked meal I’ve ever had,” Serenity said.
“Same,” Emma agreed.
Everyone looked over at Gio for his response. “I have an Italian mother who loves to cook, but it’s good.”
The laughter echoed around the table.
I turned my attention to Emma, “What is it that you do for work?”
She set down her fork. “I work in early childhood special education at a preschool.”
I inhaled a breath. I was instantly thrown back in time to Luna's seventh birthday dinner when Gram asked Avery what she wanted to study in college. That was the beginning of the most fulfilling time of my life, and now it was a time I tried to forget. I took a few steady breaths.
“Are you okay?” I felt Serenity’s hand rest on my thigh. I snapped out of the memory and looked over at her. Her soft smile brought me back to reality.
“Sorry, I was in a daze for a second,” I told the group. I turned back to Emma. “Wow, so you’re like a real-life superhero, shaping today’s youth?”
Emma laughed. “It feels that way sometimes. I don’t even know how many fires I put out each day, but it is rewarding, and I love the kiddos.”
“She’s also working on writing a children’s book,” Serenity chimed in.
Gio spoke up then, “What’s it about?”
“It’s about how to be empathetic toward kids who are different from you. I still have a long way to go, but it has been an outlet for my creative side.” She smiled with pride.
“As an older brother of a sister on the autism spectrum, your book is going to be very much appreciated,” Gio responded.
Emma's smile widened. “How old is your sister?” Emma asked him.
“She's nineteen now and thriving, but some people did not make it easy for her.”
Emma and Serenity exchanged a pointed glance. “Maybe you can share some stories about your sister with me and I could incorporate them into my book,” Emma responded.
Emma and Gio continued their conversation, forgetting we were even there.
Serenity turned her attention toward me. “You really do look handsome. It means a lot that you made dinner and humored me with the dinner party idea.” She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
“I was happy to do it. Good food, good company, and I’m sure it will continue to be a good night.” I gave her a knowing wink, and she blushed.
The anticipation of telling her how I felt was all I could think about.
Those feelings scared me, but the idea of ignoring them was even scarier.
I didn’t expect us to jump into a relationship, but it’d open the dialogue for her to express how she currently felt, too.
She showed it every day, but I also wanted to hear her say it.
Gio interrupted us, “Serenity, tell me about this new book club job Grant has been raving about.” She looked over at me quickly with a warm smile before turning her attention back to Gio.
“I truly love my job. I get to talk to authors and readers for a living, and I’ve never felt more fulfilled. One day, I’ll use my experience to open my own bookstore.” She glowed every time she talked about her work and where she hoped it would lead.
“That’s incredible,” Gio responded. “I haven’t read a book since high school, but I love a good audiobook on my runs.”
“That’s still reading!” Emma and Serenity said simultaneously. We all laughed.
The dinner was supposed to be about me getting to know Emma and Serenity getting to know Gio, but they excused themselves to talk in the living room.
“They really hit it off, didn’t they?” Serenity asked.
“I honestly didn’t see it coming. Especially since Gio has been a recluse lately. I guess Emma was the perfect recipe to bring him out of his shell.”
“Now look at us, being match makers at our own dinner party.” She giggled.
“I would say it went as well as expected. Do you want to give me a tour of your place so we can give the two love birds some privacy?”
The condo itself wasn’t very large, with the living room, dining room, and kitchen being on one side of the house and the two bedrooms and bathrooms on the other.
You could see the personality Emma and Serenity brought into their place, with the art hung on the walls, candles in every room, and fresh flowers on each of the end tables.
I wasn’t surprised by anything in Serenity’s room because everything looked so her.
She had a wooden antique desk in the corner with a laptop and a bunch of labeled notebooks situated on top.
From what I could see, she had a school notebook, a therapy notebook, a work ideas notebook, a mental health journal, and a budget notebook.
If one word were to describe Serenity, it would be organized.
Across from her desk was her queen-sized bed covered in a lilac bedspread.
She had a full wall of shelves for her books.
The shelves were labeled and categorized by genre.
“This room screams you,” I told Serenity as she closed the door behind her.
“I’ve never brought another person besides Emma into my room. This is my safe space and where I do my best healing and idea making for work.” She walked over to the bed, and I joined her. “If you ever can't get a hold of me, I’m probably wallowing in this room.”
“I’m a bathroom wallower myself.” I gave her an understanding expression. We both had a place where we could let all our feelings out without judgment or questions from others. I was honored she had invited me into her safe space. I hoped I could be a safe space for her, if I wasn't already.
“I guess now is as good a time as any.” I shifted uncomfortably on her bed, and she noticed.
“Is something wrong?” Her brow furrowed.
“No, quite the opposite, actually.” I reached over for the cow I won her at the fair, so I had something to do with my hands.
She could tell I was nervous, so she let me hold onto the cow and put an encouraging hand on my shoulder.
“You have become the most important person in my life. You’re the first person I want to talk to when I wake up and the last person I want to talk to before I go to bed.
Any time anything significant happens, you’re the person I want to call.
I love telling you everything just to see your different reactions.
Your passion is inspiring to me, and I hope I can continue to watch you grow into the woman you want to be.
All that to say, I’m falling for you. That is no way to say that we need to commit to a relationship right this second, but maybe it’s a chance for us to move forward.
” I stopped rambling and waited for her to say something.
She didn’t say anything at first; she instead stood up and went to her desk. “Found it,” she said, showing me a loose-leaf piece of paper with red writing sprawled on it.
I scrunched my eyebrows together. “What’s this?”
“I made a list of what I’d like to accomplish with you and with my healing before committing.
Everything is marked off except sharing my deepest trauma with you.
Darla told me I had no timeline to share, and I have no responsibility to share it with anyone, but I want to be with you, and I think the only way I’ll know if I’m ready for the next step is if I start sharing. ”
“There’s no pressure, but I agree. I’ve had a block that’s been in the way of finding happiness again.” I took her hand off my shoulder and held it. “Either way, Serenity, I am all in with you.”
“Would you be willing to go to my birthday dinner? It’s a few friends, my great aunt, and then my mom usually shows up.
She’s part of the trauma I’m healing from, so it would be nice if you met her, and then you may have a better understanding as I share more.
” She tried to smile but it didn’t meet her eyes.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” We both stood and held each other in a tight embrace. “We should probably go check on our friends and then get ready for bed.”
“Can we sleep like we did last night?” she asked in a hopeful tone.
“I wouldn’t want it any other way.” I kissed her forehead, and we walked hand in hand back to the living room to join our friends.