Chapter 18

NOVALEE

O n the odd occasion I found myself wondering if maybe, I’d taken things too far? Like when Memphis tried out for the football team in seventh grade to please his father. Did I really need to put that itching powder in his jockstrap? Or maybe I shouldn’t dye my sister’s favorite shirt mustard yellow because she got the last of Maw Maw’s cinnamon buns.

Right now, I was wondering if I should give Gio a break? Yes, I had a bet to win, but this wasn’t about victory. When we were standing out in the hall there was something in his eyes.

A sadness or hesitation that for some reason tugged at my heart. I almost felt sorry for him. What did that say about me? The guy held me down and put a vibrating egg thing in my ass and I was still considering taking it easy on him.

That is until he made me kiss his cheek.

The smug arch in Gio’s brow had me tempted to lift back up on my tiptoes and bite his cheek. By the way, tiptoe standing did not help my stability in these god awful shoes. The heels were pretty, I’d give them that.

“Looks like you can play the good girl after all.”

Did he think he’d won something? Because he didn’t win anything. Sure, I would play the good girl – there was no way I was going to lose this bet – but the second my twenty-four hours were over, I was going to make Gio’s life a living hell. If he thought I was difficult before, he hadn’t seen anything yet.

“Awe,” Atlee sang, drawing my glare his way. “That was cute.”

Him, I’d take down just for fun. “Enjoy it while you can.”

“Oh, I see how it is.” He leaned back and casually draped his arm on the back of the couch. “Don’t get mad at me because you took a bet you didn’t like.”

What was I going to do? Say no? I may not have much, but I did occasionally have pride. That and I was very much looking forward to proving Atlee wrong.

“You could always surrender and admit defeat.” Atlee suggested.

Surrender was not an option. “You know this means war?”

“Bring it on, Small Fry.”

“Will you two shut up.” Gio grumbled with an extra growly tone.

What was he so upset about? I was the one who had to play good girl all day. Yet there he was with an angry crease in his forehead.

Huh?

My head tipped to the side. That wasn’t anger, it was something else. Worry maybe? No, that couldn’t be right. What could the great Gio Mancini possibly have to be worried about? Whatever it was, it seemed to be targeted at the three people walking in the room. One of whom was Darry.

That wasn’t who Gio was staring at though. His focus was on the couple whom I assumed to be Darry’s parents. If they weren’t his parents, then he had to be related to them somehow. Darry looked like a younger version of the man. He had a few things in common with the woman, like hair and eye color, but if she was his mother, then she had him when she was young.

She was the kind of woman people couldn’t stop staring at. A high class elegance that caused her to move gracefully and a poise that demanded attention. It was obvious that she came from money. People like that had a kind of arrogance about them. Gio had it. His dad had it. Everyone in the room aside from me had it. But her…

Why did she seem familiar?

I tipped my head as Darry broke off from the couple and headed our way.

“Hey,” Darry tipped his chin at Gio then dropped his gaze over me. “I guess you can dress her up.”

The guy cleaned up nice. His black suit fit him perfectly and besides for Gio, he was the only other person not wearing a white shirt. Gio’s was dark red and Darry was wearing a blue shirt that brought out the light color of his eyes.

I sneered at Darry. “Too bad you can’t do much for asshole.”

Don’t get me wrong all three of them were hot as hell – most assholes were – but seeing them dressed up was a different experience. I felt completely out of my depth standing next to them. They wore their suits. My dress wore me.

“I am an asshole.” Darry said. “And you are a waitress in a pretty dress.”

That’s where he wanted to go, was it? Okay.

“Excuse me, I’m the world’s worst waitress with a slight alcohol problem,” if was going to insult me, then he needed to get it right. “But I get better grades than you.”

That got to him. Darry sucked back an inhale and crossed his arms. Not that I was surprised. He never did like me. I don’t think he liked any women. According to Memphis he wasn’t gay, but I wasn’t the only girl I’d seen him look at like that. It was as if he had a personal grudge against the female race.

Then again, maybe he was simply an angry guy? If my mom was as beautiful as his, I’d probably be angry too. Especially with guys like Atlee Fiore for friends. I could just imagine the mother jokes he would come up with. Darry and I were barely acquaintances and I already had plans to play the song Stacy’s Mom the next time he was by my truck.

My eyes once again landed on his mother.

Seriously, where did I know her from? It was really starting to bother me. Like an itch in the back of my brain that I couldn’t scratch.

“Has your mom been to school?” That was the only logical explanation I could think of.

“Why?” Darry asked like it was the strangest thing in the world to say.

“I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere before.”

Gio and Atlee shared a glance before Atlee said, "you probably saw her around town.”

“Yeah,” Gio nodded. “That must be it.”

Well, that wasn’t suspicious at all.

“I saw her around town?”

That was their explanation? A woman like that wouldn’t be caught dead in my part of town, let alone go to any of the places I frequented. She probably didn’t know our town had a phone booth.

“Where else would you have seen her?” Gio asked.

Uh huh? He was definitely hiding something.

“Well, her son does go to the same school as us.” I pointed out.

To which Darry shook his head. “My mother doesn’t attend school functions. Well… there was that basketball game a couple of weeks ago. I guess you could’ve seen her there.”

No that wasn’t it. The only people I talked to were Atlee and Memphis. I wasn’t near any girl except…

Oh my God.

My eyes rounded as it all clicked into place.

The way she flicked her blonde hair over her shoulder, how her long legs strode across the room, and the sway of her hips. I’d seen it all before. She was the woman I overheard in that room with Gio.

My eyes darted from Gio to Darry and back again.

Gio was fucking his friend’s mother! I expected that kind of thing from Atlee, but Gio? Then again, I didn’t really know much about his dating life. Maybe he was a bigger manwhore than Atlee? He certainly knew what he was doing in the sexual department. Did he learn it from someone more experienced? Like say an older woman?

I saw a spark of guilt flash through Gio’s eyes when he glanced at Darry. That’s when I realized that Darry had no idea. I had just figured out Gio Mancini’s dirty little secret.

A smirk tugged at the corner of my mouth.

Oh how the tables have turned.

I could feel the threat when Gio looked down at me and shook his head.

There were two options I could go with. I could not say anything and keep his secret. Or, I could blow this shit wide open in front of these men he respected. Guess which one I went with?

“Hey Dar?—”

That was all I got out before a deep pulse vibrated through my ass, causing my pussy to clench. All words were lost as I sucked in a gasp and held onto the only thing I could, Gio’s arm. It took all of my concentration not to moan and took even more to try and ignore the muscle tensing under my hands.

Clenching my teeth, I dug my fingers into Gio’s arm and silently prayed that I wouldn’t orgasm in a room full of people. I humiliated myself at least once a day, but there were some things that should remain private.

When my knees threatened to buckle and I thought all hope was lost, the vibrations stopped, allowing me to catch my breath. While I was pleased that I managed to hold myself back, my pussy was not. My thighs were slick, there was a coil of tension wound up in my core, while my walls continued to pulse for a few seconds afterwards.

So not only was I annoyed at the thing in my ass, pissed off at the shoes destroying my feet, and hating myself for agreeing to a bet where I had to play good girl for an entire day, but I was also turned on. This was becoming a very exhausting night.

And to make matters worse, my change in demeanour didn’t go unnoticed.

Darry arched a brow, Atlee smirked, and Gio stared down at me with a pleased glint in his eye that I desperately wanted to poke out.

The second my knees stopped shaking, I slapped Gio in the chest. “That thing vibrates?”

“Be good,” he warned, “or you’ll find out just how much it vibrates.”

By be good, he meant to keep my mouth shut.

Telling someone like me to be quiet was like telling a bird not to fly. If I had that ability, then I wouldn’t get in the situations I did. Half the time I didn’t know what I was saying. The words just came out. Besides, how could someone hide something like that from a friend?

If I had something going on with Memphis’s dad – gag – he would deserve to know. And there was the whole married factor. The woman had a husband. I knew what it felt like to be cheated on. Stupid Cindy with her big boobs. How could I keep this to myself? It was irresponsible.

Memphis’s voice rang through my mind.

“Stay out of it, Nova. You’re only going to cause trouble for yourself.”

Ugh, even fake Memphis was the voice of reason.

Saying anything would cause trouble, and I did that enough on my own. And it wasn’t like Gio was underage. He was eighteen. They were both consenting adults.

“Fine.” I hissed. “But I’m not happy about it.”

Guilt pulled Gio’s brows together. “Neither am I.”

Maybe he had a conscience after all. Her on the other hand…

Darry’s mom stood across the room with her arm looped in her husband’s like a dutiful wife, but her stare said otherwise. Her eyes roamed over Gio, and not in a ‘there’s my son’s friend’ way. She didn’t feel bad at all.

And she definitely hated me. When her eyes met mine I could taste the venom in her glare.

So, when some guy came in and announced that dinner was served, I did the only appropriate thing. I reached down, grabbed Gio’s hand, and laced my fingers in his. All while smiling back at her.

“What are you doing?” Gio asked, but didn’t pull his hand away from mine.

“I’m playing good girl, remember?”

“No,” he cocked a brow down at me. “You’re playing with fire.”

That might be true, but I wasn’t the one who looked like they just got burned.

When people started filling out of the room, Gio leaned in and whispered, “don’t egg Carissa on.”

Carissa. That was her name? Carissa Barone. Sounded like a bitch name to me.

“I’m not egging her on.” I totally was. Fuck that bitch. “I’m simply holding my finance’s hand.”

“Uh huh.” Gio muttered and led me into a beautiful dining room.

The dark wood paneling on the walls was a couple of shades lighter than the hardwood floors, giving the room an elegant and oddly warm atmosphere. While a large crystal chandelier sparkled like diamonds above the largest table I’d ever seen.

Walking in there with all those dressed up people was a new experience for me. To be fair it was the only dining room I’d been in, unless the picnic table in the backroom of Simon’s house counted? He called it a dining room. The one meal I had there was nothing compared to this.

The Mancini’s put the term five course to shame. There was so much food on the table that a village in a third world country could eat for a month. And I recognized none of it. There were a few pasta dishes, some salads, various sauces, chicken and beef, and some kind of bread with what resembled salsa.

We sat next to Gio’s dad, who was at the head of the table. This whole fancy affair stuff was creeping me out. Especially, when Gio pulled my chair out for me. I half expected him to yank it out from under me when I went to sit. But he didn’t. He slid me into place like a gentleman. I didn’t like it.

“Good evening, Novalee.” Cesare nodded at the table full of food. “I hope you like Italian.”

Why was he being polite?

“I’ve never had it.”

Pretty sure frozen pizza didn’t count as Italian food. Everything smelled good, so I wasn’t going to complain. My dress however might. Whoever decided to get me white clearly hadn’t seen me try to eat toast in the morning.

I eyed the various silver platters and serving dishes, then looked down at my place setting.

What the…

Who needed this much silverware to eat?

There were three forks on the left side of my plate, two knives, a funny looking stumpy knife, a spoon, and a tiny as all hell fork on the right side. Above my plate lay another fork and spoon along with a smaller plate and butter knife. And to top it all off, I had three different glasses.

I leaned in closer to Gio and asked, “why do I need so many forks?”

“It’s standard table settings.”

Standard for who? “Our table wobbles and most of our silverware is plastic.”

“Right,” he sighed and pointed at various forks. “This one’s for fish, your entrée, salad, oysters, and dessert.”

There was a fork just for oysters? Really? No wonder they had staff. I wouldn’t want to do all those dishes.

“Yeah, um,” I picked up the middle fork. “I’m gonna use this one for all that.”

Minus the oysters. Those could stay on the other side of the table.

Atlee who was sitting on my right side chuckled, “don’t feel bad, I can never get the forks right either.”

It was nice to know I wasn’t alone.

The blonde on the other side of him held up one of her glasses, “wine please.”

The last thing I expected was for her request to be fulfilled, but it was. A server stepped up with a decanter of red wine and filled her glass. Maw Maw slapped me every time she caught me drinking, and that girl was younger than me.

Speaking of which…

“Atlee, I don’t want to judge who you decided to date. In fact the less I know about your dating life, the better, but that girl is like thirteen.”

He looked at me like I was dumb, “she’s my sister.”

Oh, well in that case…

I followed her lead and held up a glass, “wine please.”

Of course, Gio had to ruin my good time. “She doesn’t need any.”

Ugh, rude.

“Come now, Giovanni,” the man sitting on the other side of Gio’s dad said. “Let the girl have some wine.”

I didn’t know who that was, but the thick Italian accent made me think he was Gio’s uncle. An uncle that I was starting to like, especially when Gio sighed and waved the server back over.

“She can have one glass.”

“Are you sure she can handle her alcohol?”

My eyes rolled down the table to the sneer openly displayed on Darry’s mom’s face.

“I’ll be fine.” Bitch.

“If you say so.” She shrugged. “But this isn’t like the wine you would get in your trailer park.”

How did she know what kind of wine was in a trailer park? One sip of Mr. Garibaldi’s toilet gin would probably knock her on her ass.

“How many glasses of wine have you had today?” Romeo leaned forward and looked down the table at Carissa. “Maybe you should mind your own fucking business.”

She didn’t like that, but I did. I especially liked the way she shut up and ducked her head. That didn’t stop her from glaring at me the entire time dinner was being served.