Chapter Thirty-Three

Bianca

Allegra: Aw, that’s sweet that Knox did that for you.

Bianca: More like TO me. I was crystal clear that I wanted to be with him. Hello, I gave up on my aversion to building a deep connection with someone because of my fear of loss for him.

Maria: He thought he was doing the right thing so Dad can get over this and you two can move on. If you ask me, it makes Knox even more likable.

Allegra: Don’t mind Bibi, she doesn’t know what a real, healthy relationship looks like.

Bianca: *eye roll* Ha! Ha! I told you, what Knox and I have isn’t just physical, so I think what we have is real and healthy. It’s refreshing, actually.

Perla: I agree with Bibi on this one. It’s sweet of Knox, but also annoying. Frankie tried to do the same thing with me. Well, sort of. He was trying to be nice and keep the lines clear. He insisted I was his fake wife and nothing more, but then those lines blurred, and I practically begged him to make a move already.

Allegra: Men need coaxing.

Bianca: Exactly! Which is why I’m going to make sure I coax the heck out of Knox. Hmm, that sounds weird. You know what I mean.

Perla: Diamonds are made from pressure.

Maria: And that concludes our science lesson for the day.

Allegra: What does Frankie think? We need a guy’s opinion.

Perla: Okay, hold on.

Bianca: I need ideas, though. We’re physically attracted to one another, so I’m definitely going to use that. We have great conversations, but that’s not going to help me here. So what else? Come on, sisters! Ideas, please.

Maria: Innuendos. People love those, right?

Allegra: It depends on the innuendo.

Perla: I’m back. Frankie told me to tell you, Bibi, that you’re doing the right thing. If Knox is going to be all noble, then he’s not going to see reason. You have to make him see the error of his ways.

Allegra: Men!

Bianca: Thank Frankie for me.

Allegra: Oooh, you can always walk around the house wearing lingerie.

Maria: Are you doing that with Brady there?

Allegra: What? No, of course not. But I don’t know why I thought it was a good idea to have a male roommate. The other day I caught him working out shirtless and nearly choked on my own saliva.

Bianca: Go for it.

Allegra: I’m not going for anything. It took me long enough to find a roommate. I am not messing it all up by having sex with him.

Bianca: You do you. Meanwhile I’m going to try to get things back on track with Knox.

Allegra: Good luck!

Maria: Yeah, good luck! I have to go. Bye!

Perla: Bye!

Bianca: Ugh, guys, I’m unemployed. I can literally text all day and you abandon me?

Bianca: Fine, go lead your great lives filled with glamorous fashion and paychecks. I, on the other hand, will be here, available if you want to talk.

Bianca: And now I’m in a chat all by myself. Okay, peace!

Bored, I curled my feet under me on the couch and looked around, my phone still in my hand. I feared putting it down because it was my only source of entertainment at the moment. I could have turned the television on, but unless I was going to watch a soap opera there was really nothing on.

Should I watch a soap opera? I didn’t think I’d ever be home in the daytime to watch one, but if I was going to be home at this time more often, then maybe I should give it a shot.

I could be Bianca Morelli, the girl who watched soap operas and spent too much time staring at the clock until the workday was over and Knox came home.

I supposed it was better than being Bianca Morelli, the girl who was currently going stir crazy in the house because there was only so much sketching she could do when she wasn’t inspired.

Every time I sat down to sketch, I picked up the pencil, twirled it around between my fingers, and. . . nothing. Yep, you read that right. Nothing. I had nothing. It was like the creative side of my brain was done; it had closed-up shop and left cobwebs behind.

I supposed I could mourn my creative side. That would kill some time, right?

Annoying myself with the lack of things to do, I went back on my phone. Oooh, a text from Knox .

Knox: How are you doing?

Bianca: Great! I’m thinking of putting on socks and skating around the apartment soon. Isn’t that something kids do these days? Sock skating?

Knox: All right, you’re clearly not good at being unemployed. Why don’t you go out? Get some lunch?

Bianca: Alone?

Knox: Um, I was going out for lunch soon. You could meet me.

Bianca: Okay!

Knox: But it’s not a date.

Bianca: Absolutely not. It’s a friend helping another friend so she doesn’t pull all her hair out and need to invest in wigs.

Knox: I vote for pink. It gives off a very rock n’ roll vibe.

Bianca: You think? I always thought I’d look good as a blonde.

Knox: Maybe. Dudes dig blondes.

Bianca: “Dudes dig blondes”? What are you, like eighteen?

Knox: Whatever. Just don’t worry about wigs and meet me at the hot dog stand closest to Bellissima .

Bianca: The hot dog stand? Well, Knox, if you’re trying to tell me something, then just come out with it already.

Knox: Friends don’t have their minds in the gutter with other friends. It’s not friendly. So take this for what it is: hot dog stand by Bellissima . Meet me there.

Bianca: Yes, sir.

Bianca: Wait, are we eating there?

Knox: What else do you want to do there?

Bianca: I’ve never had a hot dog from a stand.

Knox: Never?

Bianca: Never!

Knox: Oh, you’ve missed out. This is going to be good.

Bianca: If they’re anything like the other hot dogs I’ve had in my life, I might have to agree with you.

Knox: You know, one wouldn’t know you have these dirty thoughts just by looking at you.

Bianca: It’s part of my charm when you get to know me. I only reserve these moments for my *true* friends.

Knox: I feel special.

Bianca: You should.

* * *

Knox was already there when I arrived, waiting for me off to the side of the blue and yellow umbrella. He was wearing dark jeans and a white dress shirt with the first two buttons opened. He looked very good and all I wanted to do was walk right up to him and kiss him.

I refrained, though, and instead casually waved and smiled as I closed the gap between us. “There’s a pizza joint right around the corner,” I informed him, pointing to where I was talking about.

He shook his head. “Nah, in all my years in this city, I’ve learned New York is known for a lot of things.”

I had a feeling I knew where this was going, but before I could say anything he began listing each one off, popping his fingers up in the air as he did. “Delis, sushi, pizzerias, steakhouses.” Then he put all but one down and wagged it. “But there’s nothing quite like having a dirty water hot dog.”

I tried my best not to laugh. “Are you done now?” I grinned. “That was some speech on New York food. You’d think you were the one who was born and raised here with your extensive knowledge.”

He shrugged. “I love this city and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.”

“All right,” I said, clapping my hands together and mimicking a manly, macho voice, “so let’s get us some big, thick hot dogs.”

He laughed, shaking his head the whole time.

Surprisingly, there was no line, so we walked right up and ordered. “You go first,” I told him, placing one of my hands on his bicep.

He looked down at my hand and cocked a brow, but didn’t say anything, only went on ordering.

“What do you want on it?” the man working the stand asked.

“Mustard and relish,” Knox answered quickly and confidently, like he had done this a thousand times before.

As the man was adding those condiments, I turned to Knox and asked, “Mustard and relish? That seems like an odd pairing.”

“It’s actually really good,” he replied. “Sometimes I’ll order coleslaw, but figured I’d go classic mustard and relish today.”

“Is that classic?” I shot an eyebrow up in the air as a group of passersby walked just behind us.

He chuckled. “It is for me, but I’d think classic is probably plain.”

I nodded as the bearded man handed over Knox’s hot dog in paper and Knox thanked him before turning to me.

“It’s your turn,” Knox told me, nudging my elbow with his.

I licked my lips and thought about it. I felt like it was sort of a big decision. It really wasn’t, but I felt that way because this was my first ever dirty water hot dog. All my years on this planet and I’d never had one before. It was weird. But also so cool I was sharing this experience with Knox.

Finally, I ordered.

“Plain?” Knox asked, flummoxed. “No toppings? No mustard, ketchup, relish, or anything?”

I smiled. “That is what I meant when I said plain.”

Taking no time at all, mine was passed over to me and I thanked the man as Knox paid and a few people approached the cart behind us.

We began walking, hot dogs in hand, but neither of us bit into them yet. The foot traffic on the sidewalk was finally slowing, but Knox had a destination in mind. There was a bench up against one of the buildings and I knew he was leading us there.

“You go first,” Knox said, motioning for me to take a bite.

I looked from the hot dog to him and then back again. “You’re going to watch me?” Did anyone enjoy being watched while they were eating? I certainly didn’t.

“Not if you don’t want me to, but come on, I want to see what you think.”

I arched a brow. “What’s so special about street vendor hot dogs? Aren’t they the same as regular ones from a store?”

“Bianca, they’re dirty.”

“Meaning they don’t change the water. Yeah, I’ve heard.”

He furrowed his brows. “Are you sure you’re from New York?”

“Har. Har. You’re a comedian.”

Looking pleased with himself, he grinned. “Thanks. Anyway, that’s a myth. It’s dirty because of the seasonings they put in the water in the vat. That guy uses cumin and red pepper flakes. It gives it an extra kick, if you ask me.”

“A kick?” I nearly choked, extending my hand that was holding the hot dog. “Oh, no! I don’t think this is for me. I’m not a spicy food lover. No, I’m more of a the-less-pepper-and-spicy-seasonings-the-better type of girl.”

He wasn’t hearing it, though, pushing it back to me. “Just try it. If you don’t like it, fine, but you have to least give it a try. It’s really not that spicy.”

“That’s what Kat said.”

His eyebrows drew in. “Who’s Kat?”

“Exactly.”

“What?”

“Kat ate a spicy dish, too much pepper, too much cumin. She lost her ability to taste and smell. The doctor said the spices were killing her from the inside out and she had two months to live. It turned out they were wrong. She only had two days. And all because of the food she’d ate.”

He blinked once, twice, and then gave me a yeah-right look.

I couldn’t help myself, I laughed. “I’m sorry, I don’t know a Kat and that’s not true. I just had to. I mean, clearly it’s not true, it’s ridiculous, but the point of the elaborate story is that spicy food and I don’t mesh well.”

“So be it.” He shrugged, lifting his hand and bringing his hot dog to his mouth.

And I inhaled deeply, suddenly wishing that it was me his mouth was going to touch, that his teeth would be biting on my flesh. That—

Stop it! Stop it!

Idea: this could be my chance to torment him.

* * *

Knox

Watching closely, Bianca’s eyes never left me as I indulged in my first bite. Then she leaned forward and rested a hand on my wrist, pulling it away from my mouth.

“I think I will try it, but you should watch.” She winked. “It is my first time, after all.”

My gut clenched, my mouth suddenly going dry. What is she doing to me?

And why does she have that look of mischief in her eyes?

Something told me I was going to regret this, but I motioned with my hands for her to go ahead, and watched as she brought her lips down on the hot dog.

Eating a hot dog was not sexy.

It wasn’t attractive.

It was not neat and the toppings fell everywhere. The bun fell apart sometimes. You wound up getting the paper stuck to your bottom teeth if you didn’t unwrap it enough.

It was not something you wanted to capture on film and play on repeat.

But this?

Watching Bianca’s mouth open and her lips come around either side of the bun, capturing the hot dog in her mouth as she closed her eyes, I had to look around to remind myself that we were in a public setting. And that picturing Bianca getting down on her knees and taking me in her mouth as well as she was taking that hot dog was not something I should be thinking about right now.

I had to keep those thoughts from racing through my mind or else I was going to have a massive problem, one that passersby wouldn’t be able to ignore. But how could I stop them when she threw her head back and moaned as she bit down, taking her sweet time with it? My eyes immediately fell to her neck and then the swell of her breasts that threatened to pop out of the top of her shirt if she moved the wrong way.

Was it bad that I wanted them to pop out? I wanted my mouth to be there when they did, to savor them the way she did that first bite of the hot dog and—

When she was finally done, she licked her lips and brought a napkin to them, gliding it over the top and then the bottom. Oh, what I would give for my tongue to replace that napkin on its conquest to touch every centimeter of her lips—to feel them, taste them.

“Mmm,” she moaned again. “I’m so glad you had me try it. You’re right, it was just the right amount of spicy. It turns out I like a little spice.”

I swallowed. Hard. “Yeah, well, I’m happy you liked it.”

“Oh, yeah. The way it slides down your throat. I can’t get enough of it, honestly.” Placing a hand on my bicep like she did earlier, she looked at me under thick lashes. “Thank you for this experience.”

I cleared my throat as her hand began rubbing down my arm until she finally reached my fingers. I practically jumped back, trying to put some space between us. “I wish I had more time, too, to stay, but”—I raked my free hand through my hair and looked at my watch—“I don’t.”

She frowned, her bottom lip pouting. “Bummer. We’ll just have to do this again sometime.”

I forced a laugh. “Definitely. But not anytime soon. We. . . we wouldn’t want you to get sick of them.” Or for me to combust.

“Doubtful,” she purred.