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“Gianna, you’re beautiful and intelligent and funny. He’s going to wake up one day and realize just how stupid he was.”
Gianna smiled. “You’re good for the soul, Elio. I don’t want you to think that I’m lacking self-confidence or anything. It’s just taken a bit of a beating the last few months and I’m struggling to build it back up.”
“We’ll add that to our to-do list for the rest of this week.”
She laughed, leaning forward to give him a very sweet kiss that was too short in his opinion.
He considered wrapping his arms around her shoulders and expanding on it, but this conversation didn’t feel finished. There was something uncomfortable kicking around in the back of his brain that he couldn’t dismiss.
“So,” Elio said, “when Sam figures it out and comes crawling back—”
“He won’t,” she interrupted.
He held up one finger and forged on. “Are you taking him back?”
“No,” she said hastily.
He shook his head. “Don’t answer that quickly. You’re a thinker, Gee, so think about this.”
She fell silent, and he could tell his words had landed, that they were having an impact.
“Eleven years is a long time,” she said quietly. “He wasn’t just my boyfriend. He was my best friend.”
“Is that the answer?”
She shook her head. “No. Just the facts.”
“Do you think you could forgive him for cheating on you?”
This time, she took her time before responding. “No.”
Elio wasn’t completely satisfied with that answer because of her hesitation. He wasn’t entirely sure it was the truth. He considered pushing her on it, but no matter what they said here, if—when—the day came that Sam walked back into her life, the decision to forgive him was Gianna’s and Gianna’s alone.
And, for some reason he couldn’t fully explain, he hated that.
Chapter Nine
Gianna sighed and snuggled deeper into the pillow, keeping her eyes closed against the ever-brightening sun. She wasn’t ready to wake up yet. The bed was so soft and warm, she considered staying there all day.
Yeah, she thought. I’m staying in bed because it’s warm, and not because of Elio.
Last night, after a sixty-nine that was a thousand miles away from awkward, they’d lain in front of the fire for hours, just talking. It felt strange to Gianna that as little as a week ago, Elio had been nothing more than an acquaintance who occasionally traveled in the same social circle she did. He’d been one of Liza’s big brothers, the one she rarely saw.
She wasn’t sure if it was the forced proximity or the fact she’d been basically living alone for a few months with only herself for company, but she found him easier to talk to than his sister, in some ways. And Liza was one of her very best friends.
Gianna appreciated his guy’s perspective on the Sam situation, though she’d made a promise to herself that she was NOT going to talk about her ex anymore.
For one thing, what guy wanted to hear about a woman’s ex-boyfriend right after they’d had sex? She’d been kicking herself for starting the conversation at all.
Not that Elio had seemed bothered by it. The reason they’d talked about Sam as long as they had was because he’d kept asking her questions. Of course, it stood to reason that Elio wouldn’t mind the topic. It wasn’t like the two of them were embarking on anything that would last longer than this week.
Her first casual affair.
She was a fan.
The other reason she wasn’t going to mention Sam again was because she didn’t want to give Elio the impression she was still hung up on her ex. Because in truth, she wasn’t. Or at least she wasn’t anymore.
Before this week, Gianna had been looking at the world through a very narrow lens, certain she’d never find what she and Sam had shared with someone else. But these past few days with Elio had been every bit as comfortable and easy and fun as her previous relationship had been in the beginning.
