AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Papirri
*Eyes emoji*
Me
The girls are sus
I launch into the tale of the events that transpired during training and how I got cornered into a girls’ night out tonight. Every so often, I glance around, but the girls must be tired and icky from training, because they’re more focused on hopping into the showers than on giving me more crap.
Papirri
Um we can reschedule
Me
NO WE CANNOT
We can’t reschedule your birthday
Papirri
Ehh, it’s not actually a special occasion
I look at my phone as if it’s grown a head all of a sudden, just as I would to him if he were standing in front of me telling me his birthday’s no biggie. This must be a guy thing, downplaying any important emotion to not be seen as emotional.
Me
No, no
We’ll make it work
I’ll just go get early dinner with them
And have tiramisu later with you
How about that?
It sounds a little bit like a euphemism for something else. Hopefully he doesn’t read it that way.
But if he does, would it be so bad? I mean, there’s a reason I saved his contact as papirri, Venezuelan slang for a man who is really, really freaking hot.
My phone pings again with his response.
Papirri
That works
Just text me the address, and I’ll pick you up
Somehow, in the span of the couple of minutes of rapid back-and-forth texting, the girls’ idea of a chill night out has changed a bit. As I hop into the shower to scrub every corner clean, I hear them talking about maybe hitting the club after dinner. But that’s great. It gives me an excuse to leave early. I can always say I got diarrhea from dinner, and a girl can’t dance with a leaky butt.
Except, life has its own plans. They only become apparent as I walk up to the restaurant the girls chose, and I look up at the sign. Really look at it.
Romano’s. Isn’t that what Max said his parents’ restaurant was called when we texted?
“I heard this is the best Italian restaurant in town. I’m so excited to try it out,” Brit says while opening the door. As someone from out of town, this would be new to her.
Not to me. My family and I have been coming here for ages. When Max said it was his family’s business, I felt silly. As if I should’ve known every detail about his life already. He’s been pretty famous for years, but usually his cousin Leo is the one who gets the most coverage. And I couldn’t recall a single mention of Romano’s in articles about them.
