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“Why were you cleaning the oven?” he asked, before eating the steak.
She leaned back and groaned. “God. I can’t believe you caught me doing that. I must look like such a weirdo.”
He shook his head. “Not really.”
“I clean when I’m upset.”
Elio frowned. “You were upset?”
Gianna shrugged. “I’m a lot of things right now. So many, I should probably start a list.”
He grinned. “You like lists, don’t you?”
“Yeah. There’s nothing more gratifying than drawing a line through something you’ve accomplished.”
“So give me the rundown on the things bothering you. Let’s see if we can figure out how to start marking some of them off the list.”
She was touched by his desire to help her. “I guess you know Sam and I broke up.”
“Liza mentioned it, yes.”
“I found out a week or so ago…the night of Keeley’s party, actually…that he was cheating on me.” She could tell by the lack of surprise on his face that Liza had shared that tidbit as well. “Which you apparently know.”
“The two of you dated a long time.”
“Eleven years,” she added.
“And he was your first boyfriend?”
She nodded.
“I’m sorry he cheated on you. That was an asshole move.”
“Yeah. It was,” she agreed sadly.
“So I’m guessing if we really were making a list of all the shit going on inside you, you’d be feeling sad, pissed, hurt, and betrayed.”
“Those things exactly. And I’m also lonely and stressed out.”
“Why stressed out?” he asked.
“Because your sister is dragging me into the dating scene, which is a place I haven’t been since I was fifteen.”
Elio cut off another piece of steak, holding it aloft on his fork as he looked at her. “I think it’s safe to say you’ve never been there. Not sure you can call it a dating scene at fifteen.”
“Which just helps me make my point. Plus, the idea of online dating feels so…” She couldn’t quite come up with a word, so she settled for, “Icky. Judging someone based on looks, their job, or how clever or funny they sound in just a few words seems so shallow.”
“Yeah. It does.”
“So you’ve never gone on any of the dating sites? Tinder or Bumble or whatever else there is?”
The look he gave her, a combination of arrogance and overconfidence, had her chucking a carrot at his head.
“Don’t say it,” she warned.
“I don’t hurt for dates, Gianna. Not. At. All. Haven’t had to resort to the online tactics yet.”
She sighed. “You said it. Cocky bastard.”
