Page 100 of The Great Dating Fake Off
I can’t help but think how different it will feel without him here. The muscles around my heart pull tight, imagining his empty seat. But I force my gaze off him and smile at Alessia. “I would love that. Count me in.”
Alessia’s mouth quirks up as she examines her cards. “And, since we now know Enzo has a good hand—or else he wouldn’t have asked to play again—I suggest keeping your bets light, everyone.”
Enzo chuckles under his breath. “You little shit.”
At the end of the hand, Eloise puts her forehead on the table. “I’m crashing hard.”
Alessia strokes her back and squints at her phone with one eye. “I’m going to get us an Uber.”
The rest of the table continues chatting as Sebastian stands. His forearms flex as he gathers a few glasses. I pick up my own and follow him across the kitchen. This side overlooks the cozy living room.
He sets his down in the sink. “You aren’t driving either.” The pitch of his voice is no-nonsense and leaves no room for arguing. “At least until you sober up.”
“No, sir. Or maybe yes, sir. Whichever one means I’m not driving yet.” I take the rubber stopper off the back of the sink, plug the drain, and turn on the water. Two squirts of lemon-scented dish soap has the basin frothing in no time. I stack all the dirty plates in the soapy water.
Sebastian turns off the water. “What are you doing?”
I turn it back on. “My taxes.”
“You aren’t washing my dishes.”
“I need to kill time while I sober up, don’t I?”
And I need to feel useful and do something with my hands that doesn’t involve Sebastian’s body.
“I’ll load the dishwasher.”
I scoff. “The dishwasher? These plates are too nice for that! They’re fancy-pants plates.”
“Hardly. They’re a hundred years old.”
“Nora’s right.” Nella passes us as she shuffles through the kitchen toward the connected living room. “They’re over one hundred five years old, from my mother’s collection.”
I beam at having correctly ceramic-dated the old plates. “Exactly. Which means they need TLC.”
Sebastian squints at me, impossibly cute with his face screwed up like that. “TLC?”
“Tender loving care.” I nudge him with my hip. “I’m a guest. Let me help.”
“I’m not leaving you alone with this chore even for a second.” He forces me to switch places with him with two rough hands on my hips. The memory of those same hands digging into my ass as he lifted me off a mattress hits me like a freight train. “If you insist on helping, you can rinse and stack. I’m doing the dirty work.”
I dry swallow, still entangled in my thoughts. “Okay.”
“Our Uber is here. We’re going,” Alessia calls over her shoulder as she passes. “I’d offer to help, but I think I’d break a plate in my condition.”
“She breaks plates even when she’s sober,” Eloise stage-whispers.
“Thanks for dragging me off my couch, Rossi,” Enzo lifts a hand.“Later, Nora.”
Sebastian and I wave as they disappear into the hall. As soon as the door clicks shut, I elbow him. “That went well! We’re getting puzzle pieces. Enzo and Ro are both hung up on this ‘making an effort with the parents’ thing. That’s good intel.”
He lets out a hmm. “But we already knew it had a lot to do with their families. What do we do with that information?”
“I don’t know.” My optimism flounders quickly. “We still need Ro’s perspective. Women always provide way more details. I want to make sure we aren’t missing something.”
“You kids overcomplicate things,” Nella says through a yawn as she reclines farther in her chair. “Get Enzo and the girl alone in a room and see what shakes out. They just need to remember why they fell in love and the rest of the noise will fall away.”
Sebastian and I exchange a look.
