Page 85 of Because I Need You
“Like I said, I know what it’s like to feel alone, but imagine being old and alone. It’s sad. So many of the people in there have no one who visits them. Maybe they were all sucky parents, what do I know? But it has to be heartbreaking to selflessly give your all to your children and then not have them return the favor when you’re unable to do things on your own.”
He looked at me for a long moment, his eyes bouncing between mine, searching my face, skimming down my body, even though I was wearing one of his T-shirts and a pair of shorts, so it wasn’t like he could see anything, and yet, goosebumps scattered over me as he did his slow assessment. When his gaze met mine, he shook his head again.
“What?”
“I don’t deserve you.” He shrugged a shoulder and before I could say anything he added, “I don’t think anyone on earth is worthy of you, but if you want to give it to me, I’m going to take all of it. I shouldn’t, because I’m a bastard, but I’m too selfish to let you go.”
“You’re not a bastard.” I smiled at him.
“If you knew everything I’ve done in my life, you’d say I was.”
“Well, you don’t paint houses,” I said with a shrug. “That counts for something.”
“Of all the things you now know about your father, is that what bothers you the most?”
“Yes.”
“What if all of the people he killed were horrible humans?”
“It would still bother me.”
“Why?” he looked completely dumbfounded by this.
“Because, Gio, we’re not the ones who should be judging who’s good or bad or getting rid of people,” I said. “Besides, people change.”
“You really believe that?”
“I’m telling you I do.”
He shook his head. “Most people don’t change, they just adapt.”
“Same difference.”
“Not really. Change is change. Adapt comes from the Latin word aptus, which means ‘fit,’ so you’re not really changing, you’re merely lessening whatever it is you were already doing so the people around you can feel comfortable. Change is a concept and concepts are just perceptions.”
“So, what you’re saying is that you can’t change your philandering ways?” I pointed my fork at him, raising an eyebrow.
“I said most people, smartass.” He walked around the counter, stopping in front of me and wedging himself between my legs. He ducked down to kiss me, suck my bottom lip into his mouth. “Most people don’t have you.”
“Only one person has me,” I said against his mouth.
“You’re goddamn right.” He lifted me off the seat and carried me back to his room.
36
“So, all I have to do is accept the offer and sign the papers and then we’re done?” I asked Josh, the realtor, who nodded.
“Basically. It’s a good offer,” he said, “A cash offer.”
“Which will make it painless,” I said, since that was what I’d gathered from the first ten times he’d said that it was a good offer. It was, apparently. The value of the home was almost triple what Dad paid for it when he bought it. That in itself was beyond my comprehension. It wasn’t that it wasn’t a cute home, but it didn’t really have much of a yard or even that much space, despite having a basement. I didn’t tell the realtor, but I was planning on accepting any offer. I just wanted this done already.
“It’ll be the most painless transaction I’ve made this year, I’ll tell you that.”
“I believe you.” I looked at the papers in front of me and signed on every X necessary. When we finished, I shook his hand and walked out of the real estate office, with Petra and Joey in tow.
“I worked at a realtor office once,” Joey said. Petra and I shared a confused look. Joey shrugged. “I did. I cleaned the office every night after they closed.”
“Oh. That’s more up your alley,” Petra said.
“I’m not going to let that offend me.”
I laughed. “I actually think you’d make a good realtor.”
“Really?” They asked in unison.
I nodded. “This Josh guy virtually did nothing. He put up some pictures and the offers just rolled in.”
“You calling me lazy?” Joey frowned, but I could see the smile in his eyes.
“Not lazy.” I smiled. “It’s just similar to what you do now. You sit, and sit, and sit, and then boom something pops off and you spring into action.”
“Shit, how much do realtors get paid?” Petra took out of her phone.
Joey and I laughed as we reached the SUV and headed back to Gio’s place. It had been an amazing week. Blissful, even. So much so, that I was afraid to let myself get too excited out of fear that it’ll blow up in my face, but deep down, I knew there was really no reason for me to feel that way. Luke and Noah told me the same thing. “Stop being negative. Just stick to the happy stuff,” Noah said. Meanwhile, Luke couldn’t believe I was actually dating Gio. He couldn’t wrap his head around any of it, but the more we spoke, the more he agreed that I sounded genuinely happy and Gio sounded like a decent guy, despite everything he’d heard. It was another thing I was grateful for. Because I hadn’t really heard of Gio before all of this, I couldn’t impose judgement on him. I could only do that with what I had now, and somehow, I’d truly fallen in love with him and decided that it didn’t matter who he was before or who he’d be tomorrow, because I still loved him.
