Page 43 of Blood Money
“Are you my girl, Kendall?” he murmured with the corner of his mouth tipped up, bringing out the slight dimple he had on that side.
I reached up and brushed my thumb over it. He was so handsome and sweet, and it blew me away that he saw me the way he did. “I don’t know. Am I?”
“I’d like you to be, because I like to think you kinda like me,” he teased.
“Like…likeyou?” I asked, then pressed my lips together to fight my smile.
We both laughed.
Then he went serious. “For some reason, I believe I was meant to run into you that day. Like fate played a hand in us both being in that exact spot at that exact moment. Each day, I can’t wait to text you or call you. I want to spend every minute of every day with you. Which is crazy because I’ve never felt like this about anyone. I also know some people would roll their eyes at me and tell me that at eighteen, I can’t know someone isthe one, but everything about you feels right—perfect, even. When I’m not with you, it feels like a part of me is missing.”
“Vittorio,” I gasped, my heart nearly ready to explode in my chest at his admission.
“I don’t expect you to feel the same way right now, but I’ll wait for you to be ready. Even if it takes years. I don’t know how I can be so sure, but I am. So let’s enjoy your birthday, okay?” He brought his lips to mine and kissed me. It was sweet and sensual but way too brief.
“Okay,” I replied, my voice sounding like I’d swallowed gravel.
Hand in hand, we resumed our walk. Vittorio’s brothers waved as we approached the theater.
“I already bought the tickets,” Alessio announced as he held them in the air.
“How do you know I wanted to see the same movie you guys do?” Vittorio asked with a huff.
“It doesn’t matter what you want to see. We know Kendall has been talking about this movie since the first day we met her,” Alessio replied with a smirk. The boy was cute, and at first, he’d flirted with me tirelessly to get under his brother’s skin. But I’d never had an ounce of real attraction to him. In my eyes, everyone paled to Vittorio.
“Trying to get my girl again?” Vittorio asked as he casually slid his fingertips into the back pocket of my shorts. I knew he was making a show of staking his claim, because there was no heat to his question.
Still, I bumped his hip with mine.
“She’s the birthday girl. What she wants, she gets,” Alessio told his older brother with a shit-eating grin.
“You’re not wrong,” Vittorio agreed. He glanced down at me, sporting that wicked tilt of his lips I loved so much. Then he kissed the top of my head and gave me a squeeze.
“Ew, you two are so gross,” one of the twins said as they both made faces and wrinkled their noses.
“Give them a couple of years and they won’t be saying that,” Vittorio murmured in my ear.
Alessio must’ve heard him because he snickered and bumped fists with Vittorio.
I swatted Vittorio’s abdomen with the back of my hand, and he made an “oof” sound, though I knew dang well I hadn’t hurt those rock-hard abs of his.
Vittorio and Alessio bought popcorn and sodas for all of us.
As the kid behind the counter prepared our stuff, I set some Whoppers and a box of Hot Tamales on the counter and pulled my cash out of my pocket, but Vittorio held up his hand.
“I can pay for my own,” I argued.
He cocked a brow. “No you can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because I won’t let you.” His smug expression had me shaking my head.
We all traipsed into the theater with our arms full of our haul and found our seats in the very back row.
Alessio sat on one side of the twins, Vittorio on the other, and I sat next to Vittorio and against the wall. The younger boys were a bit rowdy, but Vittorio and Alessio leaned over and whispered something to them, and they both glanced toward the door, then sat quietly with their heads together. It seemed like they were having a conversation, but they definitely weren’t talking.
“Frickin’ twins,” Vittorio muttered.