When I come back to the couch to set up the board on the coffee table, Luca’s staring at me with a look of adoration on his handsome face. His blue eyes are full of love.
“You look happy for someone who’s about to get his butt kicked,” I say.
“Tina, you know I’d do anything for you, right? And that includes playing badly to let you win.”
“You’re so bad.” I put my hands on his shoulders and wrestle him back so he’s lying on the couch with me on top of him. He grabs my butt and grinds me against him as he kisses me deeply.
After a moment, he pushes me away, growling, “It’s still too early to pull the bed out.”
I pull away from him and look into his eyes. “We don’t need the bed. You can just take me over to that wall again.”
He grins. “I almost got a butt cramp.”
I cover his mouth. “Don’t say that! Now I’ll be thinking about butt cramps when you’re making love to me.”
The words wash over both of us at the same time. Making love. I said it.
“Tina…”
I pull away, sit up, and grab for my cup of tea, playing it cool.
He sits up and puts his arm around my shoulders, so I can’t get away. “You’re absolutely right,” he says. “I do make love to you, and it’s because I love you.”
It’s hard for me to swallow the tea, because of the lump in my throat. “I think I love you, too,” I murmur.
“Of course you do. You wouldn’t drive me around like my personal chauffeur and let me leave my chest hair in your tub if you didn’t love me.” He kisses the side of my face and nuzzles around my ear. He growls, “You wouldn’t do that special thing you do, if you didn’t love me.”
I giggle and squirm. He’s referring to a pleasuring technique that I’m ashamed to say I read about in Cosmopolitan. Many of their tips are downright ridiculous and could lead to an embarrassing doctor visit, but sometimes you get a good one.
I kiss him, feeling my temperature rising, then pull back. “It’s still too early for me to do that special thing. You said so yourself.”
He looks down at the Scrabble. “Then let’s find a way to pass the time. Are you finished your tea? Let’s open that wine Rory gave us, the pinot grigio.”
I slurp back the rest of my tea. “Game on.”
Our Scrabble game keeps getting interrupted by makeout sessions. Luca and I playfully argue over what time is a reasonable hour for two adults to go to bed.
He’s got his hand up my shirt and is making a very good case for right now being the right time when there’s an impatient knock at the door.
I run and pull the door open to find my sister.
She peers around my shoulder. “Did I interrupt your coitus?”
I resist the urge to strangle her. “Meenie, don’t say that word.”
She rolls her eyes. “You and Rory and your word hang-ups.”
My eyes bulge out when I realize she’s wearing her I ♥ BJ shirt. It’s an ‘I Love Beijing’ shirt, but it sends a mixed message. I shake my head. And the girl wonders why she doesn’t have a boyfriend. Where do I even start?
Meenie wrinkles her nose at the mess of laptops and Luca’s stuff on the dining table. “You guys could take over the big house if you want.”
Luca and I assure her we’re just fine in the cottage. She helps herself to the open wine and joins us in our Scrabble game on the coffee table.
I look over at Luca, who’s just read Meenie’s I ♥ BJ T-shirt and is having a hard time keeping a straight face. I would apologize for my sister barging in, but he seems happy enough.
I guess that because he didn’t grow up with any siblings, let alone girls, this is still a novelty for him. I’m glad he’s having fun, because I can imagine us all having holidays together, and it’s a nice picture in my head.
Tonight’s going well. We had a nice dinner, I had a solid nap, and we said we loved each other. Life is good.
Luca wrestles the wine bottle from her to refill his own glass. “Your sister was telling me you’re in a club Tuesday nights. I hope it’s not the kind where you sign over all your personal possessions.”
She gives him that look she used to give other wrestlers in high school, before she knocked them to the ground—sometimes in the cafeteria.
“It’s a group for people who have problems,” she says. “Not that I have problems myself. I thought it was a Weight Watchers group, but now I still go because it’s fun.”
“That’s nice of you,” Luca says, grinning.
“There’s a new guy at group,” she says, getting a shy smile. I haven’t seen that kind of smile on Meenie’s face in a long time. She’s got a crush on someone, that’s for sure.