Awkward. Could he tel his baby sister that her best friend was asleep in his bed after a long morning of lovemaking? No. “Umm… she’s stil at my house, Mel. I went out get us break—lunch.”
“Don’t tel me! I don’t want to know. You have gone too far. I never thought you could be so low.
Although after your spoiled brat display last night I don’t know why I’m surprised.”
“Want to tel me what’s bothering you Mel?”
“Gio is gone. Whatever you and Libby did last night they must have had a fight because he checked out of the hotel. I hoped he’d come to his senses and decided to stay at Stuart’s with Libby—but Stuart’s was empty and her car is stil at the bar. So that means she was with you last night”
“What’s wrong with that?” Gio was gone? Had she caled him? Told him to leave?
“Nothing if I thought for a second you were serious, but we both know you’re not. You are usualy a pretty stand up guy Tony I don’t know why you keep stringing her along this way. Gio loves her! He was going to move here you know. He told me last week when I talked to him on the phone.”
“He was?”
“Wel that or she was going to move there… it was confusing, but he had plans.”
Tony had plans too. “He wanted her to move in with him?”
“To marry him, big brother. I am sure he was going to ask her to marry him. I definitely got a wedding ring vibe. You can’t stand to see her happy with somebody else can you? You are such a selfish ass! You don’t love her, but you want her to keep on loving you? She loves Gio, Tony. I could tel just from the way they danced together.” Marry her? They hadn’t even slept together.
Unless maybe she had been waiting for the wedding night?
Some cultures were stil kind of serious about the whole virginal bride thing right? Tony wanted to scream. He wanted to say that he had loved her since she had cleaned him out in monopoly six years ago. But that was not the kind of thing you said to a girl’s best friend before you said it to the girl. He settled for “I care a lot about Libby.”
“No, Tony, if you cared about her you would have wanted her to be happy. Whatever! I am going to try her cel again.”
“No. Mel. I am two minutes from home. I wil talk to her. Promise me that you wil stay out of it…
Mel?...Helo?” Damn. Tony sped up. Mel was wrong.
Libby couldn’t be in love with Gio—she just couldn’t.
Waking up a little achy and gloriously satisfied in Tony’s bed was the best experience of Libby’s life. Wel anyway—it was definitely up there. Libby reached for Tony. But he wasn’t there. Puling her camisole back on and his boxer shorts Libby went to find him. Except he was realy gone. After checking the house Libby peered out a window, and found his car was gone. He had just left her there. Curling up right on the living room floor she let the sadness have her.
Tears slid down her face. How could she have thought she was prepared for this? That she could handle being a just sex kind of girl if it meant she could be with him. She was wrong. She wasn’t a just sex kind of girl at al. Parker was right, and now she had probably blown even being his friend. Because she knew that she could never again be satisfied to be with him without actualy being with him.
“Libby?” Tony caled as he rushed through the front door. “Libby…” She was crying-- curled up on the floor, because he hadn’t even had the time to buy furniture. What was she doing down here anyway? Maybe she hadn’t been able to stay in his bed after her fight with Gio. Mel was right. She must love him. “Libby, sweetheart, please don’t cry.” Tony dropped the food in the halway and went to hold her. She was probably feeling guilty. Guilty because she had been seduced by Tony when it was Gio that she realy wanted.
“Don’t worry. Look I talked to Mel, and I know Gio left. Did you have a fight?”
“What? O h . Not a fight—a sort of a disagreement.” That was a little true; they had disagreed on their future. There was no reason Tony needed to know that she’d been slightly relieved when he’d decided to go.
Libby wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “I’m just being a sily girl. I’m going to get dressed, and then maybe you can drive me home?”
His heart fel like a rock. Al remaining hope that she might have chosen him fled. She didn’t want him, and he was only making things worse for her by pushing. Mel was right, he was a selfish ass. “Your disagreement? Was it… did you tel him about last night?”
“What? No. I haven’t talked to him since he left the bar.” Libby slumped into Tony, and tried not to think of the irony in Tony consoling her for a broken heart he had given her.