“I just need to go slow,” she says quickly. “I don’t want to … lose focus.”
She eyes her laptop.
“That I understand.” But I’m not sure how much of that is the truth for her and how much is an excuse. “Your work comes first.” I pause. “You also come first.” I give her a weighted look so she can’t escape my meaning.
I lean over and kiss the top of her hand before letting go. I straighten up.
“Then I shall leave you. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you up this early.”
“Yeah, well I couldn’t sleep much,” she says, looking coy. “And I figured this was the only opportunity to write out here before it gets too hot.”
“That’s smart,” I tell her. “I’ll go get breakfast ready.”
I walk around the table and head into the house, but the spring I had in my step earlier has faded. I’m sure that Grace will come around, I just wish we were on the same page about this whole thing. Whether we’re sleeping together, or whether it’s something more, whatever we create is something just for us. And for now, it doesn’t need the permission of anyone else, not even of my own son.
I just need Grace’s permission.
And I can only hope she’ll give it to me.
Breakfast was fairly easy. I made a frittata and put together a board of sliced meats and cheeses and bread. Vanni, of course, only had the Nutella. I swear he goes through two jars a week. Where does he put it all?
Grace was acting quiet and demure during breakfast, which I understood. She was trying to appear like nothing was wrong, like nothing had happened between us, and since she’s a bad liar, I guess the best thing was to talk as little as possible.
Vanni, as observant as he is, didn’t notice. He was too busy talking about a movie theatre in Lucca playing a matinee of Back to the Future.
“Can I go, please?” he pleads as I settle down with an espresso.
“Not with those crumbs on your face.”
He grabs a napkin and aggressively wipes them off. “Okay, now can I go?”
I sigh. I did want to take part of today to work on the sculpture of Grace, providing Grace would volunteer as model again. But Vanni looks so sincere, and I still feel bad that he didn’t have the vacation he wanted.
“Okay,” I say. “Matinee? What time?”
“Two o’clock,” he says. “It’s in the city, you know the old theatre Cinema Astra? We can bike there and have lunch. Then I can meet Paolo. It was his idea.”
Paolo is one of his school friends, also a nerd like Vanni.
“Are you sure? It’s not too hot for a bike ride? Also, why not another movie, if you must? You have seen Back to the Future a million times.”
“Gio’s father would let him go.”
I roll my eyes and exchange a dry look with Grace, who has a smile dancing on her lips. “Fine. If alternate dimension Vanni can go, then you can go.”
“It’s alternate universe.”
“Okay.” I turn to Grace. “Would you like to come with us?”
I expect her to say no, so I’m surprised when she nods. “Aye, that sounds like fun.”
Hmmm. Always keeping me on my toes.
It’s not long after that we get the bikes out and are set to ride off. We leave a little earlier than we should, trying to beat the heat, but it’s no use. It’s ten o’clock and we’re already sweating. Luckily the road through the valley is flat and there’s a breeze as we go. When I catch glimpses of Grace, she’s smiling again.
That’s something I wish I could sculpt, or at least take a picture of. Her eyes closed, lips spread wide and tilted up to the sun. She looks so happy and free. That’s the Grace I saw last night, moments after she came around my cock.
Fucking hell, what am I doing? I’m falling for her a little too fast.
And I don’t think there’s anything I can do about it.
We get to Lucca, overheated, with our clothes sticking to us. We walk our bikes through the uneven streets until I find a nice restaurant that’s open for an early lunch, in the cooler shade of the buildings.
We sit around an outside table, drinking Aperol Spritzes (a Coke for Vanni), while watching the world go past, waiting for the kitchen to open. We’re silent for a lot of it, all