Yeah, I bet she got that from her dad.
“So I agreed to set Mike up with Natalie as long as he helped me with you.” Her eyes twinkled mischievously as she looked at me. “And so here we are.”
“You wanted me to take you out?” I asked her as if the thought was absurd.
“Yes and you wanted to take me out too,” she replied, confidently popping what was left of her concoction into her mouth.
“Oh, you think so?” I queried, twisting in my seat to look at her fully.
“Yes of course,” she said, her eyes meeting mine, challenging me to deny it. I had never once thought about taking Adrianna on a date, but I had thought about a lot of other things I wouldn’t mind doing to her. It was probably safer for both of us to let her think I was a good guy who wanted to take her to a movie and hold her hand.
“You’re just too chicken shit to ask me,” she rolled her eyes. “And that’s mostly because of my father,” she continued, cocking her head to the side before leaning in closer. “You want to impress him, you want to be like him, and you’ll do anything to get that. I get it, but get this too, I don’t care what my dad thinks. I don’t make decisions based on my dad’s approval or disapproval and you shouldn’t either. He’ll notice you when he’s ready to notice you – and as for me – I’ve already noticed you,” she smiled. “And I like what I see.”
I just had my ass handed to me by a teenage girl disguised as a woman. It didn’t matter she was probably just into me for the sake of rebelling against her father; I chose to ignore that part. My balls tightened as she smiled at me with that sweet and innocent smile of hers. Her eyes were anything but innocent though as they stared into mine, full of mischief. I didn’t just like what I saw – I fucking craved it.
I peeled my eyes from hers and took the box of Reese’s Pieces from her hand, pouring the contents into the bucket of popcorn and mixing it up as she had. I turned back to her placing the tub on her lap before lifting my eyes to meet her amused glance.
“Watch the movie Reese’s,” I said gruffly, the lights dimming as I stretched my arm across the back of her chair and leaned back into my seat. I shook my head slightly accepting the fact I had been played, owning it. I was on a date with Adrianna Pastore and I would bet my life on the fact that when I kiss her later, she’d taste like Reese’s Pieces.
Chapter Three: 2013
I glanced down at the soft pale blue teddy bear I was holding in my hands. The tiny toy looked ridiculous in my large paw like hands. I knew I shouldn’t have been there, but my heart didn’t understand the path my mind took. For some reason I couldn’t get the two to align and be on the same page. The doors opened wide and I let out a heavy sigh as I stepped off the elevator, making my way down the corridor to the hospital nursery.
I stopped in front of the glass windows, my eyes glancing around in search of the baby that carried my name as his middle name, but he wasn’t there.
“You’re looking for the Pastore baby aren’t you?” I heard a soft voice say from behind me, forcing me to turn around and meet the nurse’s smiling face. “I remember you from this morning. I was just starting my shift when I saw you in that very exact spot, only having eyes for one baby,” she smiled. “All you proud dads have that same look.”
I stared at her blankly for a moment before finding my voice. “Do you know where he is?”
She nodded, her smile still plastered on her face as she spoke. “Room 32B, straight down the hall, last door on the right. He’s feeding with mom right now.”
“Thank you,” I said roughly, diverting my eyes down the hallway toward room 32B.