Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 77359 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77359 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Massimo shrugged. “You made a good point that there are a lot of things you’ve never experienced, and likely never will. So this is one area in which you can gain a little experience.”
I had said that, but I’d meant all kinds of experience, not just sexual. “And Carmine and Stefano ... are they really okay with this?”
“They are if you are.”
“But … But what about you?”
He looked at me in exasperation. “If I wasn’t okay with it, I wouldn’t have brought it up with you. But I did, and now the ball’s in your court. Just remember the rules.” He got to his feet but had to hunch over so much he looked like he was folded in half as he backed out of the little space. “The ball’s in your court,” he repeated.
My jaw still hung open as I thought about what he’d said for a long time after he’d left. And if Carmine and Stefano were truly on board, then I guess the ball really was in my court.
But I had no idea what to do with it.
15
LEILA
“Leila. Leila?” A pause. “Hey, Leila.”
Third time Stefano said my name, I finally noticed and looked up. “Yes?”
“You’re needed back here on planet Earth.” He set his napkin down, his lunch all but finished. Mine was barely touched.
“I’m here.” Or, at least, my body was. My mind was still reeling from Massimo’s offer yesterday. All during breakfast this morning, I’d been too embarrassed to even look at any of the Moretti brothers. Things were a little easier with just Stefano here now, but still ... a bit awkward.
“Do you want to play the game after lunch? I finished that new section by the pier.”
“Sure. Um, how many NPCs are there to talk to?” I was proud of myself for remembering the term for a non-playable character. But then I stared down at my plate at the reminder that it wasn’t just sex I was ignorant of…it was computers and men, and the world in general. Even with Massimo’s deal, I didn’t feel like I’d ever catch up.
“Nothing has to change, you know.”
My breath caught as I realized what Stefano was referring to. It was the first time any of them had alluded to it today.
His face was earnest as he watched me. “Nothing has to change,” he repeated. “There are just some more ... options open to you. If you want them.”
Options. Wasn’t that what I always said I wanted? To make some choices on my own? And now Massimo, and Stefano today, were giving me just that.
But could I take it?
I tried to imagine what a normal young woman in my situation would do. Stefano was kind, and friendly, and let’s face it—hot. All three of the brothers were, in different ways. But even though I now had some options I hadn’t had previously, being brave enough to take them was a whole different matter.
I couldn’t even imagine how you’d get something like that started. Did you just look across the lunch table and say, “I’d like you to do stuff to me until my blood boils and I cry out with pleasure”?
Did anyone talk like that? I honestly had no clue.
Stefano made it easy for me. “I’ve got a work call soon. Why don’t you come to my office around two and you can try out the new area of the game? That’s all we have to do.”
“Okay.” I sipped my tea, holding it with both hands to steady them. “Thanks.”
“This is amazing,” I said, hours later. Playing the video game Stefano made was like entering a new world. A fun world. A far better one than the one I lived in. “What are you going to do with it when it’s done?”
Stefano was at his desk in the middle of the room. “Start a new one?”
I paused the game and walked over to him. “But aren’t you going to share it with others?”
“I did. I shared it with you.”
Coming up behind him, I looked over his screen, but as always, his coding looked like a foreign language to me. “Other people would want to play it.”
He glanced up at me from over his shoulder. “We don't know that. Maybe it’s a very small audience. Like mafia princesses trapped in arranged marriages. The marketing campaign practically writes itself.”
I couldn’t help laughing at his words and the absurdity of my situation.
Stefano shrugged. “I didn’t make it to sell. I just made it to see if I could.” He rolled his shoulders, his posture looking a bit stiff. I ached to make him feel better.
“I’d say you definitely can.” And I realized something. I could, too. Touch him, if I wanted to. As long as he wanted that as well.
Tentatively, I put my hand on his shoulder and squeezed. His muscles were tight. Stefano sighed, and I moved behind his chair, my hands on both his shoulders now. I started kneading, digging my fingers into the parts that felt the tightest.