Emilia: Finding My Forever

35|To Forevers

"I don't think we stayed this long in our honeymoon stage," Tommaso said to Gia and she playfully punched his shoulder.

I smiled as we released from our hug.

"Seriously you two seem more lovey-dovey than when we first saw you," Jaz said and Santo and I looked at each other.

"I guess I like her a little bit more every day," Santo told them and my butterflies reminded me of their presence.

"Interesting," Dante said out loud and Santo and I stopped smiling.

Dante was the only one who knew the real story behind us.

"Which one of you made a bet on me?" Santo asked and everyone stayed quiet. "I know you guys. Who was it?"

Tommaso slowly raised his hand and Santo smiled. "Pay up."

Tommaso sighed before giving Dante his five dollars.

Santo held my hand. "Now that we have that out of the way, let's bowl."

They all smiled before we began playing.

Dante was up first, then Jaz. They both played before Tommaso and Gia had their turn.

Santo went up and made a perfect shot, knocking down all the pins in one go. He was the first one of us to do so.

"Santo, I thought you've never done this before. How the hell did you do that?"

He shrugged. "I play golf. I had a good idea."

"Santo, golf does not correlate with bowling."

"Says the one who doesn't play golf," Santo said and everyone laughed.

"Your turn Emilia," Jaz said and I walked up nervously.

Why'd Santo have to go and make a perfect shot?

I'll look like a joke compared to what he just did.

"Let's go, princess," he cheered from behind and I sent him a death glare.

It was already bad enough that he called me that in private but in front of his friends? Was he looking for a death wish?

His smile slowly faded out of fear and I turned back my attention to the pins.

I picked up the lightest ball and threw it. My eyes widened as I saw that I knocked down eight of the ten pins. I was not expecting that.

I picked up my second ball before knocking down one, leaving one remaining.

They all cheered for me as I walked back.

"Are you sure you two didn't practice this?" Gia asked. "There's no way this was your first time."

I laughed as I sat back next to Santo and he kissed me on the cheek.

"Good job," he said, and a heatwave passed through my body.

He doesn't know how much happiness his compliments brought to me. I liked to feel rewarded. It made me feel special.

I liked the attention.

The others stood up. "We are going to order some food for us. We'll be right back."

"Okay," I nodded as they walked off.

I turned to him. "Are you okay? You barely said a word to me this morning."

His mother's call from last night really upset him.

He turned to me. "Emilia, I don't want you talking to my parents. They'll put you in positions that you shouldn't be in. They are not good people."

I nodded. "I won't. I already deleted her number."

"You're doing a really good job," he said as he caressed my thighs.

"At what?" I asked.

"Being my wife," he answered. "I know you weren't prepared for it but you never slipped up. You're patient with me, I know I can be a lot sometimes. You stayed even after finding out extra details about me that were left out of the contract."

I showed him the necklace he gave me with his name on it. "Santo, I'm not going anywhere."

I watched as his pupils dilated. Something changed in him.

"Santo, is everything okay?" I asked.

He opened his mouth to answer before his eyes widened.

I turned back to see the others coming back with a cake.

"Happy birthday!" they all shouted as they walked up to us.

Birthday?

I turned to Santo and he was now holding his head out of frustration. 

I didn't know it was his birthday.

"Guys, I told you not to do this," he said.

"Shut up and blow your candles," Dante smiled as he hugged his best friend.

Santo looked at me before blowing his candles.

I felt bad. I should've known. I didn't even have a gift for him.

"What did you wish for?" Tommaso asked.

"Tommaso!" Gia shouted at him. "Have manners."

Santo shrugged. "It's okay. I wished that I could believe in forevers."

I looked at him as my heart started beating like it never had before. I wanted to kiss him like nobody was watching.

Why was he doing this to me?

Tommaso laughed. "What a ridiculous wish. I thought you would wish for the American deal to pull through so we can make up for our profits."

"I think we should go. Happy birthday again, Santo," Gia said as she angrily dragged Tommaso out for ruining the moment.

"Well, cheers to forevers," Jaz said but none of us had drinks so we just raised our hands.

"To forevers," we laughed before cutting the cake.

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