sighs. “I’ve been out of work for a year because of that.”
I choke up for a second, losing steam in his presence. Say something…anything…
“I gotta say, you’ve changed a lot since that first season.”
Ugh, that’s the worst thing you could possibly say!
Much to my relief, he laughs. “Yeah, luckily I got a trainer after the first couple of seasons. I was that stereotypical fat kid everybody got to make fun of on set.”
“Well, you showed them .” A surge of heat rushes into my cheeks. Why did I say that? Am I actually flirting right now?
I’m rewarded with a dimpled smile that turns my heart into mush. “Thank you,” Gio says pleasantly. I’m relieved he didn’t find that comment disgusting coming from me.
Say something else…ask a question, something innocent…
“So, what are you doing right now?”
Good. Safe.
“I’ve been at Wilcox High School for the last year,” Gio replies. “I wanted to have a couple years of normal high school experiences before it was too late. I already had a lot of friends there, since my best friend Dalton goes there, so it just made sense. One more year, and then I’m going back to acting full-time.”
Oh yeah, that’s right. He probably had a tutor on set. Maybe we have more in common than I thought. “I’m also hoping I’ll be able to get one year at a real high school before graduating. I was homeschooled my entire life,” I say.
Gio raises an eyebrow, making some cute little creases appear on his forehead. “Your dad homeschooled you?”
“No, my Nana did. She was a teacher for thirty years.”
“Oh…I see,” Gio says.
Ask something else…
“What’s Wilcox like?”
“It’s an exclusive private high school in Beverly Hills that you only get into if you’re filthy rich or a scholarship kid,” Gio says, and he leans back and folds his muscular arms in front of him. I wish he wouldn’t do that…it’s really unfair. I have force myself to concentrate on what he’s saying. “We have to wear uniforms, and they have insane grading standards. If you make an eighty-seven on a test, it’s a C instead of a B.”
“Holy damn! Wilcox sounds cool, though. If I moved here, I’d probably try to get in.”
“I barely passed junior year,” Gio admits. “If you have any previous classes with a grade lower than an eighty, you might as well abandon all hope.”
“My Geometry grade was an eighty-two,” I tell him. “Everything else was way above that.”
“Nice! I guess you’re set then, bella .” He gives me a wink and a sexy half smile.
My neck and cheeks feel like they’ve just been set ablaze. Giovanni Abate just called me ‘ bella .’ I’m starting to wish I was recording this conversation, but that would be creepy and weird, so I’ll just record it in my head instead.
“Hey, do you wanna see my room? You know, just for something to do,” he asks. I hesitate for a split second before remembering our parents are inside the house, so it’s unlikely he has any naughty intentions. Then I laugh at myself on the inside for even imagining he would look at me like that. I nod in response to his invitation, and he takes me upstairs to his bedroom.
Gio also has his own king-sized bed, plus he has a gigantic curved TV on the wall opposite the bed. There are a ton of posters from action movies on his walls, not surprisingly, and there are some bookshelves between them filled with Blu-Rays, video games, and books of every sort. Gio is completely entertainment-obsessed, which is a relief, because that’s something I can definitely talk about.
“Nice room.” I head over to one of the bookshelves to look at his games. “What’s your favorite console game?”
“ Battlefield . You play?” Gio asks, shocked.
“Yeah, my dad and I play Battlefield together all the time, actually. I’m pretty good at it.”
Gio smirks. “Bet you’re not as good as me.”
His arrogant smirk reminds me of a smolder. God , he’s so
I choke up for a second, losing steam in his presence. Say something…anything…
“I gotta say, you’ve changed a lot since that first season.”
Ugh, that’s the worst thing you could possibly say!
Much to my relief, he laughs. “Yeah, luckily I got a trainer after the first couple of seasons. I was that stereotypical fat kid everybody got to make fun of on set.”
“Well, you showed them .” A surge of heat rushes into my cheeks. Why did I say that? Am I actually flirting right now?
I’m rewarded with a dimpled smile that turns my heart into mush. “Thank you,” Gio says pleasantly. I’m relieved he didn’t find that comment disgusting coming from me.
Say something else…ask a question, something innocent…
“So, what are you doing right now?”
Good. Safe.
“I’ve been at Wilcox High School for the last year,” Gio replies. “I wanted to have a couple years of normal high school experiences before it was too late. I already had a lot of friends there, since my best friend Dalton goes there, so it just made sense. One more year, and then I’m going back to acting full-time.”
Oh yeah, that’s right. He probably had a tutor on set. Maybe we have more in common than I thought. “I’m also hoping I’ll be able to get one year at a real high school before graduating. I was homeschooled my entire life,” I say.
Gio raises an eyebrow, making some cute little creases appear on his forehead. “Your dad homeschooled you?”
“No, my Nana did. She was a teacher for thirty years.”
“Oh…I see,” Gio says.
Ask something else…
“What’s Wilcox like?”
“It’s an exclusive private high school in Beverly Hills that you only get into if you’re filthy rich or a scholarship kid,” Gio says, and he leans back and folds his muscular arms in front of him. I wish he wouldn’t do that…it’s really unfair. I have force myself to concentrate on what he’s saying. “We have to wear uniforms, and they have insane grading standards. If you make an eighty-seven on a test, it’s a C instead of a B.”
“Holy damn! Wilcox sounds cool, though. If I moved here, I’d probably try to get in.”
“I barely passed junior year,” Gio admits. “If you have any previous classes with a grade lower than an eighty, you might as well abandon all hope.”
“My Geometry grade was an eighty-two,” I tell him. “Everything else was way above that.”
“Nice! I guess you’re set then, bella .” He gives me a wink and a sexy half smile.
My neck and cheeks feel like they’ve just been set ablaze. Giovanni Abate just called me ‘ bella .’ I’m starting to wish I was recording this conversation, but that would be creepy and weird, so I’ll just record it in my head instead.
“Hey, do you wanna see my room? You know, just for something to do,” he asks. I hesitate for a split second before remembering our parents are inside the house, so it’s unlikely he has any naughty intentions. Then I laugh at myself on the inside for even imagining he would look at me like that. I nod in response to his invitation, and he takes me upstairs to his bedroom.
Gio also has his own king-sized bed, plus he has a gigantic curved TV on the wall opposite the bed. There are a ton of posters from action movies on his walls, not surprisingly, and there are some bookshelves between them filled with Blu-Rays, video games, and books of every sort. Gio is completely entertainment-obsessed, which is a relief, because that’s something I can definitely talk about.
“Nice room.” I head over to one of the bookshelves to look at his games. “What’s your favorite console game?”
“ Battlefield . You play?” Gio asks, shocked.
“Yeah, my dad and I play Battlefield together all the time, actually. I’m pretty good at it.”
Gio smirks. “Bet you’re not as good as me.”
His arrogant smirk reminds me of a smolder. God , he’s so
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