For Butter or Worse by Erin La Rosa

Author:Erin La Rosa
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HQN Books
Published: 2022-05-06T13:36:44+00:00

* * *

Leo washed dishes at the sink while Nina sat at the kitchen island, polishing off a second helping of his brother’s chocolate gelato. The meal had been special—Gavin insisted on cooking a feast for a fellow chef: braised rabbit stew, spaghetti squash with rainbow chard and homemade gelato.

“Thanks for inviting me over.”

He turned. Her legs were crossed, and the hem of her dress slid up her thigh just enough that he had to look away to avoid staring.

“You did me a huge favor, and I owe you now.”

“You don’t owe me, I had fun,” she insisted. She’d also stayed after his family left, so as not to make his mom suspicious. Nina was a lot more generous than he deserved or had ever given her credit for. “You and your family seem so effortless together.”

“I don’t know what’s healthier—not telling your sibling every detail of your life or having them pretend to be you on dating apps. Which is what Gavin has me do, by the way.”

“Cute?” Nina’s nose crinkled.

“My mom calls it pathetic, so either way—not great.”

“The last time I met someone’s parents was with Charlie.” She took a final spoonful of the gelato, after scraping the sides of the dish to get every last bit. “We dated for two years, and I only met them once. He never asked me to spend the holidays with them or anything. But they eventually came to LA, so he couldn’t keep hiding me.”

He wiped his hands on a dish towel. Hiding her? Leo couldn’t imagine a situation in which Nina would be with someone who was hiding her away. If he was dating her—which he wasn’t—he’d tell actual strangers that Nina Lyon was dating him if they so much as asked for the time.

“Which is when I discovered that they didn’t even know what I did for a living. He never talked about me to them, clearly.” She finished the remaining sip in her wineglass.

She’d opened up to him again, now revealing something deep about her last real relationship. He felt lucky to be given the privilege of her trust.

“He’s a moron,” Leo blurted out, but he meant it. Charlie had to be a special breed of idiot to not realize how incredible Nina was. “I’ve never eaten at his restaurant, but he clearly has shit taste if he wasn’t smart enough to know how lucky he was to have you.”

Leo leaned across the kitchen island. He had an affogato for his dessert—espresso with a scoop of gelato—and he took a sip. He was more than a little depressed over the fact that he hadn’t met someone as special as Nina. Well, he’d met Nina, but he couldn’t be with her.

He wanted more of her, but that wasn’t on the kinda-friends menu they had in front of them. But friends could hang out late, after a boozy meal. They could let their eyes linger on how full each other’s lips were. They could want to lick each other...right?

As if reading his mind, she smiled.

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