Tough Love - Chris Sturniolo

Insider Details

Ella

Matt and I were cuddled into each other on the couch, the tv on but no one watching, while I scrolled on my phone. Nick was on the other side of the couch, and I did my own thing while they talked. They were discussing something for their channel, which was a usual topic of conversation in their house. I was proud of Matt and his work, and I was happy to be a comfort to him in his space while he did his thing and it fed my soul to be invited into it so warmly. He wasn't big on PDA, but when the sun set and everyone was chilling, he always made sure I was close. Sitting beside me at the table with a hand on my leg, sitting on his lap out on the porch. At that moment, he was sitting against the corner of the couch, and my back was against his torso, in the perfect position to sneak small glances up at his handsome face without him knowing.

A lull came in the boys conversation, the only sound the low volume of the tv.

"They look like they're getting along," Nick noticed. I looked up and out the glass patio door to where Chris and Anastasia sat, talking.

"She beat him in a bet on the field today," Matt laughed lightly. "Now he can't flirt with her anymore."

"Get out," I laughed. "That's my girl." That sounded exactly like something she'd do. Anastasia was incredibly competitive, she loved to win. And when it came to sports, she'd always been crazy good. Didn't matter what sport. In middle school, she bet her way into the boys games and then kicked all their asses. At first they hadn't wanted her to play at all, but she eventually proved herself and became everyone's first pick. I'd sit on the sidelines and cheer her on.

"Yeah he was actually kinda happy about it," Matt added.

"Really? How do you know that?" I asked.

"He told me about it on the walk back," he responded, sparking my curiosity.

"What did he say?" I kept my voice even to hide my interest so I could dig for some details.

"Nothing really," he replied. I gave him a few seconds of silence to think and he went on. "He said she'd smiled and laughed when she won. I was like okay...great..." he explained, not understanding how that was anything of note. I got it. That was definitely a small victory. Anastasia was a wall of emotion, unless it was a negative one. Then everyone knew about it. "Then he said he was gunna try to get to know her properly, so I guess that's what he's doing." I smiled as he finished, happy to hear that.

"That's actually kinda cute," Nick smiled, looking at his phone while he listened.

"Right?" Matt said back, "I just hope she doesn't bite his head off in the process."

I knew Anastasia better than anyone. When she met first met Chris at the apartment, she'd rejected his advances pretty bluntly. But then she'd called me a few days later to tell me about running into him at the gym and doing it again, and I just knew. Her tone of voice, the way she described his hair. I almost laughed out loud as I thought about it. She liked him, as much as she didn't want to. But after what happened with her and Dom, I knew she wasn't going to make it easy for him to get to know her, so I hoped for her sake that Chris was up for the task. I loved Anastasia, I was growing to love Chris too, and I didn't want them to hurt each other.

Suddenly the door slid open, and an angry Anastasia walked into the kitchen. Well fuck.