Found and Forgotten

Chapter 30

ZETA POV

I wake up cuddling into Xander more rested than I expected to feel. Sure, this is more sleep than I usually get by far, but crying is soooooo exhausting, and I did quite a lot of that yesterday. I am trying to be positive that today will be better. I miss my friend and family so much, but I will always miss them, so I'm going to try to look past it and have a good time with Gianni today.

I still don't know what to expect with Gianni. I don't trust him, but I could see how happy he was that I gave him another chance. He texted me and told me to dress comfy and casual. I think that means we won't be going anywhere crowded, thank God. I go up to my room, leaving a snoring Xander behind. I shower and get ready for the day. I leave my hair down, but I do straighten it and wear leggings and a loose tee. If he said dress comfy, I'm going to. 

I grab my phone and make sure i have everything i need for the day, I head down to Gianni's door. He said we will leave early and get breakfast out, so I don't need to worry about too much interaction this morning.

Gianni POV

I have been up since 3 a.m. nervous about my day with Z. I need to make everything up to her. I need to let her know she can trust me, even though I recognize that will take a long time. I can't remember a time where I was this nervous. I am still feeling so guilty, but I know I deserve it. I just hope today I can do right by her.

I spent the entire day yesterday setting today up. I didn't know very much about Z. I asked the twins for help. They weren't really into helping me at first after Massimo told them what happened. They didn't think I deserved another chance, and they're right. But Zeta has decided to give me one, and they gave in once I begged, for Zeta's sake of course.

They suggested not a crowded place as she's still mentally recovering from our last outing. They mentioned how much she loved the water, animals, and sports. They also told me what everyone else did for their days out so that I don't repeat. Seems like they took everything good. I thanked them and spent over an hour in my room before I had a great idea.

Our yacht. It would be a bit of a drive to get to the ocean for us to take it out, but I really think she'd enjoy being in the water and away from people. Plus, if she got annoyed with me, it's big enough she can completely avoid me.

I asked the servants to help me prepare her favorite foods and a bag of clothes since we will have to eat in the boat.  I will bring a few maids and the chef with me on the boat to help make the day run smoothly. Other than that, I figured we could just have a long talk.  I don't want to overwhelm her with too many things to do and us not get a chance to talk. It'll just be a relaxing day other than maybe a few stressful conversations.

As the morning draws on, I'm getting more and more nervous. My mind is racing with all the things that might go wrong. A knock on my door brings me out of my thoughts. I open the door to see Zeta waiting. "Ready?" I ask and she nods. I tilt my head signaling her to follow me as we make our way to my car. The maids and chef are already on the boat, but we still have a couple of hours to drive.

"We have to drive for a couple of hours. You can sleep if you want or we can talk. Yoy can also put on whatever music you want" I say, handing her my phone. She nods again and starts playing music and playing on her phone. The silence is awkward, but I don't know how to break it. I just listen to her music quietly, deciding I'll let her talk if she wants to.

Five songs later and I am so confused by her music taste. She has played rock, rap, country, pop, and emo music. Five songs that you could never imagine being on the same playlist. She's kind of a weirdo, but it a good way. I chuckle a little thinking about it.

"What's funny?" She asks inquisitively.

"Nothing" I say, but I continue when I see her unamused face. "It's just that you played five songs so far and not one of them was similar to another. You have a crazy variety in your music taste."

She kind of smirks at that. "No one said I was normal. Plus, I listen to different music depending on my mood or what I'm doing. Right now, I'm just in the mood to listen to anything, so I put on some of my favorites" she says and I nod.

"I like the variety" I say with a shrug to reassure her I'm not complaining, just observing.

"So what do you like to do?" She asks. This surprises me because I thought we wouldn't be talking. And I thought she wouldn't be interested in me.

"I like fighting and working out. Playing sports in general, though I haven't really done that since high school. Mostly just hang out with my friends to be honest" I say.

"I like sports too" she says. "What's your favorite?" She asks

"To play or watch?" I ask. "Both" she replies.

"I like to box the most but watch is football. You?" I say.

"Football is my favorite to watch too. I'm not sure about playing, I never really could in the past" she says. The mood gets slightly sad.

After a moment of silence, she says, "Football Sundays were my favorite with my adoptive dad. We spent the whole day with snacks in front of the TV. We were in a fantasy football league together so we were always checking scores and stats too."

"That sounds fun. He sounds like a good guy. I'm sorry you lost him. Maybe you'll have to join our family fantasy league. Our brothers really just don't for me. They're always too busy to watch anymore" I say.

"That would be fun. I would love to beat you all" she says cheekily.

"Is that so?" I say with a chuckle and she nods with a smile.

This is going much better than I thought.

"May... maybe Sunday Football days could become our thing? Ya know, if you want?" She asks hesitantly.

I am in complete shock. She actually wants to spend time with me. Something that is clearly important to her too. I don't deserve her as a sister. She shouldn't want to spend time with me. The more I find out about her the more I want to have a relationship with her, but I just keep messing it up.

"It's fine if you don't want to. I know you're still unsure about me" she says. Damn. I was in shock and in my head than I thought. She took my silence as rejection.

"No no no. I would love to, Z. That sounds amazing. I was just in shock. I didn't think you'd want to do anything with me at all, let alone something that seems so important to you. I'm honored really. I know I acted like I didn't care, but I do. And I want to have a closer relationship with you."

She has a ghost of a smile at this. Looks like today might just go better than I thought. I'm very lucky she's giving me a second chance.