The Ink That Brands Us ✔️

Chapter Eleven

Jensen drove us to the next town over, to a place called Marcello's Pizzeria. I loved pizza, so this place was perfect, but I just didn't understand why we had to drive almost half an hour out of the way to get it.

    When we were parked and stepping out of the car, I looked to Jensen.

    "So, this better be some earth-shattering pizza. I'm dying of starvation and there's like fifty pizza places in town."

    He smirked at me and led me inside.

    "It's the best place to get pizza," he assured me. "Trust me, you won't be the same once you've had pizza from Marcello's."

    We set ourselves in a booth at the back of the restaurant. We hardly had time to get comfortable when the waitress arrived, placing menus down in front of us before taking our drink orders.

"So, are we sharing a pizza or do you want to order separate," I asked, looking over my menu at him.

He shrugged without looking up.

"One is fine."

"Okay, but I have to warn you I like pineapples on my pizza," I informed him prepared to plead my case about how pineapples do belong on pizza.

It was a testy topic and I was well versed in my defense on the subject.

"So do I," he said, looking up from the menu to smile at me.

"Oh," I said in surprise.

The waitress returned with our drinks and took our orders. I glanced around the restaurant noting that there weren't many people here. Five people including Jensen and myself, to be exact. For all the praise Jensen gave it, it didn't seem to get much business. That or it was just a slow night.

When I looked back to Jensen he had his arms crossed in front of him and he was leaning on the table, looking at me.

"Is there any rules you would like to discuss?" He asked before I could look away.

I shrugged, taking a sip of my drink before answering.

"I'm a pretty simple person. You can have friends over or whatever and if you want to throw a party just let me know ahead of time. Also, if you want alone time with a girlfriend just let me know and I'll make myself scarce for the night or nights. Other than that, the apartment is yours as much as it is mine."

"That all sounds pretty reasonable," he said.

"What about you? Do you have any rules for me?"

"Those will do."

"Okay, but I only have one friend outside of you and everyone at the shop and I don't party, so we shouldn't have any problems." 

Before we could continue the waitress returned with our pizza. It smelled amazing and looked even better. She barely had time to set it on the table before I was reaching for the first piece. I couldn't hold back the moan that escaped me as I chewed.

"Told you it was worth it," Jensen chuckled, taking a bite of his own piece.

"Jimmy's is pretty amazing, but this... this is my favorite place. Hands down." The smile that lit his face knocked the breath out of me. I could see how much it meant to him that I loved this place.

We ate in silence for a while neither of us sure of what to say. I was still stunned by the smile he had given me. He was beautiful inside and out and it was at odds with his playboy lifestyle. Just when I was making sense of Jensen I find more to be confused about.