I find myself, yet again, walking through a door held open by Jackson, as we enter a hole-in-the-wall establishment. Reading the name written across the glass on the front door, I smile: Impasta. Cute. The place is small, but packed. Jackson must’ve gotten a reservation because we’re immediately brought to a table.
I’m distracted by the amazing smells as I slide into our booth in the back corner. The lighting is dim, and I’m definitely getting a classic Italian vibe from the décor. Dark wood, white cloth napkins, little tea candles lit on every table, and our booth seats are a deep red. It’s perfect.
I’m still taking in the surroundings when our server appears at the table.
“Mr. Wilder! What a pleasure to see you, my boy!” Hmm, not the server. His hair is jet black, and he has a perfect Mario mustache. Exactly like that Nintendo character.
“Hi, Mario.” Shut the front door. That is not his name! “I’d like you to meet Katelyn.” Jackson gestures to me. “This is her first time visiting your fine restaurant.”
Turning to me, Mario takes my hand and kisses my knuckles. “Ciao Bella. I promise you’ll fall in love with my food faster than you can fall in love with Mr. Wilder.”
He shoots a wink over at Jackson, who looks as startled by the L-word as I feel.
“Mario, I’ve told you a hundred times, call me Jackson.”
“Si, si. Now, you’ll be having your usual?” Jackson nods. Turning to me, Mario asks, “Do you have any dietary restrictions, my dear?”
“None at all,” I grin.
“Splendido.” And with that, he snatches the menus off our table and leaves.
Jackson looks a little sheepish. “He’s kind of a character.”
I snort. “Literally. Mario? Seriously?” I rub under my nose with my finger, as if it’s a mustache.
Jackson starts to laugh, but then catches himself as our actual server approaches the table. We stay quiet, biting back smiles while the server presents us with a basket of bread and pours both waters
When the server leaves, I lean into the table. “How is it that I’ve lived in this area my whole life, and yet you’re the one showing me all of these amazing places?”
Jackson shrugs. “I can’t take the credit. Steph and my mama have always been food crazy. Whenever Steph would come to visit us, wherever we were living, the two of them would scour the city looking for all the hidden gems. I don’t even know how they find all these places, but I guarantee they only share half of their finds with me. Steph seems convinced that I’ll share every location with the whole NHL, and that they’ll be overrun with jocks in no time.”
“Maybe I can convince her to share the other half of her finds with me. I mean, I won’t be able to share them with you, obviously. Girl code and all that.”
“Obviously.”
I sigh. “I’m gonna tell my brother to step up his sibling game. He got to FaceTime with his hero because of me. And what does he do for me? Nothing. That’s what.”
Jackson’s lips pull back into a full grin.
“What?”
As I bring my water glass to my lips, Jackson replies. “Alex told me about the dick cream.”
I pause a beat, trying to put the pieces together. Then it clicks. I break out laughing so hard I slosh water out of my glass and down the front of my shirt. Jackson reaches over and takes the glass from my hand, before I can spill more.
“He told you that?! Ohmygod, I can’t believe I forgot about that part. You should’ve seen the look on that poor girl’s face when she ran out of the bathroom.” I crack up again, laughing so hard I can feel tears on my cheeks. “He kept that tube in his pocket for weeks, hoping he’d see her again and would be able to explain that it was fake. Except one day, it fell out of his pocket in the locker room where he worked as a lifeguard. Another boy found it and turned it in to the lost-and-found. But as luck would have it, one of Alex’s friends was running the desk. So he got on the loudspeaker and asked Alex Brown to come to the front desk to pick up his penis medication.” I can hear Jackson laughing as I wipe at my eyes. “At that exact moment, Alex was flirting with one of the popular girls from the grade above his. When the announcement happened, he said it was like slow motion as he watched her eyes track down to his name tag. He didn’t even try to explain it to her, he just turned and ran. Oh man, that was just the gift that kept on giving.”
Wiping away the last of my tears I look up to see Jackson staring at me with a soft smile. “You’re so fucking beautiful.”
The last of my laughter dies away, instantly replaced with the now-familiar buzzing of bees.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
“You’re also wicked. I don’t know what it says about me, but I seem to like that combination.”
Perfectly timed, our food arrives, allowing me a moment to catch my breath. Both from the laughter, and from the compliment. Having Jackson’s attention so focused on me fuzzes out my brain. And now I’m distracted by the gorgeous food on our plates.
Mario’s special selection for me is some sort of herby tomato dish with angel-hair pasta and perfectly cooked shrimp. Looking over, I see Jackson’s usual consists of wide noodles, grilled chicken, and what smells like a white wine and lemon sauce. After just one bite, I decide that this Mario is fabulous. And that he was almost right. I’m definitely falling in love with this food. But – and I know this is crazy – I think I might already be in love with Jackson Wilder.
