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She sniffed and then put her fork down.

Alright, so she wasn’t exactly living the dream. But her life was good. She had friends; she had a job; she was paid a fair wage. Jules was right, though. If she wanted to be independent, she needed to lay down a few ground rules.

“There’s something I want to talk about.”

“What’s that, love?” asked her dad, busy forking beans onto bread. “If it’s a raise, you’ll have to wait until the new year.”

“Why should she get a raise and not me?” Gio complained.

Their father glared at him. “Did I say you wouldn’t?” he said. “If business keeps going well, then the two of you will get a raise come the new year. But I’m not promising anything right now.”

“Sweet, thanks dad,” said Gio.

“I don’t want to talk about raises,” said Sophie.

“The last time you said you wanted to talk about something, you got all pale and sick looking,” Gio said.

“Because I was about to tell two macho men that I was gay,” Sophie said. “So, pretty understandable, don’t you think?”

Gio snorted. “As if we’d care. You can love who you like as long as you’re happy, end of story.” He narrowed his eyes and looked at her. “Anyone been giving you gip about it? Want me to give anyone a seeing to?”

Sophie sighed. This was part of the problem. Laying down boundaries was all very well, but it involved actually being listened to. More than that, she knew that Gio was deadly serious in everything he’d just said. He might be a lumbering idiot at times, but he adored her and would defend her to the death.

“No punching,” she said. She took a deep breath. “But I would like a bit more independence.”

Her dad looked at her. “How do you mean?”

“I mean…”

“You want to move out?” Gio asked. “But then you wouldn’t be able to save any money.”

“And you wouldn’t have dinner on the table every night,” Sophie said.

“Will you listen to the girl?” said their dad.

“Woman,” Sophie corrected. “I’m a woman, not a girl. And I’d like to go on dates unmolested.”

Her dad turned his attention to Gio. “What did you do?”

“Nothing,” Gio protested. “I was just having a drink at the pub. It’s not my fault she was on a date there.”

Her father turned back to her. “See? Coincidence, that’s all.”

“Right,” said Sophie. It wasn’t like she could argue with that. She cleared her throat again. “Alright, I don’t want the two of you poking your noses into my dating life.”

“We don’t,” started Gio.

“And,” Sophie said, glaring at him. “And I don’t want to cook dinner every night.”

Her dad nodded. “Alright then. Gio, you cook twice a week.”

Gio frowned. “But—”

“No buts. Soph’s right. She shouldn’t be doing all the work. You cook twice a week.” He looked at Sophie. “As for dating, well, there’s no promises there. You’re a young woman and the world isn’t always safe. I won’t apologize for making sure that you’re not in any trouble.”

“At the local pub?” Sophie asked.

“Wherever you are,” said her dad with finality. “You might be a woman, but you’re also my girl and I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you. Gio too. We’re just looking out for you.”