If you’re still here.
My heart sank. Hewasjust visiting, after all. The thought shouldn’t have bothered me as much as it did. It wasn’t like I was looking for a relationship. Even if I was, I was certain I wouldn’t be Luca’s type. Curiosity had gotten the better of me after seeing him at the restaurant, and I’d tripped and fallen down a Google rabbit hole that showed him with women on his arm that could make the Victoria’s Secret Angels cry.
I didn’t normally care much about my looks, but even I knew when I was outmatched. Those girls were elevens, but I was sitting maybe at a seven and a half on a good day.
“I think I could be persuaded,” Luca said, his blue eyes like shards of stained glass cutting right into me.
I cocked my head to the side. “Oh, I don’t do that.”
“Do what?” he asked.
“Persuade. Beg. Plead,” I answered, scooping my crossbody bag off the floor and slinging it around me. “If you don’t come next time, I’m fine with it being just me and Margot.”
“Margot, who thought the hair on the dick’s balls was glitter?” Luca countered.
My hands popped onto my hips. “I didn’t say we’dwin.”
“Well,Iwill beg,” Dallas said. “Caesar was awfully quiet with you here, Luca, and that’s good enough for me.”
“It was definitely a perk,” I added with a chuckle as we all started toward the kitchen. Katie and Dallas carried what was left of the food and dishes, and Luca trailed behind me.
“Well, I’m going to head out,” I said, inching closer to the back door. “I’ll see you guys later.”
Katie plunked the dishes in the sink and wiped her hands on her jeans before giving me a hug.
“I’m glad you came,” she said, returning to her tidying. “We’ll be back to our normal schedule at the restaurant next week. Thanks for holding down the fort.”
“Yeah, no problem.” I lingered in the doorway for a second as she and Dallas worked around each other in the way people do when they’re totally in sync. He bumped her hip with his, and her lashes fluttered up at him. Why were couples so nauseating?
“I’ll walk you out,” Luca offered, slipping his arm behind me to open the door.
“Oh. Uh. Okay,” I said. “You really don’t need to do that, though.”
He lifted his shoulders. “It’s nice out. I thought I’d get some air.”
“Good night,” I called over my shoulder as I stepped onto the porch and started down the steps. Once the door clicked shut, the only sounds left were that of my heart pounding in my ears and a moth engaged in battle with the motion light.
“Hey,” Luca said when I reached the bottom.
I turned, and there he was, his forearms resting on the railing. For a moment we were in some reverse Romeo and Juliet situation, and I had the urge to climb back up and take one last look at him in case I didn’t get to see him again. As hot as his online images were, nothing came close to the real thing.
“Yeah?” I asked, digging my keys out of my bag.
“Tonight was fun,” he said.
“Thanks again for saving me from Caesar.”
He nodded, dragging his teeth over his bottom lip. “So, next month, then?”
“I’ll be here,” I said, backing away toward my truck.
I thought I saw him smile in the flicker of the porch light. “Then so will I.”
“Look at that. I didn’t even have to beg.”
My cheeks burned against the chilly night air, and I bit back a smile as I climbed into my truck. All of a sudden, I was alotmore interested in game night.
It was Thursday,but it wasn’t just any Thursday. I hadn’t changed the calendar on my fridge since last month in a weak attempt to avoid this very date. October tenth. Every year I longed to sleep through it and the days after marked the beginning of a series of firsts—my first meal without him, the first holiday in his absence. But the worst was that first time I needed to call him but couldn’t. Knowing his voice would never be waiting on the other end of the line or anywhere at all weighed on me like a backpack full of bricks. One trip down memory lane could send me wading into the ocean with the weight of the person who was my world on my shoulders.
