Yes, and not only. I am feeling jealous. The realization is so absurd it almost makes me laugh.
“You feeling stupid yet for not paying her attention sooner?” he asks when we settle down in front of our laptops.
I scowl. “You’re enjoying this.”
“Immensely,” he replies. “It’s nice to see you knocked off balance for once.”
“I’m not…off balance, that is,” I mutter.
“Maybe a little threatened by how charming I am?”
I send him a flat, unimpressed stare. “I’mnotthreatened, and you’renotcharming.”
Renzo leaves just before sunset.
“Try not to screw it up,” he advises.
“Screw what up?” I ask in mock innocence.
“See, that cockiness is what’s going to get you into trouble,” he warns. “If you’re not careful, she’s going to find someone more…just more.”
I flip him off with affection.
I go looking for Alessia and am told by Lucia that she’s in the cellar and gives me directions to get there.
The space is cool and dim, barrels stacked neatly in rows, the air heavy with yeast and oak and promise.
She’s bent over a clipboard, hair loose now, a smudge of something dark on her wrist. Dirt?
“Renzo left.”
She looks up, confused. “Okay.”
“You and he seem to have gotten along quite well.”
Now, she looks like I just dropped a puzzle into her lap. And I’m starting to feel like a moron.
Maybe because you’re behaving like one?
“You were…laughing.”
Cristo!
Her mouth curves like she’s being cautious. “Is that a crime?”
“No,” I blurt out. “It’s just—” I stop myself. Reset. “You seemed comfortable with him.”
Nico, anytime now, shut the fuck up.
“Iwascomfortable,” she replies evenly. “He seems nice. Charming. Very likable. Don’t you agree?”
Yes.
No.
What?
“You talked with him…differently?”
