Page 71 of XOXO

“Are you going to have to finish while you're here?” Ru asked.

“Yeah, the company said I can do it when I get back,” I said, taking another drink. “But I hate leaving things unfinished. I’m almost done, and they have the most important parts working.”

“Did you end up sending the program to that girl you've been talking to?” Ru asked and my blood pressure rose.

I wasn’t prepared to talk about her while Matteo was here.

“No, I felt bad asking her to, even though I need a break from it,” I said, taking a bigger swallow of my beer.

“Do you have a new girl working for you?” Matteo asked, confused.

“No, he’s talking about Vi,” I said, feeling my face get hot. “She is also a programmer and she offered to take a look at it.”

“Isn’t that risky? What if she takes your work?” Matteo scowled.

I clenched my jaw from annoyance. “I trust her.”

“I think that is stupid. She’s a fucking stranger,” he snapped, taking a long swig of his beer.

“If Levi trusts her, then maybe we should trust her too,” Ru said, looking between us.

Matteo scoffed. “The woman who keeps disappearing in the middle of the night and just so happened to be at the same festival we were at. Don’t you think⁠—”

“Like you don’t leave in the middle of the night,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“Yeah, but the women I spend the night with know that it’s only one night.” He grabbed another beer.

“You didn’t have a problem with her when we slept together,” I snapped. “What the hell is the issue now?”

He looked between me and Ru like he didn’t know what to say.

“I just don’t want you to get hurt,” he said softer.

“I’m a big boy, Matteo,” I sighed. “Vi has been nothing but nice. She hasn’t once tried to take advantage of me.”

Matteo shook his head. “I need to take a leak.”

He left, leaving Ru and me in silence.

“Whatever is going on between you guys is festering and the longer you don’t talk about it, the worse it’s going to get,” Ru said, grabbing a piece of fruit. “I promise nothing will happen.”

“You don’t know that,” I said, finishing my beer. “You can’t make promises you can’t keep.”

“Things might be hard at first, but we’ve been friends for years,” he said, leaning back. “Matteo isn’t going to throw away your friendship. He loves you and so do I. We’ve been friends for too long to let something like this tear us apart, but with the way you two are acting, you are going to tear us apart.”

My lip trembled. I felt trapped and nothing sounded like it was going to fix us. Matteo's steps grew closer as I took a deep breath before he sat down.

“Look, I’m sorry I’m being an ass, but I just want you to be happy ok?” He sighed. “I know meeting a new person can be all consuming and I just don’t want you to get wrapped up in someone who has the power to hurt you.”

“I am happy.” Fucking liar. “I was happy with whatever arrangement we had.”

Ru’s gaze on me made me feel too vulnerable. I knew he was pushing me to say something.

“Look, we probably won’t see her again,” I shrugged. “No point in arguing over her.”

Matteo nodded. “You’re right.”

“I think⁠—”