Page 31 of One Breath After Another

What could any of them do for her other than smile and keep saying shit would get better? It was easier said than done, but it also wasn’t a lie.

“And stop that, too,” she whispered.

Luca arched a brow. “What?”

“The staring.”

“I—”

“You don’t look at me the same way everyone else does. Like they’re scared of me—or the idea of me. I like that.”

Luca blinked, unsure of what she was saying. “You like that people are scared of you or that I don’t see you the same way they do?”

Penny stood up from the stairs quick enough that he had to move when she passed him at the bottom of the stairs. It wasn’t fast enough that he hadn’t been able to see the pink tint coloring her cheeks even though she wouldn’t meet his gaze on the way by.

He still managed to hear her say, “You. I like you. And I don’t know what to do about that.”

Then, she was gone around the corner.

Luca was left confused.

He heard what she said.

Perfectly clear.

And he could still see the blush staining her cheeks even though she was long gone from his presence.

You.

I like you.

Did she mean ...

It didn’t matter.

Luca couldn’t entertain that thought.

He wouldn’t.

• • •

“EVEN IF YOU WERE LATE,” Luca’s mother told him after she walked him to the front door when he was leaving, “I’m still happy you showed up.”

Luca grinned.

It was the first time she even mentioned the fact he was late for dinner. As was Katya’s usual way.

“I’ll try to be on time for the next one,” he replied, kissing the apple of her cheek. “How’s that?”

“Better. And.”

“Hmm?”

Luca reached for the coat he’d left hanging on a hook in the hallway. Shrugging the item on while his mother glanced behind herself down the entry hall as though she were looking for someone who might be listening, he waited for whatever she had to tell him. He also wasn’t known for his patience.

“And what, Ma?”

Katya’s attention came back to him in an instant. “Penny. Thank you for ... talking to her. Everyone else seems fine to let her shrink away in the corner if that’s what she wants. You make an effort to actually talk. It does make a difference.”