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Morning. Midmorning. Afternoon. When the day ended, he raced home. Still not there.
Luke checked his phone for the billionth time, but Nico hadn’t read any of the texts he’d sent. He’d tried calling, but it went straight to voicemail.
“Damn.” How did things get so fucked-up? Yesterday, he was so sure they were good.
The front door shut.
Luke tensed, stomach somersaulting.
“Nico?” he rushed around the partition and stopped. Not Nico. Elisa. Elisa using Nico’s key.
She glared at him in a way that would make Nonna proud. “I’m here to get a few of Nico’s things.”
Luke blanched, ice spreading through his veins. “You’re kidding, right?”
“No, not kidding. And before you start trying to explain, don’t. Nico’s such an amazing person, and you broke his heart.”
Hearing that nearly destroyed Luke, but he hadn’t done it. “He’s got this all wrong, Elisa.” He couldn’t let her leave without finding some way to get a message to Nico. She was his only link to him.
“Right. He got it wrong.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe I convinced him to talk to you.”
“Elisa—”
“Just stop, Luke. I’m on Nico’s side. Always will be.”
“Good. Then give me three minutes to prove to you I didn’t lie to him.” Luke stuffed his shaky hands into his pockets and pulled out his phone. “Here, look.”
Nico
Elisa: Where are you?
Nico: Esposito’s. Wrapping up for good. Plus checking up on your cake.
Elisa: Esposito’s at the Market or the main one on Passyunk?
Nico: Main one. Why?
Elisa: Wait for me, I want to talk.
Nico: Can’t we talk when I get to your place?
Elisa: See you soon, boo.
Damn. So he wouldn’t be crashing another night with her?
He pushed his phone into his pocket as Estelle met him at a corner table, an envelope and a sheet of yellow paper in one hand and two cups of coffee in the other. “Thank you so much again for jumping in to help us out so much.” She set one coffee in front of him and took the other seat at the table. After taking a sip, she slid the envelope over to him. “Here’s your final paycheck.”
Nico accepted the envelope and set it aside. “Thank you.”
She reached across and squeezed his hand. “You’ve been a godsend, Nico. I wish you didn’t need to leave so soon. I’ll miss you.”
“I’ll miss you too. But it will be good to spend some time at home before school starts.” Meaning: he needed to get out of the apartment, permanently. ASAP.
“I’m being selfish.”
He snorted. “I’m no prize. Ask my dad.”
Estelle laughed. “You know Rocco called him before we hired you. You’re a good kid, Nico. The customers loved you.”
“I enjoyed it.” A lot. “Now’s the time to focus on Elisa’s wedding.”
“Thank you again, sweetie.” She patted his hand and slid the yellow paper across the Formica table. “Everything’s set. Rocco’s going to start on the cake tomorrow, and it will be ready Friday afternoon. We’ll deliver it to the Union League first thing Saturday morning.”
Nico scanned the invoice, checked the balance owed, and then reached into his backpack for his billfold. “Papà put money in my checking account to cover this, but if you’d rather I use a credit card, I can do that.”
“From you, we’ll take a check.”
He wrote out the check and passed it to her. “Do you mind if I sit for a few minutes? My sister is meeting me here.”
“Of course. I’d love to meet her.” She patted his hand again and stood. “Thank you again, sweetie. I’m not sure how we’d have managed this summer without you.”
“You’re welcome.”
She marched back behind the counter, and he sipped his coffee, bouncing his leg nervously as he waited for Elisa.
All Nico had to do was get through the next day and a half until his family arrived on Friday. Then he had a ready-made excuse for avoiding Luke. He’d be staying at the hotel with his family. And . . .
He swallowed.
Goddammit. This was why he didn’t want to go all in. At least if he’d kept his distance, he wouldn’t feel so worthless again.
He slammed his eyes shut. Who was he kidding? No matter how it ended, it was going to hurt, but at least he wouldn’t have known Luke didn’t want him.
The bell tinkled, and his sister entered the shop. He forced a smile but dropped it when he saw Luke slinking in behind her, looking as miserable as Nico felt.
“Seriously, Elisa?” He’d told her he couldn’t face Luke. “After everything I did for you this summer?”
“I know, boo, but before you lose your shit, you need to listen.”
“Fuck that. I’m outta here.”
She blocked his path and put her hand on his chest. “No, you’re going to listen. When I say I love you to the moon and back, I mean it. You need to hear what really happened.”
