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“Anything I can do to help?” Cassio offers, suddenly beside my elbow and close enough that my skin starts to tingle.
“Oh, um. Yeah, actually. There’s a bottle of red wine up in that cabinet.” I jerk my chin in the direction I mean. “Would you mind getting it down and opening it? We can let it breathe while we finish off the champagne.”
“Sure.” Cassio moves seamlessly around the kitchen as Ellie and Lucca leave us to do the work as they meander toward the living room couch, immediately immersed in a deep conversation about food and the culinary arts.
I shake my head and smile at my overeager friend. She’s always been a hopeless romantic. It’s nice to see someone who can keep pace with her enthusiasm–even if I’m not as lucky when it comes to Cassio, it seems.
“Hey, chatterboxes, come get your food,” I call when everything’s set to go.
Neither gives a word of acknowledgment as they make their way back toward the kitchen and serve themselves, their enthusiastic conversation continuing uninterrupted.
“I think you may have opened Pandora’s box,” Cassio mutters as he follows me down the line of dishes, scooping food onto his plate.
I chuckle. “I think you might be right. I hadn’t realized Lucca was so crazy about food.”
Cassio smiles down at his plate. “It’s second only to his passion for the environment, though I have a feeling he’s as interested in his conversational partner as he is their topic of discussion.”
I bite my lip as I look at Ellie and Lucca sitting across from each other at my dining table, deeply immersed in their conversation.
“He won’t break her heart, will he?” I ask, suddenly nervous.
I had been so wrapped up in my own feelings for Cassio and the possibility that Ellie could be flighty if she decided she didn’t like a boy that I hadn’t stopped to consider the alternative. Seeing Ellie with Lucca now, I’m confident she’s all in, and I don’t want him to hurt her any more than I wanted her to hurt him.
“Luc? Nah. He’s particular. He either likes a girl, or he moves on quickly. But I don’t see him respond like that–” Cassio jerks his chin toward his brother. “Well, to anyone, really.”
My chest eases at his words of affirmation, followed by a twinge of jealousy as I peek at the twin standing next to me. Once again, I force the ugly emotion back, resolving to appreciate that I’m spending time with Cassio at all.
Frankly, I’ve missed the twins’ humor since our class together last semester. Even if Ellie’s the only one garnering one of their attention, I can appreciate that it means they’ll be around more.
Dinner is almost dangerous; it’s so full of laughter that I find myself trying not to choke on my food multiple times.
Cassio manages to wrangle his brother’s attention from being solely focused on Ellie as our conversation turns to revisiting some of the twins’ pranks during our shared theater class, leaving Ellie and me in stitches as they tell the story of how they managed to spotlight members of the ensemble rather than the leads during their big moments in rehearsal.
“I believe that’s why you were banned from lighting,” I remind them between giggles.
“Oh, for sure,” Lucca agrees.
“And then curtains once I kept dropping it while Hannah was trying to do her monologue,” Cassio adds, making Ellie burst into laughter once again.
“I was just thinking about that earlier today,” I say, my cheeks hurting from smiling so hard.
“Oh?” Cassio asks, his eyes meeting mine with mild surprise.
“Just popped into my head randomly. I’m going to miss your antics this semester.” The revelation suddenly feels too personal, and I start stacking empty plates as I prepare to take them to the kitchen.
“You want help?” Cassio offers, rising from the table at the same time as I do.
“No, I got this. I’ll just pile them in the sink. You help pick out a movie,” I say lightly. In truth, I need a moment to collect myself.
I take my time stacking dishes and packing the leftover containers into the fridge so they won’t go bad on the counter. By the time I make it into the living room and find an open spot on one of the couches, everyone else is settled in. Cassio’s eyes are on the screen as he scrolls through our streaming options.
“Find anything good?” I ask, flipping off the lights, so the brightly lit TV screen is the only thing illuminating the room.
Cassio glances over with amusement playing across his lips as I take the spot next to him. “They told me to just pick,” he says, jutting his chin toward the two who fill the couch perpendicular to ours.
Ellie and Lucca are already sitting close, engaged in a quiet conversation that seems to hold their interest more than a movie.
My lips press together in amusement. “Well then.Mars Attacks!it is?”
