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My ringtone sings from inside the suite, but I make no effort to fetch my phone. I already know who the call is from.
“Avery again?” Nico asks.
“Yeah.” I sigh. “I texted her when I woke up, assuring her I was fine, but she has a million questions.”
“We can call her and Luca together.”
“Let’s do it tomorrow.” There isn’t an ounce of worry I’d be met with anything other than support for taking time for myself, but I think I need a day to get my story straight. Especially when the conversation will have to cover what happened the night of the wedding. “Did you at least text your brother and let him know you landed okay?”
“Why would I do that?”
More importantly, why do I care what Nico does or doesn’t do?
I’m not here to keep an eye on him. “Never mind. What’s the plan for today?”
He shrugs. “Taking it day by day.”
“But I like having a schedule.”
“Maybe in New York, but in Rio, you can be a whole new version of Lily.”
I hold back a self-satisfied scoff. Little does Nico know, there are already enough versions of me to go around.
“You’re on vacation,” he says, “so start living like it.”
“Does vacation mean I get tea delivered each morning and a whole breakfast spread overlooking the ocean?”
“If you’re good.” His soft lips tug into a smirk.
“And if I’m bad?”
“Then you’ll be bringing me a cup of coffee when I’m rolling out of your bed.”
“Definitely not.”
“I’m kidding.”
I don’t believe him at all. If Nico got the slightest hint of a crack in the door between us, he’d crash right through it. Frankly, I’d probably welcome the collision.
“I have to leave around eight almost every morning,” he says. “Maybe we can have breakfast together sometimes?”
My eyes widen with surprise. “Are you actually scheduling something right now?” I reach for his toned arm to pinch his bare skin.
“Ouch, what are you doing?” Nico pulls his limb away defensively.
“Making sure you’re still you in there and not some kind of robot.”
He sends his foot into my shin, and I laugh, picking up the glass of water in front of me. “This may come as a surprise to you, but I did create one of the most downloaded travel apps in the App Store, and I have a successful career. I’m not a mess.”
“Of course you’re not, Nico. I’m teasing.” I do my best to smile reassuringly. “Tell me more about your surf class. When does it start?”
“A few days from now. It’s six days a week from eight to three o’clock. But I’ll have Sundays free.”
I take a sip of water and set the glass down.
Having so much time to myself fills me with jitters of anxiety and excitement. Maybe I can spend my mornings writing. I haven’t done that in almost ten years.
“Sounds fun. What are you going to do with me then?”
