He nods and leans back. He’s not doing the puzzle. His feet are propped up on the table. His fingers are laced behind his head.
“So…when are you going to let me take you out again?” he asks, not the least bit nervous in his delivery.
I, of course, know the answer already. He’ll take me out again on Saturday, when we all go on a double date. I just…haven’t mentioned it to him yet.
I know Noah’s already asked Gabriella about it because I watched him do it yesterday during our group excursion in the afternoon. We were all spread out on the lawn in one of Rome’s public gardens. The kids were sprawled out on picnic blankets under trees, reading or drawing or talking or kicking around a soccer ball. I was people-watching mostly, basking in the whisper of a breeze that came every now and then. Lorenzo found me and presented me with a rosebud that had fallen off of a bush and was wilting on the ground. He said, “A rose for my rose,” or something equally cheesy. I felt strange accepting it, like I needed to tell him right then and there that we should pump the brakes.
Noah saw the exchange. He was only one blanket away, leaning back on his elbows, talking to Ashley and Gabriella. I felt his eyes on me as I smiled and thanked Lorenzo. A moment later, Lorenzo drifted off to check in on everyone and make sure they were enjoying themselves.
After he’d gone, that’s when Noah told Gabriella about the double date—just flat-out asked her about it in front of Ashley and me. I thought it was a little presumptuous of him to ask her on a second date before they’d even gone on their first one. If she felt the same, she didn’t show it. Her face lit up, in fact.
“That sounds really fun! Ashley, you don’t mind staying back, do you? I promise I’ll repay you!”
So here I am, in a position I should be incredibly happy with. Lorenzo is exactly the type of guy I want to be pursued by, and he’s making his intentions known. I really have no choice but to proceed forward.
When I tell him about the double date idea, he looks incredulous to say the least.
“Noah agreed to that?” He laughs.
“Yeah, I mean…I know you two have had kind of a weird start, but that’s mostly my fault. I think he’s projecting his hatred for me onto you.”
“Right. Or he’s jealous.”
He presents that possibility so plainly it almost flies under my radar. Jealous? Not in a million trillion years.
“Right. But hey, if he’s game, I’m game. Are you hungry?” He stands. “I want to head down to eat. I’m starving.”
“Oh sure, yeah. Latin class is about to let out anyway.”
I walk down with him and we run into Noah on the stairs.
“Hey man, heard about the double date, should be a lot of fun.”
Noah’s gaze could slice Lorenzo in two. His response is a curt “Yeah.”
Friday night, I’m in my room with the door propped open.
Noah’s out with Gabriella, gorging himself on pizza and beer. They’ll likely be back any minute now, but that’s not why my door is open. I just finished painting my nails and the fumes were getting to me. I needed to air the place out. The fact that I’ll know exactly when Noah returns home from his date is just an added bonus.
In fact, here they come, two pairs of footsteps out in the hall. Conversation trickling through my open door.
I swivel my chair and contort my spine so I can lean just a little bit closer to the hallway.
“—had a great time” is what Gabriella is telling Noah when they finally make it into earshot.
A second later, they appear right outside Noah’s door.
Panicked that they’ll notice me staring, I turn my attention down to my phone and pretend I don’t even realize they’re there. Scroll scroll scroll.
“Same here,” Noah agrees. “Best pizza I’ve ever had.”
Unable to help myself, my gaze slips away from my phone and I peer up at them out of the corner of my eye.
“I don’t think I stopped laughing the whole night,” she says, leaning forward to grab his arm. “You’re like the funniest person I know.”
Oh please. Has this girl not heard of Dave Chappelle? Amy Schumer? The “Charlie Bit My Finger” kid?
“To be fair, the beer probably tipped the scales in my favor.”
At this, she dies laughing.
Barf.
They wrap it up, albeit not as quickly as I would like because Gabriella keeps coming up with one last thing to say. They confirm the double date for tomorrow night, which is apparently really going to happen. Lorenzo is excited about it and Ashley is on board with chaperoning the kids, so now there’s no backing out.
Gabriella turns to head down to her room and finally spots me through my open door. Her smile is friendly when she gives me a little wave.
“Hey, Audrey!”
I wave back then she disappears, leaving Noah and me to face off.
He tips his head to the side. I lean back in my chair and arch an eyebrow.
He’s the one to make the first move, stepping into my room and holding out a little to-go box.
“Brought you back a slice.”
I smile, take it, open the box, and let the pizza slip right into my trashcan.
He unfurls a proud smile. I think he would have been disappointed had I actually accepted his gift.
“Busy night?” he asks, pointing toward my neatly arranged desk. There’s not a pencil out of place. My nail polish is already put away.
I hold up my nails to show him my work. Cherry red.
“I like it.”
“Then maybe I’ll change it.”
He props his butt on the edge of my desk and makes himself at home, his long legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles. He’s too big for my small room. He crowds me. I’d roll my chair back, give myself some space, but I don’t want him to have the pleasure of seeing how he affects me.
He dressed up for the date. His white button-down makes him look mild-mannered. What a lie.
I make my way back up to his face, taking my sweet time, and find he’s studying me too.
“Is that her lipstick?” I ask, pointing.
He swipes at his cheek. “Pizza sauce. I’m a messy eater…I like to enjoy my food.”
Why that sends a shiver down my spine? Don’t ask.
“And yet there’s not a speck of sauce on your white shirt. Did the restaurant let you wear a bib?”
He pinches his eyes shut and looks down at the ground, collecting himself. Or, more likely, praying for the patience to deal with me.
I poke poke poke him with one of my pens until he looks at me again.
“Ready for tomorrow?” I ask.
“Can’t wait. Where are you taking me?”
I shrug. “Oh, I dunno. I’ll let Lorenzo decide. He’s so knowledgeable about that kind of thing. I’ve always wanted to date a worldly guy.”
“Jeff not traveled enough for you?”
I narrow my eyes, suspicious that he knows about my ex. “When did you meet Jeff?”
“He came up to the school a few times. Asked me once if we’d ever dated.”
“What?”
He can’t be serious.
“Yeah, he came into my classroom puffed up like a peacock, wanting to know our history.”
In what bizarre-o world would someone assume Noah and I have history?