Page 36 of All at Once

To my surprise, Enrique changes his seat and comes to sit across from me and next to Luca just seconds later.

“You know you two have more in common than you may think?” Enrique says, giving us both a knowing glance.

Luca looks skeptical but also curious, waiting to hear his friend’s response that follows. “You both haveterribletaste in football teams. Jasmine also likes Real Madrid…unfortunately.”

Luca acts as if he has this newfound burst of energy when he looks over at me. “Well why didn’t you just say that from the beginning?” He exaggeratedly spreads his arms wide. “Welcome to Spain!”

“That’s it?” I mock. “That’sallI needed to say to receive a warm welcome from you?”

“No. But I appreciate you asking,” Luca replies with an obnoxious grin.

I roll my eyes as Enrique points out, “I wouldn’t get too excited considering that she also calls football, ‘soccer.’”

Luca gasps, glancing back at me. “You can’t just show up here and disrespect our sport like that.”

Enrique extends his hand toward his friend in agreement. “Thank you. That’s what I was trying to tell her.”

NowI see why they’re friends.

“Hey!” I defend. “I refer to it as both. My friends are into American football so you can imagine how confusing it would be if I were to refer to them both the same.”

Unsurprisingly, they pretend to not buy it as Enrique playfully adds, “Sounds like an excuse to me.”

“It’s definitely an excuse,” Luca agrees.

I shake my head and turn toward Luca. “I’m afraid that’s where our similarities end.”

“I wouldn’t say that. Luca also went to UDC,” Enrique reveals.

There’s no way that I didn’t see Luca while I was at university. He has the kind of face that I wouldn’t havemissed.

“Really? I never saw you,” I tell him.

His lips barely curve, amusement building in his cheeks as he finishes his bite of fresh bread. “You knewall30,000 people that went there?” And with that, Luca’s back.

I refrain from rolling my eyes this time. “Are you two the same age then? Like were you the same year?”

“Yeah,” Enrique replies. “We’re both 25, and he was also a freshman like us.”

“We shared an apartment together that year,” Luca says.

“That apartment was wild,” Enrique adds as him and Luca share a knowing glance before he snorts. “I was studying abroad though for just a year. Luca lived in California at the time, so he stayed there until graduation.”

I remember Enrique telling me how he was only staying for a year. The fact that Luca attended the same school forallfour years though, makes this even more bizarre at how our paths never crossed. Maybe their schedules must not have aligned, since Enrique’s girlfriend at the time was the only person I would ever really see him with.

“What made you want to move here?” I ask Luca, my curiosity growing by the second.

Enrique grows noticeably quiet before Luca blinks deeply as if something just went into his eye and he’s trying to remove it. “I was born here and then moved to California with my parents and sister when I was 3,” Luca explains, his eyes losing some of their playfulness. “My dad passed away during my senior year of college, and my mom didn’t have any family there, so Sofia, her, and I moved back to Spain after I graduated.”

My heart feels a slight aching, seeing his expression shift that quickly. “I’m sorry,” I say, not really knowing if this is a sufficient response or not. I also realize that he was basically raised in the US.And that explains why Luca doesn’t have an accent, while Enrique does.

“It’s okay,” Luca quickly replies. “It’s been a few years now, so it doesn’t sting as much as it used to.”

I give my best gentle expression of solidarity and try to change the direction of the conversation onto another related topic. “So, did you guys meet in college then?”

Enrique joins in again, “No. We actually knew each other from before. The same cousin that I was visiting on Fourth of July has been friends with Luca since they were kids, so we saw each other pretty much every summer. We became a lot closer during college though.”

“Oh wow. That’s awesome.” I glance over at Luca and ask, “Were you also there on the Fourth?”

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