Page 50 of All at Once

“It’s old,” Luca says. There’s no expression written on his face and no detectable feeling in his voice. No sadness, anger, regret, joy, sarcasm.Nothing.

“What does that have to do with anything?” I ask tentatively.

Ignoring my question, he moves toward the front of the gallery. “Sofia must have put it back,” he almost mutters to himself. “I told her I didn’t want this to be here anymore.”

“Why?” I ask. “It’s probably the nicest painting in here. No offense to the rest of the stuff.”

He takes the painting off the display and moves past me. “I appreciate that, but I don’t feel the need to explain myself more than this. I painted this a while ago. I don’t paint anymore. It’s not a big deal. Like a hobby you just stopped.That’s it.”

“Okay,” I reply just as dryly.

It suresoundslike a big deal to him.

Once we’re driving back, my curiosity gets the best of me again. “If I could paint like that, I would be telling everyone about it.”

Luca sighs. “Please. I really don’t want to talk about it.”

“Okay. We won’t talk about it,” I give up.For now.Plus it wouldn’t be smart to burn my bridges with the one sort of friend that I have here.

This is the first time since we met where I’m the silent one. Luca’s still a stranger so even with my extroverted self, I’m skeptical with the words I choose to speak next.

It’s a relief when he finally says something, though. “I’m not annoyed.”

Yeah. He’sclearlynot.

“I didn’t say you were,” I reply.

He glances over at me. “Well your silence is starting to freak me out a little.”

“I don’t have anything to say.”

“That’s hard to believe.”

“You know what I wanted to talk about,” I remind him. “And I’m respecting your decision to not talk about it.”

“Did you enjoy the rest of the gallery?” he asks, presumably to alleviate the awkwardness.

“Yeah everything was beautiful,” I reply, when I get a notification from my phone. “Enrique just texted me,” I say, more to myself. “Okay, I didn’t ruin things then.”

“I told you he wouldn’t be bothered by what you said,” Luca offers.

“I think it just threw me off when he told me that he would see me Monday after mentioning how he only has a short shift today,” I explain.

He mumbles under his breath, “So that’s why you wanted to come today.” He doesn’t sound annoyed, but instead as if he figured out a missing puzzle piece. I also sense a trace of something that almost resembles sadness, but it’s hard to detect.

“Well. No. Not entirely. I could have stayed at the resort or explored the city on my own.” I want him to know I’m grateful for his company and for introducing me to his sister, so I add, “I’m glad I came today. I’m so happy I got to meet Sofia as well.”

“I had a feeling you two would get along,” he says, a smile forming on his lips.

Seeing him grin again makes my cheeks feel all warm. “Yeah, she told me that too.”

“Oh no.” Luca’s voice turns more sarcastic. “Whatelsedid she tell you?”

“Something about how she wasn’t sure if you would be right since she remembers you saying something similar about your ex.”

Fuck.Sofia said this lightheartedly, but after I say it out loud, a part of me questions if it’s something I shouldn’t have repeated back to him.

Seeing his face drop again confirms that I really need tothinkmore before I talk. It’s even worse than earlier. How I manage to put my foot in my mouth a second time, in the span of less than an hour, is even beyond me.

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