Page 124 of All at Once

When his lips touch mine again, I swear I whimper this time, wanting to keep kissing him forhours.

As we’re about to walk back, I take his phone, looking for the song I wanted to play right before we left. “I hope you’re not tired yet.”

When Luca realizes that Gracie Abrams’“Close To You”is playing, he smirks.

I turn around, and start walking backwards, singing the lyrics that I know by heart. The same ones I kept singing all summer long, hoping that I’d meet someone like him one day to finally relate all the collections of romantic songs I’ve kept to myself forway too long.

Luca’s eyes are as fearful as they’ve ever looked. “Oh no, she’s walking backwards…”

I snort, and put my hand out as he takes it without a second thought. He places his hands on my hips and obnoxiously tilts his head down, shaking his head to the beat as his hair grows so disheveled that I have to remind myself to breathe.

It’s a good thing that we both know there’s absolutely no other way to listen to this song than dance like no one is watching you.

Which is precisely what we do. Except there are a couple people here and there passing by who cheer us on while we look like two idiots roaming along each street.

I also don’t know who’s dancing’s worse. Me or Luca, whose shoulder movements are making me struggle to decide whether I should continue to sing along or just laugh instead.

And so I do both.

CHAPTER 20

“Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s Version)” – Taylor Swift

THIS IS WHAT I’VE BEENwaiting for this entire trip.

Driving by the coast with the windows down, while the music’s on full blast.

The view is pretty stunning, although Luca makes it look evenbetterfrom the passenger seat as my eyes follow the sunbeams that are reflecting off his skin.

“Thank you for coming to the festival with me yesterday,” he says, glancing over at me. “I hope you had fun.”

“I did,” I reply. “I must say it was pretty adorable seeing you in your element like that.” An endearing blush creeps onto his cheeks. “I can tell how much art really means to you.”

“It does. My dad would always talk about those festivals and how nice it would be for us to finally go to one together in the future.” His voice drops a little. “We never actually had a chance to go together. But painting pieces for the festival ever since we moved back here made me feel close to him in a way.”

My heart breaks a little after hearing this. “I can see that. I think it’s great that you continue to go to them.”

He squeezes my hand with the one not gripping the steering wheel, making my heart meld back together.

We don’t really have a specific plan for the day other than some sightseeing, which is more than eventful considering how beautiful the village that we just arrived in is. While Luca explains the backstory behind some of the intricate designs, I try my best to follow along despite my random, inaccurate, and secondhand embarrassing comments, with the latest one being: “I feel like I’m in theCheetah Girls 2movie.”

He snorts. “Oh God.” Then his brows crease. “Wasn’t that shot in Barcelona?”

“No, I know,” I say. “The architecture just reminded me of some of the scenes. I remember wanting to come to Spain as soon as I finished watching it for the first time. It was one of my comfort movies as a kid.”

Luca rests his hand against his cheek with amusement as we move to sit on a bench. “Why do I have a feeling that you liked the guitar player from that movie?”

“Maybe because I did,” I say coyly.

He rolls his eyes. “So did Sofia.”

My eyes light up as I face toward him. “Wait, so you’ve also seen the movie?”

“Sadly, yes,” he replies. “Sofia loved those movies growing up as well. I actually still have nightmares of her and her friends and how they would pretend that they were members of theCheetah Girlsand annoy the hell out of me every weekend.”

Immediately covering my hands over my mouth, I squeal, “I’m crying. That’s iconic.”

“Yeah,Iwas crying too,” he deadpans.

---