Page 13 of All at Once

When I look over at his cup, my eyes light up. “You got pistachio too?”

“It’s my favorite flavor,” he replies. “That and coffee.”

“I can’t believe we have something in common. That’s my top two as well.” My excitement at subtle things like this temporarily doesn’t reconcile how annoying I find him to be.

“You don’t say?” There he goes again.

“Way to ruin a moment.”

“You callthata moment?” He scoffs. “Having a mutual interest in ice cream flavors?”

“Not anymore.” Istilldo.

We continue walking, when Luca breaks the silence. “So have you and Enrique kept in touch all this time?”

“No. We just saw each other for the first time since college on Saturday,” I say, now wondering how much Enrique has talked about me to his friend or if he has at all.

“And you only knew him for one semester?”

“Well. Technically yes.”

“Let me see if I understand,” he says. “You flew all the way to another country on another continent for a guy that you barely know?”

“We knowsomethings about each other,” I say unconvincingly.

“You know him so well that you knew what he does all day for a living?”

His comment is annoying, but it’s true. Enrique never mentioned it to me, even if he thinks that he did.

With the way Luca’s brows are knit together, I sense that he’s waiting for a better explanation, so I add, “We’ve also been texting ever since he left.”

“Ever sincethreedays ago?”

“Did he not tell you that I was coming?” I shouldn’t let my insecurities show, especially not to Enrique’s best friend. But I also don’t exactly care what Luca thinks of me.

“He talked about running into a girl that he knew from college, yeah,” Luca replies, bringing my hopes up. “But he didn’t mention you were coming here or your name.” And now they’re shattered.

“Oh.” Is all I can say. And here I was not shutting up about reconnecting with Enrique to my best friend. Good to know.

“You know that doesn’t mean anything, right?”

Was that a trace of concern?I must be imagining it.

“No, I know.” Even I can tell how weak my response sounds.

“Then why do you look like you’ve just seen a ghost?”

So Luca’s observant. But am I that obvious? I already know the answer to that.

“Wouldn’t a guy that’s excited to spend time with a girl be eager to tell his best friend about it?”

“It depends on the guy,” he says. “We’re not all the same contrary to popular belief.”

“What about you?” I say.

“What about me?”

“How would you have reacted if you were in his position?”

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