Page 98 of All at Once

My lips part open at the realization of what he just said.

I immediately look back at him as his eyes meet mine again, my heartbeat actually thudding now.

I’m having a hard time reminding myself that he’sjust a friend.

Would a guy friend have said something like this? It sounded like a pretty personal thing to say to me. But then again, I wouldn’t know the difference of what’s platonic versus romantic.

Unsure how to react, I do what I do best, and deflect, “Quick question though, were you always this sarcastic before?”

Luca snorts. “I was. There’s just something about you that makes me lean into it even more.”

A part of me feels relieved that he smoothly brushes past the previous comment he made. The more disappointed part reassures me that it must have just been a friendly compliment.

Focusing on the fact that I still get to talk to him as a friend, I confess, “I think my favorite part about this conversation though was hearing you admit that you’re also a hopeless romantic.”

He raises a brow at me. “Why do I have the feeling that you’re going to keep reminding me of this now?”

“Who,me?” I say as I bite down on my smile.

CHAPTER 15

“You’re On Your Own, Kid” – Taylor Swift

LUCA SMIRKS AS THE TIMER goes off.

Wow. That went fast.Too fast.

We slump back onto the couch after placing the next batter into the oven. “Looks like we might finish after all,” he says, his eyes heavy with exhaustion.

“With a few hours of sleep if we’re lucky,” I add.

A sudden burst of energy fills me from my next thought. “Okay now that I know you’re also a professional painter, do you just draw oceans?” I tease, referencing the one painting of his I’ve seen.

He chuckles. “I draw many things.”

“Okay, draw me then,” I say, while pretending to pose.

“Right now?” he asks.

“Why not? Unless you can’t handle a challenge?”

He rolls his eyes, before getting up fromthe couch.

When he returns with a few sheets of blank paper, I mock, “That’swhat you’re going to draw me on?”

“Oh I’m sorry,” he says sarcastically. “Let me go bring you some of my special watercolor palettes and a fresh canvas.”

“I mean, you could?” I say as he laughs while walking over.

Luca sits right next to me. Closer than before. Close enough where he could probably hear my heartbeat if he tried listening.

I must be fidgeting from the sudden proximity, when he says, “Sit still.”

If he wants me to sit still, he shouldn’t have said it likethat…

I’m starting to think that this wasn’t the best idea. Every twenty seconds or so, he’s glancing over at me and then back at the paper in front of him. In order to draw me that would mean studying my face. And that would mean carefully looking at all thedetailsof my face. When my cheeks feel as though they’ve turned a shade of neon scarlet, he luckily hands me the piece of paper.

Oh.

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