Page 90 of Chasing You

“You just wait, missy,” he says, and Marina just giggles before standing up again, giving me a hint of that beautiful smile before her ma catches her attention once more.

“We’ve got you set up just over there,” she points to where a red checkered blanket is laid out, a picnic basket filled with Vanessa’s food placed perfectly on the corner.

“Grazie, mama,” Marina wraps her mom in a hug before I do the same.

“Tante grazie,” I say.

She softens her grip on me, holding my hands in between us. “Prego.” The smile that she gives me is so warm, so comforting, as she gives my hands a quick squeeze. “Now go,” she says, waving us away. “Before the movie starts.”

I throw her a grateful smile before following Marina towards our picnic mat. She looks over her shoulder at me. “Red, really?”

I just shrug. “Wasn’t me.”

She doesn’t need to know that I went to the market on Sunday and picked it out myself.

“Uh-huh,” she mutters as she sits down. I watch her as she peers inside the basket, her eyes lighting up at whatever is inside. “Oh, she loves you,” she says.

“What do you mean?”

Marina rolls her eyes before reaching into the basket and pulling out two spoons, followed by two ramekins of panna cotta.

“Oh my god,” I mutter. “Is thatthepanna cotta?”

“Yup.” She pops the ‘p’ as she shakes her head. I just chuckle, knowing that if Vanessa gave us her most famous dessert, it’s because she wants us to have a good night.

I didn’t realize just how good it would feel knowing that she wants this to work, even if she says it through food instead of words. My tummy rumbles with anticipation.

My mind flashes back to the day Marina told me I should try this. It feels like a lifetime ago, yet also like it was just the other day.

It was one of our first days together in Sorrento when she found me devouring a piece of tiramisu from a stall on the side of the road. She said it was good, but nothing compared to her ma’s panna cotta, and here we are over four years later, and I finally get to try it.

“Gimme,” I say, reaching out for the spoon in her hand.

“Alright, Mr. Impatient,” she says with a smile before handing me one of the desserts. I don’t waste a second admiring it, I just dig my spoon into the soft dessert and lift it to my mouth. The taste of lemon and raspberry dances along my taste buds, the flavour exploding in my mouth. I close my eyes as I swallow it down.

“Holy,” I mumble.

Marina lets out a little giggle. “Didn’t I tell you?”

I just nod mindlessly before digging back in. “That is fucking amazing.”

She doesn't get to respond before the opening credits ofNotting Hillstart playing on the projector screen.‘She’by Charles Aznavour, coming from the giant speakers Luca helped me set up, and it sounds perfect, no grain and no crackle, just clear sound.

I catch his gaze from across the field and he throws a little thumbs up paired with a wink in my direction. I have to hold back the grin wanting to escape my lips.

It looks just as magical as I had hoped, with string lights wound around the tree trunks on either side of the screen. It looks like something from a fairytale, all of it is even better than I had imagined, and when I look over to Marina, she’s just looking at me.

“Notting Hill?”

“Yeah,Notting Hill,” I say, not able to hold back the smile that pulls at my lips.

She just looks at me, like really looks at me, and it feels like one of those moments where time stands still, where the world stops for just a second so that this moment can last just a little bit longer.

She shakes her head so subtly you can barely notice it. “You remembered?”

“I remember every single thing about you, princess. I couldn’t forget if I tried.”

chapter thirty-eight

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