I don’t have a chance to respond before he turns back to the front door.
“Luca…”
He opens the door, then looks back at me. “It’s too bad you’re also just as mean in real life,” he says. “I guess I dodged a bullet.”
ChapterThirty-Three
WORLD’S WEIRDEST FRIENDSHIP
Luca
Istand next to the only patch of grass on the block, waiting for the puppy to do his business so that I can go back inside and be miserable without any witnesses. I told Naomi that I dodged a bullet, but maybe I was wrong.
Maybe I’m the bullet.
I shoot right through every relationship I have, leaving nothing but pain and bitterness behind. I’ve been that way since I can remember. I always thought that if I met Naomi, things would be different. I never cared about making any of my past relationships work. It wasn’t that I was the type of guy who didn’t want to settle down. It was because I was waiting for the one girl who measured up to what I imagined Naomi would be like.
There would be no lying, no pretending, no faking the way I felt just so that I wouldn’t look like a heartless asshole. I thought that when I met Naomi, everything would be real. And it was, right up until the moment I told her my name.
I guess it’s just as well that it ended so soon. I’d rather know now than later. I can pretend that it doesn’t hurt as badly as it does.
I take the puppy back inside. Joel is off duty, but he’s sitting at the security desk anyway. I don’t think he has anything better to do. It’s a little pathetic. I assume I’ll end up like him one day.
“She didn’t trash your place, did she?” He asks the question without taking his eyes off the book he’s reading.
“No. Just stole my dog again.”
* * *
It’s been six months since I’ve talked to Ben, so I’m surprised when I get a call from him out of the blue. For a moment, I wonder if Naomi found him during her search for me, but that probably would have come up sooner. I answer the call.
“This might sound totally random, but how far is Boca Raton from Miami?”
“Not far. Are you in Boca Raton?” I ask.
“They’re flying me out there to fix a project my team keeps messing up. What are you doing on Monday? I thought maybe I could sneak away long enough to grab lunch.”
“I can do lunch,” I tell him. “As long as it’s close by. I have a foster puppy, and I usually come home to walk him during my lunch break.”
He agrees to meet me at the café. He says it’s because he looked up their menu while we were on the phone, and the food looks good, but I have a feeling he wants to see my place and make sure I’m not living in a dump like I was when I was in college.
On Monday, I get home in time to walk the puppy before Ben shows up at my door. I show him that my place is in at least somewhat decent shape. It’s a nice building, but my furniture came from thrift stores. After a quick tour, we head downstairs to the café.
When we get inside, I spot Naomi at the booth where she normally eats lunch with Anne. I thought she might avoid this place after everything that happened between us. I’m glad that she isn’t. I don’t want her to miss out on the things that she enjoys just because of me. And maybe I’m a little masochistic, because as much as it hurts, I like seeing her even if it’s from a distance.
“I have something I need to tell you,” I say to Ben.
“Is it about that redhead you’ve been staring at since we walked in?”
I can tell that he’s joking.
“Do you remember my pen pal?”
“How could I not? You were the last person I expected to still be writing to your pen pal long after the rest of us stopped.” We take a step forward in line. “Why? Did you finally hear from her again?”
I gesture toward Naomi. “That’s her. Naomi Light.”
He whips his head around to look. “The redhead? Seriously?” Then he looks at me, eyes wide. He lowers his voice. “Wait. Did you track her down here?”
