‘I came with Alice and Jacob,’ I clarified, scrunching my bare feet into the soft grass, the blades tickling between my toes. I couldn’t tell if that hopeful lift of his brow was wishful thinking on my part, or if he was genuinely relieved that I hadn’t brought a date. Ergh, who was I kidding, of course it was the former. He was with Rachel. Luca’s hand raked through his hair, brushing all but one strand out of his face as he took two more strides towards me.
‘I wanted to thank you.’
His words threw me off guard. ‘Thank me? For what?’
‘For the article you wrote about the concert. It was – beautiful.’
I shifted against the fencepost, the skirt of my dress catching against a stray splinter. ‘It was a beautiful event.’
Luca nodded, biting down on his bottom lip. ‘Yeah, you know, it’s the strangest thing. We received an anonymous donation a week ago, enough money that we don’t need to worry about closing any time soon. We might even look at expanding.’ His head tipped knowingly to one side. Those eyes, those big, perfect eyes searching my face as his hand came to rest on the fencepost beside me. The bank had assured me that the transfer would be anonymous. No way for Luca to trace it back to me, which was important, as I wasn’t sure he’d accept it if he knew it had come from me.
‘That’s amazing.’ I feigned surprise, not trusting myself to look at him for fear he’d see straight through me.
‘Mhmm, amazing,’ he echoed, a knowing edge to his voice that made me look up. The closeness of him made my breath catch in my throat and I knew he’d heard it too. I needed to get out of there, but I also didn’t want it to end.
‘It’s a shame Rachel couldn’t make it,’ I said quickly, going to take a step backwards to try to put some more distance between us but forgetting about the fence. This, us standing so close that his trousers brushed the front of my legs, was making my fingers itch to pull him flush against me and nestle my mouth in the crook where his neck met his shoulder.
Luca frowned. ‘Why would she?’
‘I get it might be a bit awkward, but I hope she didn’t not come because of me.’
Luca cocked his head to one side, a dazed look on his face as if he’d just woken up. Anger bubbled up inside of me. Was he really going to make me say it? Was he really going to be that guy?
‘Rachel? Yourfiancée?’
‘Rachel’s not my fiancée.’ Luca looked more confused than ever.
I huffed, losing patience. ‘You can drop the act, Luca, I know.’
‘Well, please enlighten me, because apparently you know more about my personal life than I do.’
‘I came by the flat the night after the concert. Rachel answered the door. Wearing your clothes. And anengagement ring,’ I added pointedly when Luca just continued staring at me blankly before understanding finally dawned on his face.
‘Rachel was at my flat that night.’ My heart sank, even though I already knew that fact to be true. ‘She showed up out of the blue telling me how she’d beenworking on herself—’ Luca’s eyes rolled a full three-sixty, his fingers wagging in lazy air quotes ‘—and after inviting herself in, she basically spokeat mefor a full thirty minutes before announcing she thought we should get back together.’
I swallowed, the lump in my throat as solid as a rock. ‘Well, I’m happy for you,’ I said tightly, twisting my mouth into something I hoped resembled a smile.
Luca’s eyebrows inched upwards. ‘You don’t honestly think I said yes, do you?’
I risked a glance at him. His eyes were serious, unblinking.
‘I don’t understand,’ I whispered. But I think some part of me did understand. Or rather, it hoped it did. And that hope burned like a kindling flame in a rainstorm, flickering but refusing to go out. ‘She was wearing your clothes.’
‘After she opened my most expensive bottle of red wine, she then proceeded to spill an entire glass down herself. Personally, I think it was just a poorly executed excuse to take her clothes off – not that she’s ever needed one before – so I gave her some old clothes to wear whilst I washed her dress.’
‘And the ring?’
‘It’s her engagement ring from the guy that she cheated on me with.’ Luca shrugged. ‘Turns out they’d had a big fight earlier that day, which makes the whole timing of her showing up at my flatveryRachel.’
I frowned, slowly rearranging the pieces in my head to reveal a completely different picture. One that made my heart soar in my chest. ‘Wait, so she’s still with the other guy?’
‘As far as I’m aware.’
‘But she introduced herself as your fiancée.’
Luca’s head flip-flopped from one side to the other. ‘Yeah, well, that sounds like something Rachel would do. She was probably jealous, trying to stake a claim or whatever.’
‘Jealous? Of what?’
