Page 115 of Look on the Bright Side

“What happened, Lorenzo?”

“The second time we met, she made it very clear to me she would trade up. Ditch my brother, take up with me.”

Lark sat back in her seat. “Oh.” Dante had said she’d left him for someone else. He hadn’t said that person was his brother.

“Yes,” Lorenzo said. “So I told him about it, and he broke up with her, but he blames me for the situation.”

“How long ago was that?”

“Two years. Which was a shame, because…” He stood up and brought her plate to the sink, then leaned against the counter, the kitchen island between them.

“Because why?” she asked when he didn’t pick up the thought.

He shrugged. “We’d been getting a little closer. I took him to a Red Sox game. Box seats, right over the dugout. He invited me to his housewarming party. Little things, but I thought that since we’re adults now, even though it took him much longer to get there, obviously—”

“You have such a way of insulting people, Lorenzo,” she interrupted. There was that brazen thing again. “Even when you try to say something nice, it comes out as damning. You should work on that. Just say the nice thing, then shut your mouth.”

He held out his hands, palms up. “You asked for this story.”

“And what is the point of it? To show your superiority to your brother because his girlfriend was a money-grubbing social climber?”

“Yes. No, I mean. My point, is, he probably kissed you to get back at me.”

She rolled her eyes. “You just did it again.”

“What?”

“You implied that Dante would kiss me only to get back at you. I’m not hideous, Lorenzo. A lot of people think I’m very nice, in fact, and fairly attractive.” Not Lorenzo, though. Her looks didn’t affect him one bit. It was a little refreshing.

“You are attractive,” he said. “That’s the reason I first approached you. You being very nice is more of a weakness, wanting people to like you—”

“Okay, fuck off. There. That needed to be said. Listen. I don’t want to pretend to be your girlfriend anymore, Lorenzo. Okay? I’m tired of it.”

“Can’t you just wait till my grandmother dies?”

“I have a feeling she’s going to live forever.”

“She’s not. She stopped eating. Just thickened liquids for the past few days. She needs oxygen now.” For the first time this evening, Lorenzo looked…human. A little sad. Her dopey heart softened.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s not unexpected.”

“I’m still sorry.” She sat back in her chair. “How do you think you’ll be after she dies?”

He didn’t answer right away. Then he looked at her, and his eyes might have been a little shiny. “I don’t know. Fine, I’m sure. But she took care of me all those years. She was the only one who didn’t look at me like…like a zoo animal. I know I’m smarter than everyone else”—no ego there, no sir—“but she also treated me like a kid. And she’s the only one who noticed that I was…”

“That you were what, Lorenzo?” she asked.

He looked away. “Lonely.”

“Lonely,” she echoed.

“You can tell I don’t exactly fit in with my family. I have colleagues, not friends. I don’t know that I’ve ever really had a friend. I’ve talked more with you than with just about anyone this year.” He folded his arms across his chest. “So of course I’ll miss her. She’s the only one who treats me like a regular person. An exceptional person, but a person just the same.”

She had to smother a smile. “I think your family loves you more than you see, Lorenzo. You’re very guarded around them. Maybe if you weren’t so…clenched and trying to show off all the time, it would be easier.”

He gave a nod. “Well. The situation with Brie didn’t help. Anyway. Are we done here?”

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