Page 84 of The Sweet Spot

His eyes sparkle as he grins down at her. “I never say anything I don’t mean.”

Laughing quietly, Mom gathers him into a light hug. “Thank you, Luca. Take good care of my girl, all right?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She rolls her eyes, swatting his arm with her purse. “Just call me Lily. ‘Ma’am’ makes me feel old.”

Gratitude washes over me as I accompany her upstairs. “Just tell me what you think about him. Be honest.”

“Who, Luca?” Her eyes gleam mischievously as we walk up the steps.

“Arlo.” I side-eye her. “I can already tell you like Luca, you cougar.”

“Luca is perfect.” She swallows, shrugging. “Arlo…” She sighs. “Arlo’s great. Also perfect, it seems.”

We turn on the landing. “But?”

“I don’t know, little bird. I’m happy the two of you have this special relationship, but maybe a tiny piece of me is jealous, who knows.” We stop outside her door. Slipping her arm from mine, she roots around herpurse for her keys. “And I guess…I never wanted you to feel like you needed a man to be complete, Wren. Not even some guy who’s supposed to be your dad.”

“It’s not about needing a man.” I swallow the lump in my throat. “It’s about wanting to know the other half of who I am. Not just where I got green eyes, but all that stuff. And you don’t have to be jealous, because nothing and no one compares to you.”

“I know.” Gemlike tears glitter at the corners of her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she leans close and kisses each of my cheeks. “I love you. Have fun tonight.”

“I love you, too.” I wait until I hear the door lock before turning to go. At the bottom of the steps, my phone emits a silvery chime.

It’s a text from my mother.

Mom: I meant what I said earlier. Wrap it up.

I’m way too young to be a grandma.

Wren

Irelax into the front seat, enjoying the mild breeze tickling through the open windows. The weather’s been so sweet lately. “I can’t get over how warm it is.”

“I know. I might head out to Steamer Lane tomorrow, see what’s happening.”

“Did you start surfing when you came to UCSC?”

“Nah, I’ve always loved it.”

“Really? Where’d you go in the Bay?”

Luca shrugs, glancing at me as we sail through an orange light. “Wherever we could. Sometimes we came down here, other times we’d head up to Humboldt or Sonoma. I mean, Logan and I got into it pretty young—we used to tag along with his older brothers when they headed over to Ocean Beach and shit.”

“Ocean Beach?” I cringe. “Aren’t the waves pretty brutal out there?”

“Yup.” He nods, eyebrows raised. “Ricky and Liam were badass, though. Liam’s in Hawaii now—he went pro.”

“Wow.” I let my gaze linger on Luca for a second, thinking of a picture he had on Instagram, surfing in a wetsuit. Damn, he’d looked good. Gives me the tingles just thinking about it.

“You ever go out?”

“I mean, I’ve tried a couple times. I suck.”

“Maybe you haven’t found the right teacher yet,” he says, waggling his eyebrows.

“Oh, my God.” I punch his shoulder, giggling. “That was so cheesy.”

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