Page 69 of Pretty Poisoned

"I'll go out with you, Luca. I'll stay…at least for tonight."

I put my phone back in my bag without bothering to reply to my mom or Blakely. I don't even check my social media. I lean further into him, and he sighs.

"Thank you, Teagan," he says. "You'll be happy…I promise."

The weird thing is…I think maybe I am.

THIRTEEN

It's well into the evening when we finally get to the hotel in Downtown Seattle. After we checked in, we brought our stuff upstairs and then basically ran back into the cold, rainy night. We ended up at an upscale Japanese restaurant a few blocks away.

Luca said no one would recognize him, but the server seemed flustered as soon as she set our drinks on the table. And while the meal was uneventful, I could have sworn some people were recording or taking photos as they walked by. Luca either didn't seem to notice or was completely unfazed. It's just as likely the former as the latter. I can see how it could become so normal that maybe he wouldn't think it has anything to do with him.

"Excuse me." I look over and see two girls standing in front of our table. "We didn't want to bother you while you were eating, but…aren't you Luca De Rossi?" one of them asks.

He looks at me and smiles, and I mouth the words,'I told you.'

He laughs, then turns back to them.

"No," he says. "It's not me. See, I have a coat. That guy would look fucking ridiculous in a coat. My girlfriend would make fun of him."

I almost spit my drink. I laugh, and they look back and forth between the two of us, trying to figure out if it's a joke.

"I'm kidding," he says. "It's me."

"Oh, I thought so," one of them says. "Can you take a selfie with us?"

"Sure," he says. "What are your names?"

"I'm Kelly, and this is Arya. We'll be at the show tomorrow."

"Awesome," he says, standing. "Nice to meet you." He stands in the middle of the two of them, and Arya holds her phone out in front of them.

"Do you want me to take it?" I ask.

"Oh! Sure, that would be great," she says, handing me her phone.

I take a couple of photos and then hand it back to her.

"Thank you so much. Are you really his girlfriend?"

"Yes," Luca says.

"Um, not really," I tell her. "I did kind of make fun of his coat, though. On accident."

"What do you mean not really? We're on a date," Luca says.

"This is our first date."

"She's lying; she's just shy. She lives with me," he tells them.

They laugh, then look to me.

I shrug. "He lives with a lot of people."

"You're fucking me."

"You fuck all the people you live with."

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