Page 60 of Where Are You Now
“These are pretty sophisticated for a farm boy.” She gave him a playful look.
“I needed to spruce up the place; it’s only a rental until I can find something permanent.” He came around the island and handed her a glass. “I can be a grown-up like the best of us.”
“Are you sure you want to be a grown-up? It’s not all it’s cracked up to be,” Ava said before taking a sip of the crisp, sweet wine.
He joined her, andthe two of them faced the view of Vanderbilt against a skyline of shopping and bars.
“I swear, I woke up one day, and I was an adult,” Lucas said with a sadness behind his words, the teasing tone gone. “I have no idea when it happened. The next thing I knew, I was proposing to my ex-fiancée, Elise, on the side of a mountain in Italy.” He shook his head. “And then I ruined that.”
“I’m sorry.”
“The way things ended has bothered me for a long time. I didn’t think Elise and I would ever speak again. But remember when you said it’s important that you give effort to building relationships with those aroundyou?”
“Yeah.”
“I thought a lot about that after you said it. I realized I needed to speak to Elise to talk through things.”
“How did it go?”
“She wants to see me again.” He seemed almost relieved when he said it. Then, he gazed out the window. “She’s a good person, and I hurt her. I want to fix what I’ve done. Maybe there’s hope for the two of us.”
Ava tried to swallow her unease.
She swore she could see apology in his eyes. There was no reason to apologize. He didn’t owe her anything. If he wanted to try to make things work with Elise, how could she not support that? Or could he see her heart breaking at the thought of him and Elise mending their relationship? Was that the reason for his apology?
“It’s surreal that you and I are both adults now,” he said, his attention now on the skyline. “I’m still trying to get used to it.”
She fiddled with a philodendron leaf.
Now that he’d told her about Elise, there was a new dynamic between them. She didn’t have any claim on him at all—they were just friends—and whatever the new feelings she had for him that had crept in were, he didn’t know about them. She could push it all back down.
She was capable of being his best friend again, right? She’d done it for years when they were kids.
“Well, the reason I came over was to tell you that I’m staying another week,” Ava said as breezily as she could.
Interest shot across his face.
“So I can go to church with you on Sunday if you still wanna go.”
“Of course,” he replied, gesturing toward the sofa.
She took a seat, and he lowered himself down beside her.
They locked eyes. There was definitely somethingunfinished between them. It was as if they were meant to be together, in whatever form it could be, like two magnets that had been taken away from one another, and the minute they were in the same vicinity—snap!They were right back where they belonged.
An adoring smile played on his lips, twisting her stomach.
Needing to get her feelings under control, she opted for friendly banter. “You know what this apartment needs?”
“What?” Lucas asked, not taking his eyes off her.
“A cat.”
He laughed. “I’m not able to take care of a cat.”
“Sure you could.”
He waved an arm across the space. “I live in one big room. Where would I put a litter box? In the middle of the floor?”
