To make things worse, my much less dumbfounded brain realized now that I’d let him leave—venture into a city he had just arrived in—with barely any resistance on my side. I’d taken the apartment and left him on his own.
God, I was the worst.
I rolled on my side, refusing to get up and leave the comforting safety of my best friend’s bed. My gaze fell on a framed picture of Lina and her grandmother that rested on a shelf, reminding me of how close she’s always been to her family.
But then, why hadn’t Lina said anything about Lucas’s visit? Lina was an oversharer, especially with me. This was something she would have said at least in passing.
In Lina’s defense, ever since Aaron proposed in September last year, she had been swarmed with the wedding preparations. Planning a wedding in Spain from the other side of the world wasn’t exactly easy. And after tying the knot two months ago in a beautiful summer wedding by the sea, she had been overwhelmed by everything that followed, even if they hadn’t left for their honeymoon until now, in October. So, I guessed… I guessed it must have slipped her mind.
Closing my eyes, I decided that either way, it didn’t matter. Now Lucas was in New York, and Aaron and Lina were away, in Peru, enjoying their deserved honeymoon. I had no business feeling hurt.
Especially when I myself wasn’t being truthful to those around me. Lina had no idea about my secret crush on her cousin. And that was nothing in comparison to consistently lying to Dad and Olly about my job situation for months.Months.
A surge of courage filled my chest.
All of that ended today. No more lying.
I’d give Lina a heads-up about what had gone down yesterday, and I’d go to Philly to see Dad. Maybe Olly could meet us there. If he stopped dodging our calls, that was.
Rearranging myself so my back rested against the headboard, I reached for my phone, clicked on Lina’s name in the messages app, and started typing.
Hey, I hope Peru is treating you two lovebirds well Listen, last night—
My thumbs hovered over the screen, hesitating.
Last night… I almost had your cousin Lucas arrested. Surprise!
No. That was a definite no.
I deleted it and started again.
Last night… my ceiling cracked open, so I used your spare key to let myself into your place (couldn’t reach you but I knew you wouldn’t mind!). Anyway, everything was fine until Lucas showed up and I somehow mistook him for a burglar. Remember Lucas? Your cousin. The one whose Instagram profile you showed me what feels like an eternity ago? Well, I’ve been… checking it out. A few times. More than just a few times. Something like every day? It’s hard to explain but think… Joe Goldberg. Minus the murders.
Yeah, also a no. That was too long for a text.
The wordmurderswas probably a red flag, too.
With a long and noisy sigh, I deleted the text and let the phone drop into my lap.
The truth was that I had kind of stalked Lucas online. In a totally harmless way.
Ever since Lina showed me one of his social posts, I’d been curious. And I hadn’t started checking his profile regularly until Aaron had proposed a year ago and I’d… hoped I’d meet Lucas at the wedding. And just like that, what started as nothing more than curiosity turned into something else.
Every photo he posted, whether he was in it or not, brought butterflies to my stomach. Every short but always funny and honest caption brought me a little closer to him. Every clip he uploaded allowed me to get an insight into his and Taco’s lives. Into the attractive and handsome man he was.
Sure, it hadn’t hurt that as a pro surfer, he’d been shirtless in most of his posts.
Some people had celebrities like Chris Evans or Chris Hemsworthor any of the other Chrises, to inject that shot of serotonin before bed. A little daydreaming and a lot of wishful thinking. And I supposed… I supposed I’d had Lucas Martín.
It had been nothing more than a silly, innocent infatuation with someone I didn’t really know. Plus, it had been put to rest the moment he’d mysteriously vanished and stopped updating—weeks before Lina and Aaron’s wedding—and turned out to be a no-show at the ceremony. I had buried all of that nonsense and told myself enough was enough.
My phone rang in my lap, and all of that was immediately forgotten when I caught my little brother’s face flashing on the screen.
“Olly?” I answered, heart dropping to my stomach. “Where the heck have you been? Why haven’t you returned any of my calls? Is everything okay? Are you okay?”
A long sigh came through the line.
“Nothing’s wrong, Rosie.” My brother’s voice was deep, that baritone texture reminding me he wasn’t a kid anymore. Oh no, he was a nineteen-year-old adult that had been letting all my calls go to voicemail for weeks. “And I’m sorry. I’ve been… busy. But I’m calling you back now.”