“Why wouldn’t we do Secret Santa?” I ask, genuinelyconfused. “I love Secret Santa. It’s my favorite part of Christmas. Well, besides baking cookies. And wrapping presents. And stocking stuffers. Oooooh, and when we convince Sully to put on the Santa suit.” Now Luca’s looking at me, that eyebrow halfway up his forehead. “I like Christmas.”
“Obviously.”
Annoyed and a little turned on, which is awkward as fuck since Dad, Uncle Ford, and Parker are in the room, I pick at my nail polish and clear my throat. “Anyway, Mom wants to do a movie night. You guys want to join? Lil’s making popcorn.” Ford might, but Parker won’t. He never does.
Parker’s cheeks turn pink at the mention of Lil. “Uh, no thanks.” He turns away and goes back to whatever he was doing before.
“Rain check. I’m taking a few of the boys down to the range. They need the fucking practice.” Ford ruffles my hair and darts out the door when I try to smack him.
Dad claps his hands together. “Alright, let’s go see what Mia picked to watch. Luca, you coming?”
“Oh. Yeah, sure.”
Following behind them, I check to make sure Parker’s still occupied before pulling a tiny tombstone out of my pocket and placing it in front of the latest casualty in his Tamagotchi collection. Poor guy can’t keep the damn things alive for shit, and he refuses to restart them.
In the theater room, I immediately raid the candy stash and grab sodas out of the mini fridge. Lil has popcorn ready, Mom has a movie cued up, and Becca’s already sitting in one of the huge recliners in the back row. Mom and Dad cuddle together in another one while Lil and I claim a couple in the front row.
Luca hands me a blanket from a basket in the corner. I use one when I curl up on the couch every night, regardless of the temperature,but I didn’t realize he noticed. He sits in the seat on the other side of me and opens a bag of licorice.
The lights go down, and the movie starts. A few minutes in, I hold my hand out. “Twizzler me.” Our fingers touch briefly, and a zing of energy goes through me. Just like every other time he’s touched me. I sneak peeks at Luca throughout the movie, and more than once, our eyes meet for a second.Do not get wet. Do not get wet.
I’m glad it’s mostly dark in the room. Maybe he can’t tell I’m blushing.
When the movie is finished, Luca adjusts the front of his jeans before standing up. I try not to stare. And I try not to wonder if it means what I think it means.
“We should do this again soon,” Mom says, smiling at all of us. “This was fun.”
“Yeah, it was,” Luca agrees.
Crack.
Thursday night, Lil and I are ready for our weekly dance class but we can’t find Luca anywhere. Well, we didn’t look everywhere. It’s a big house. He’s not in our living room, the gym, or the kitchen, so he’s officially missing.
“I texted him in the group chat, but we have to leave in three minutes. If he’s not here, he’s square.” Lil throws a bottle of water from the fridge into her bag. Three minutes later, Lil’s timer goes off, and we leave. Without Luca.
We’ve taken a dance class once a week for most of our lives. Currently, it’s Broadway Jazz. Neither of us is exactly good at it, but it’s fun. The class is filled with a few girls our age, a bunch ofmoms with kids who go to the studio, and even some grandmas. We’re all a little snarky, sarcastic, and silly. Kind of the opposite of all those ‘g’ words that represent Luca.
As we’re getting out of the car, Luca finally responds.
Babysitter Luca
You can’t just leave without me!
We tried to find you
Babysitter Luca
Not very hard
Bossy Bitch
I told you we had a class tonight at 6
Babysitter Luca
You. Did. Not.
Chuckling, wiggle my eyebrows at Lil. “I bet he’s pinching the bridge of his nose or running his hand down his face right about now.” She snorts as she starts typing on her phone again.
