“Thank you.” I lift my chin as he pulls out another container. “What’d you get?”
“Chicken masala,” he says, grabbing the stool next to me and sliding it to the side of the island so we’re sitting adjacent instead of side by side. “Do you want some?”
“Oh, no, that’s yours. Thank you, though.”
Matteo shrugs. “If you change your mind, you can have some.”
“You have siblings, don’t you?” A smile pulls on my lips as he nods his head. “Sharing comes with the territory.”
He lets out a breath, shaking his head. “I have two younger sisters, Elena and Bella. I swear, nothing belonged to me during my teenage years.”
“How old are they?”
“Elena’s 21 and Bella’s 19.” He takes a bite of his food, chewing and swallowing before offering any more information. “I was seven when Elena was born, but thankfully the age gap made us closer. I always felt like I needed to look out for the two of them.”
My eyes widen. “Oh, wow. That is a pretty significant gap. I’m glad it made you closer, rather than the opposite.”
Matteo bobs his head. “Yeah. Thankfully the two of them didn’t have to go the first five years of their life with their parents not together, so their childhood was a bit different.” He pauses, his face draining of color and he abruptly switches gears. “What about you? Any brothers or sisters?”
I want to press rewind and ask him what he means by that. His parents had him and then weren’t together?
“No,” I say after a second. “I’m an only child.” I pause, piercing some of the noodles with my fork. “My parents live in England, so they’re not really around.”
Matteo’s eyebrows tug downward. “I’m sorry. It must be hard not seeing them often.”
I shrug my shoulders dismissively, ignoring the tightening in my chest. “It’s fine. They moved six years ago, so it’s not anything new. They moved for my father’s job. We’re not close… never really were”
He’s quiet, his eyes roaming over my face like he’s trying to get a read on me. My face remains stoic, giving nothing away. Not that there’s really much to give away. I’m indifferent about them at this point in my life. I’ve always felt like a bit of an outsider with my family.
My parents had different expectations that I never met. The two of them were married to their careers. Their relationship was second. And I always came in third place to them. My mother wanted me to get a degree in medicine like her and my father, so I’m sure you can imagine their shock when I went on to be an author instead.
“Do you ever see them?”
“Usually once or twice a year,” I say after swallowing another mouthful of food. “Mainly on holidays.” Matteo’s eyes are still on me as he chews his food.
“You’re close with your family?”
“Oh, yeah.” He nods his head, pausing to take a sip of his water. “Almost too close sometimes. My father likes to try and tell me how to live my life. Doesn’t help that his brother’s the head coach for the Hawks.”
I can’t even imagine that added layer of pressure. “That sounds rough.”
Now Matteo shrugs with an air of indifference. “It’s annoying, more than anything. The two of them feel like co-conspirators at times.”
“I’m sure,” I laugh softly, taking a sip of my water. “Do you ever feel like you’re under a microscope?”
Matteo looks up at me again. He’s silent for a beat. “All the time.” He drags a hand through his hair. His eyebrows twitch. “Sometimes I just want to disappear, you know?”
I purse my lips, familiarity washing over me as I bob my head. “Yeah, I know.”
“Wouldn’t it be nice if we could?” He muses, the tension dissipating. “Not forever, but just for a little bit.”
“That sounds like a dream. I’d kill for a break from reality. From the stress and the deadlines and feeling like I’m always falling behind.”
Mischief dances in Matteo’s eyes. “Want to disappear with me, Sunny?”
“We can’t do that.”
“Yeah,” he sighs. The mischief vanishes and a sad smile lifts his lips. “It’s a nice thought, though, isn’t it?”
