“We can’t be greedy, Marco. I’ve seen her and Holly hanging out a bunch at work. Plus, Chiara is awesome, and she has the best voice I’ve ever heard.”
“Doesn’t she?” he instantly asks. “I’m so glad I’m not the only one who thought that. The other day she was talking to someone on the phone, and I just sat there listening to her call for seven minutes straight like a creeper. She’s like an enthralling mix of Scarlett Johansson and Emma Stone. Devastatingly sultry yet wholly relatable.”
“Exactly,” I tell him. “How can we compete with that?”
“We can’t,” he says. “And on that note, I’m going to get a drink. What would you like?”
“Champagne, please.”
He disappears with a nod. I’m left standing alone, but I don’t mind since I’m surrounded by a sea of guests. I’ve always been weirdly okay with fending for myself at a party. I like to people watch. And clothes watch. I’m doing just that a minute later when a striking clash of darkness and light enters the party.
Matt and Professor Leoni.
The professor isowningthe coral wrap dress she’s wearing, which is expertly layered with a hot pink cape that’s slitted to show off her full-length sleeves. Just to be clear, the success rate of effectively pulling off a cape is slim to not a chance in hell, but this woman makes it look effortless. I silently vow to invest in my own cape in the very near future.
And where Professor Leoni is a rainbow of colors, Matt is the menacing cloud beside her. He’s in heather navy from head to toe. Dress pants, jacket and T-shirt. His clothes are on the fitted side, but they don’t hug his body too tightly. He’s clearly comfortable and he moves with his typical confident flair, and I’m pretty sure it bothers me, but I still can’t bring myself to look away.
His mother spots me first, excitedly waving and pulling her son along with her.
“Violetta, you lookmagnifica.” She kisses both my cheeks, and her pure positive energy convinces me that maybe I ammagnifica. “She does, doesn’t she? Tell her how beautiful she looks, Matteo.”
My eyes flick over to Matt, and I wish they didn’t linger on him for as long as they do. There’s just something about seeing him in a suit, and his beard is on point, and I’m so distracted that I almost don’t notice when he gazes at me with the same reluctant appreciation that I’m now aiming at him.
“Very beautiful,” he says, his voice sounding resigned. He glances away from me then, and I sort of wish that he hadn’t, but if he’s not going to look at me, then I’m not going to look at him, either.
“Holly and Marco are around here somewhere. Marco’s just grabbing drinks and Holly’s with some of our coworkers.”
“I’ll be on the lookout,” Professor Leoni tells me. “But first, I have to say hello to an old friend of mine, or she’ll hold it against me for years. Matteo, you keep Violetta company.”
We both mumble after her retreating form, but it doesn’t help. And just like that, we’re on our own.
I lean back on my heels as I struggle to fill the now deafening silence. “Great weather we’re having tonight,” I finally manage. “There’s a really nice breeze rolling through.”
Matt slides his hands into his pockets. “There is indeed.”
I’m hoping he’ll offer more, but of course he doesn’t, forcing me to take the sociable lead again.
“It smells like rain,” I add with a grin.
Matt’s eyes turn a little puzzled as he looks down at me. “You seem oddly happy about that prospect.”
“I am,” I tell him. “I know a lot of times it’s inconvenient and overall, it gets a bad rep, but I love the rain. At home, I sleep with a projector in my room that paints a rainy window scene against my wall as I simultaneously play eight hours of rain and thunder sounds on my phone.”
“That’s a very elaborate sleep routine.”
“I know it is,” I agree. “I think in a past life I must have lived in a stormy Scottish castle. Or Portland.”
Matt lets out a quiet chuckle, and it emboldens me to continue. “I’m also obsessed with fall, or autumn, if you prefer. Part of me thinks it’s because I was a tree for Halloween when I was seven, and it somehow got ingrained into me. So no matter where I go in life or how much I change as a person, deep down I’ll always be an old, established sequoia. That was the species of tree that I chose.”
“The sequoia is a fine choice,” Matt replies.
My eyebrows bob up. “You’re familiar with trees? Not to toot my own horn, but when we first met, I had suspicions that you were a lumberjack.”
Matt shakes his head. “Unfortunately, no, I’m not a lumberjack. I’m not a tree expert, either. I was just trying to be polite. I thought we were doing that now.”
I mumble an affirmative, doing my best to suppress my smile that’s attempting to emerge. “Yeah, I forgot that whole civility thing we were trying. Do you feel all tortured because you have to act nice?”
“Not more so than usual.”
