Nobody Like You

Chapter Fifteen

Day 4

I thought Disney World was fun—I had no idea how exciting Universal Studios would be.

The park in its entirety is huge, and there are so many options on where to visit first. We simply start off going to place by place, since we have express passes again. The lines are super long; I wonder how long it would have taken us to get on a ride if we didn't have express passes.

The Universal Orlando Resort technically has three theme parks. We chose the Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios because they include the Wizarding World of Harry Potter—Katie's absolute favorite. She has read all the books and has watched all the movies.

Casey's friends finally came into town, so she will be spending the first half of the day with us and then they are going to join her here. She said she loves going to the Jurassic World, and so does Luca.

I imagine we are probably going to be here until it gets a bit dark, considering we did the same thing at Disney World. I don't have anywhere in particular I want to go to. I am just happy to be here.

"Mom, Dad, are you guys sticking with us?" Katie asks, as she takes a sip of lemonade she bought as soon as we got here.

The sun is scorching today; I don't know how people in Florida endure this heat. It's supposed to rain on and off today. I'm surprised it didn't rain while we were at Disney World. Katie told me the last time she and her family came to Disney World that it had rained non-stop for 3 hours and they left. As soon as they left, the sun decided to come back out.

"No, you kids have fun. We're gonna go off and do our own thing again." Kim laughs. "We can meet for lunch if you want. Casey, your parents already spoke to us about leaving with your friends."

"Okay, great!" Casey smiles.

"You kids have fun." Katie chuckles at her parents and they walk away.

"Guys, I have to use the bathroom before we get started." Zack says.

"I don't, I'm good." I speak.

"I'm gonna go try." Casey adds and Katie agrees.

"We'll wait for you guys over there." Luca finally decides to make his presence known and points to a bench outside of a souvenir shop.

"Sounds like a plan." Zack says. "We'll be back."

As soon as they walk away and are out of ear shot, Luca takes me by surprise when he holds his hand out for me. I awkwardly just stare at it for a minute before I realize that he wants me to hold his hand.

"Luca, now you know." I narrow my eyes at him.

"You're just going to leave me hanging?" He fakes pout.

I don't even know why I grab the man's hand—I just do it. I'll humor him just this once.

I think I shock him when I grab his hand because he gives me a look of surprise. He keeps eye contact with me as he slowly brings our interlaced fingers up to his face and plant a kiss on the back of my hand. Then, he pulls us over to the bench to sit down.

It's strange.

I actually liked the fact that he pecked the back of my hand; it is a very subtle, yet romantic gesture. My mind instantly goes to whatever Luca has planned tonight. What should I say to Zack and Katie? What does he even have planned? I would be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to it.

"What's wrong?" He asks me, leaning back against the bench. He still refuses to let go of my hand.

"You just kissed my hand." I nervously chuckle. "What even was that?"

"I don't know." He states. "I let my intrusive thoughts take over."

"Oh, really?" I narrow my eyes. "What other intrusive thoughts do you have?"

"Can't tell you right now." He eyes my lips and then make eye contact with me again.

He didn't say it, but I definitely think he just told me with his eyes.

"Luca, can I ask you something?" I ask and he nods his head. "Why are you picking now of all times to 'shoot your shot'. Surely, you've had all semester."

"Like I said, I wanted to see about you and this was the perfect opportunity. I didn't even want to go on our family trip this spring break, but I'm glad I did. Would you have given me a chance, if I had tried to ask you out at school?" He quizzes.

"No." I answer honestly.

"Okay, then." He chuckles. "That's why I'm 'shooting my shot' now of all times."

I have to hand it to him; he is not a bad conversationalist. It seems like he knows how to hold a conversation when he wants to. And maybe he isn't so bad on the eyes. Where is all of this coming from? I've only been around this man for four days? Is this all it takes for someone to gain my attraction? Four days? Seems a little bit desperate on my end. It's not like I was letting him in quickly, so maybe I should give myself more credit. He still doesn't know anything about me and I barely know anything about him.

"It just all seems fast, though." I shrug my shoulders.

"Of course it does." He says. "To you. I've had my eye on you for a while, so this is gold to me."

My heart skips a beat.

Luca Novak is smooth with words. I can't do anything but let out a girlish giggle and look down at the ground.

"Did you really?" I ask. It's hard to believe him.

"Yeah." He licks his lips. "Can't wait to show you what I have planned for tonight."