Nobody Like You

Chapter Eighteen

"You look so good tonight." Luca says as his eyes trail over my body.

It is almost uncanny how Luca Novak is able to make me nervous.

"Thank you." I say, my eyes casting down.

"Dates are only fun if you actually look at the person you're on a date with," he chuckled.

"I have a confession to make." I look up at him.

"Yeah?" He stares at me with wide eyes.

"I've never really been on a date before, let alone have a boyfriend."

A couple of seconds go by and Luca just stares at me. I have no idea what he is thinking. There is space between us, since neither of us sat in the middle sit. He brings his hand closer to my body and softly trails his fingers down my arm until they reach my hand. He grabs my hand ever so softly and traces his thumb of the back of my hand.

"I'm gonna be honest with you." He says softly. "I've noticed you for a while. When I saw you here, I just thought it was fate or something. What are the odds you end up at our vacation home?"

The driver can't hear a word either of us is saying. The truck has a roll-up window in the middle similar to a limousine, which gives us more privacy. I don't think we'll be needing much of that, but I guess it's nice to know our conversation is solely between us.

"So, you weren't kidding when you said you wanted to see about me?" I narrow my eyes at him.

"Nah." He shakes his head. "And I'm honored to be your first date. I don't usually do this type of stuff."

I jerk my hand away from his and I can tell it takes him by surprise. Maybe I'm too sensitive or always too quick to react, but his comment really rubbed me the wrong way. Is this some sort of experiment to him? Does he want to see how quickly I'll fall for him? What kind of game is he playing at here?

"What's wrong?" He furrows his eyebrows.

"What do you mean you don't usually do this type of stuff? What do you do then?" I scoff.

"Zakiyah, I just meant that I don't go on dates. That's all." He sighs.

"Is this your first date too or something?" I quiz. "You've never had a relationship before either?"

"I've had relationships, but they weren't like real. It was more like . . . flings." He says.

"And you want me to just believe this is different?" I dryly chuckle.

"Yes." He exclaims. "Because it is. Do you think I'm gonna do this for somebody I don't like?"

"You don't even know me enough to like me." I cross my arms over my chest. "I think you should just take me back to the beach house.

"Wait, are you serious?" He raises his eyebrows. "You don't even want to go to the poetry club or see what I have planned for you?"

I will be completely honest. He doesn't know me enough to even want to go all out like this for me. I have seen the way he acts, and it is hard to believe that this is something he would do for me. Maybe I'm the pot calling the kettle black by assuming negative things, I don't know. Either way, my mood is ruined and I just want to go back to the beach house.

"Yeah," I say quietly. "Just take me back."

"Okay." He purses his lips together. He leans forward and knocks on the window. The driver rolls the window down and Luca tells him to turn around and go back to the beach house. The driver nods his head and rolls the window back up. The drive back is completely silent.

Once we make it to the neighborhood and the truck parks a few blocks down from the house, I unbuckle my seatbelt and grab my purse. I go to open the door myself, but Luca stops me and gets out of the car to open it for me. While I'm getting out, I hear him tell the driver to pop the trunk.

What does he mean pop the trunk? What does he think he's about to do? It's a good thing I wore shoes instead of sandals; I can run if need be. I think about making a run for it when I see Luca walk over to the trunk and pull out a huge beach bag.

"I'm gonna walk you back to the house. I don't want you out walking by yourself at night." He pulls the bag over his shoulder and closes the trunk.

"What do you need that for?" I ignore him, eyeing the bag.

This is it, this is how I go. He was planning my murder all along.

"I packed a picnic for us to sit on the beach after the poetry show was over." He states.

Oh.

Well, now I feel bad. Really bad.

"And I was hoping we could have a do over," he steps closer to me. "Because I really, really wanna get to know you. I know you have your assumptions about me, but I don't care. Would you still wanna have the picnic?"

My heart skips a beat. Luca Novak went through all this trouble to make this night special for me and all I was able to contribute was a tough time. I guess it's hard to see people differently once you've seen them a certain way in your eyes for so long.

I really hope I don't grow to regret this.

"Yeah, we can." I nod my head. "I'm sorry for being mean."

"I get it." He shrugs his shoulders and holds out his hand. I take his hand and he starts walking us down the sidewalk.

We make it to the backyard of the beach house in about five minutes. He didn't want to park in front of the house in case Katie's parents would see.

Instead of going up the stairs that lead to the patio, he stops and points to a spot not too far from the ocean. He puts the beach bag on the ground and takes out a huge blanket, laying it down on the sand. He motions for me to sit down and he joins me after. He takes a small lunchbox out of the bag and it opens it. There are small sandwiches sliced in half and a bunch of fresh fruit. Then, he pulls out two water bottles from the bag.

"This seemed more romantic in my head." He sorrily says, handing me a half of one of the sandwiches.

"No, it is." I reassure him, nodding my head towards the ocean. "Look at the night sky, the stars, the ocean. The waves slowly crashing."

I take a bite out of the sandwich and he just stares at me.

"You keep staring at me." I say.

"I can't help it, pretty girl." His eyes wander from my eyes to my lips. "That's just what I do best. I like what I see."

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I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!