Wild Love ✓

03| Misunderstanding

Sunday, I spend the entire day shopping and doing girl stuff with Sara and some of our other girlfriends. Half of Monday flies by with lectures, working on essays, and a workout. The same goes for Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Sara, Alex, and I decide to eat at a French restaurant, and Luca is joining us. It's not anything fancy, so I don't put much thought into my outfit—a cute little yellow sundress with a few accessories to elevate the look.

Sara and her boyfriend are already there when I arrive at the restaurant. They both stand up to give me hugs and kisses.

I always kiss my friends on the cheek and give them hugs whenever I see them and when we part ways. Some people find me too touchy and affectionate, but it's how my mom raised me and how I am with people I'm close with.

"Luca isn't here yet?" I ask when I sit down, glancing at the empty seat next to me.

"He'll be here in— " Alex suddenly cuts off and looks behind my shoulder. "There he is." He gestures to the entrance. I turn a little in my seat and see him walking toward us.

In black jeans and a maroon dress shirt with the top three buttons undone, he looks like he just came from a business meeting. I can't help but admire his physique. His shirt is loose around his biceps, his curly dark hair is messy in an I-just-woke-up way, and his jawline is so chiselled I can see it from here. His strides are confident, radiating an aura of assurance.

He gives Alex a handshake and leans to give Sara a quick kiss on the cheek. I'm surprised to see him giving Sara a peck, but since she spends a lot of time in Alex's room, they must have become good friends in a short amount of time.

When he sits down next to me, he gives me a boyish smile. "Hi." I note that he doesn't have dimples. Not that he's any less hot without them.

"Hi," I greet back. His eyes appear darker, almost black, against the deep shade of red of his dress shirt. Who knew dark eyes could be so fascinating?

We order food and wine, and the server doesn't bother asking for our IDs because he knows us from college, even if we aren't legal to drink yet. I'm surprised he hasn't been fired since a lot of college students eat here and most of them aren't twenty-one yet, but they still get served wine with their food. It's probably good business to serve them, though, so they let it slide.

We make small talk to get to know Luca better while waiting for our food. We learn he has a younger brother named Leo. Luca used to go to NYU but didn't like being away from his family, so he transferred colleges. He also prefers the sun to the snow.

We continue conversing while eating, getting him acquainted with us. After we finish our food, we order another round of wine and sit back with our stomachs full. I'm pretty full, but do I still have a place for dessert? Then again, they say dessert goes to the heart and not the stomach.

I get pulled out of my dessert dilemma when I sense Luca draping his arm on the back of my chair, his skin almost touching the back of my neck. My nerves prickle with awareness, but I continue listening to Alex, who is telling us stories about basketball as if nothing happened.

Sensing Sara's gaze on me, I glance in her direction. She looks at Luca with slightly widened eyes, then back at me. I roll my eyes playfully.

Something tugs softly at my hair. When I look down at the curls on my shoulder, I see a hand twirling a strand around its fingers. I face Luca's profile, who is still in deep conversation with Alex. As if sensing my gaze, he quickly glances at me. I cock one eyebrow up in question. His own eyebrows furrow in confusion before his eyes widen. He quickly removes his hand from behind my chair.