Page 38 of Count Down
I text Luca that I’m done and I’m home and ask if he’s still free. When he says he is, I invite him over to hang out at my place. I know I shouldn’t be, but I’m nervous and can feel my heart racing. It’s Lexi’s damn jokes.
Have you eaten yet?
He texts back.
Not yet. But I’m hungry.
I’ll bring some food.
Thanks! See you soon,I reply.
I head back out to the living room and join Lexi to watch TV.
“Is he coming over?” She asks.
“Yeah.”
“YouTube and touch boob?” She grins at me.
I groan.
Then I play along. “Amazon Prime and sexy-time?”
Lexi laughs harder than I’ve ever seen her laugh. It’s contagious.
“Ah, fuck,” Lexi rewinds the episode. “I missed the nominations.”
* * *
Luca arrives and he’s brought pizza and wine.
“It’s from Angelo’s.” He sets it down on the kitchen peninsula after kissing me ‘hello.’ “Ever had it?”
“No.”
Luca opens the pizza box to show me inside. There’s a thick margherita pizza, almost too big for the box it came in. It looks delicious. The smell reminds me how hungry I am.
“There’s enough for you too,” Luca says to Lexi. She was lifting her head from the couch, following the smell of the pizza. She nods at Luca and tentatively comes to the kitchen.
She’s quiet for once. All the bark she had making fun of me is gone. She actually seems slightly intimidated by Luca. I enjoy watching her squirm a little. Lexi sniffs at the pizza. “Mmm. I already had dinner, but it smells so good.”
“You should at least have one piece,” Luca insists.
We dig into the pizza. Lexi does take a piece but Luca and I eat most of it. We also crack into a bottle of wine.
When we’re done, I curl up with Luca on the couch and Lexi takes the arm chair. After flipping channels for a few minutes, we end up deciding onPalm Springswith Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti.
As I open Hulu to play it, Lexi adds. “Hulu.Woo-hoo” in a dry tone as she looks at me over her wine glass. I ignore her.
“What’s it about?” Luca asks.
“I guess they’re stuck in some time-loop. Like they’re living the same day over and over,” I explain.
“Ah, kinda likeGroundhog Day?” He asks.
I tilt my head and look at him. Lexi asks, “What’s that?”
“You’ve never seenGroundhog Day? With Bill Murray?” Luca asks us.