10 - Is Trouble

Kassidy's POV

I pushed through the door of Sal's Pizza, feeling much better for the first time in days, and the first thing I saw was Luca Reynolds sitting in a black car directly across the street. He spotted me at the same time and raised a hand in a wave. As if this was completely normal.

I crossed the street and stopped at his window. "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you." He replied simply.

"How did you know my interview was this morning?"

"You mentioned it, remember?" He replied.

"I mentioned I had an interview, but I didn't tell you where or when."

He grinned. "Let's just say I know people at Sal's."

I stared at him incredulously. I wasn't sure what bothered me more, the fact that he had shown up or the fact that he looked so unbothered about showing up. I had deliberately not told him the details for exactly this reason. I didn't need some guy tailing me around campus like a lost puppy.

"And how did it go?" he asked.

I weighed my options, decided that withholding the information would make this interaction longer than it needed to be, and said, "I got the job."

He was out of the car before I finished the sentence, and then his arms were around me, and I was being lifted slightly off the ground in a bear hug.

"Luca!" My face was pressed against his shoulder. "Put me down."

He put me down and flashed a toothy grin. "This is amazing news! When do you start?"

"Tomorrow." I stepped back to a more reasonable distance. "I was given three shifts a week around my classes. The pay is decent too, and I get lunch on shift days." 

Then, as an afterthought, I added. "Thank you for telling me about Sal's. I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't run into you that day."

"You are welcome. And did you mention lunch?" He tilted his head. "You eaten yet today?"

I thought about the dry cereal I had eaten from the box at five thirty in the morning. "No, not really."

"Come on, I know a burrito place." He was already moving to the driver's side.

My stomach made the decision for me before my brains could catch up. With a sigh, I got into Luca's car.

The burrito place was a ten minute drive, a small spot with pretty plastic chairs and a black menu board. Luca ordered easily like he had been coming here for years, and I ordered the cheapest thing that looked filling. We took the bags back to his car.

I wolfed down the food quickly, because I had a two o'clock class. Sitting in this guy's car to eat lunch felt like something I should not get comfortable doing.

The burrito was good, though.

"Good, right?" Luca asked, watching my face.

"It's alright."

"You just made a face. You looked emotional."

"I'm not emotional about a burrito, Luca." I muttered, even though I knew a grateful tear really had slipped past my guard.

Luca laughed and leaned back in his seat. Before I knew what was happening, his arm had ended up on my headrest in a way that I was fairly sure was intentional. I leaned away uncomfortably.

"So what are you doing after your afternoon class?" he asked. "There's a thing at the SAE house tonight, it's nothing big, just some people hanging out. You should come."

"I can't."

His smile collapsed. "Why not?" 

"I have reading to catch up on." I replied.

"On a Friday?"

"Pre-law doesn't care what day it is, Luca. Trust me." I scrunched up the burrito wrapper and dropped it in the bag. "I need to get to the law building, actually. My class starts at two."

"It's one fifteen."

"I know. I like being early." I looked at him. "Can you drop me off, please?"

His face was oddly blank. "After we finish eating."

"I'm finished."

"Well, I'm not."

I waited. He ate in no rush, deliberately taking his time, while I sat there and impatiently tapped my feet.

When he finally finished and started the car, he glanced at me and said, "You're hard to catch, do you know that?"

"I'm not trying to be caught," I replied. "I'm not a trout."

He looked amused by that, which irritated me. I turned back to the window.

He pulled up outside the law college a few minutes later, and I grabbed my bag and opened the door.

"Thanks for lunch," I said. "I really do appreciate it."

"Anytime, Kassidy."

I got out and walked toward the building without looking back, and I was fairly certain he was watching me walk away.

I thought I had had it clear of troublesome boys, not until I saw that Eli was coming out of the law college just as I was going in.

We both stopped.

He looked at me, then past me at the road where Luca's car was just pulling away, then back at me. There was a look of annoyance in his blue eyes.

"Was that Luca Reynolds?" he asked.

"Good afternoon to you, too, Eli."

"Was it Luca Reynolds?"

"Yes, and what do you care?" I moved to step around him. He shifted a little, blocking my path.

"He dropped you off?" He asked..

"Brilliant deduction. He gave me a lift, it's not a criminal offence to do that, is it."

"But I warned you about him."

"You told me your opinion about him," I corrected. "Which I didn't ask for and don't particularly need. I can form my own perception of other people just fine, Eli. Now, if you would step aside? I have a class to attend in twenty m—"

"Townsend." His voice dropped slightly. "Look, I am warning you. Luca Reynolds is not someone you should be spending time with, trust me, I'm not saying this to be difficult."

"You're literally always difficult, so how would I know the difference?"

"I'm serious!"

"So am I!" I shifted my bag on my shoulder and looked at him directly. "Luca has been nothing but decent to me since I met him. He helped me find a job, he bought me lunch, he gave me a lift. That is more than I can say for most people I have met here, including you."

His anger turned into surprise. "You got a job?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but yes."

"Where?"

"Also not your business." I made a move to walk past him again, but he blocked me, yet again.

"Seriously?" I mumbled.

He exhaled. "Why do you always have to make everything so difficult?"

"Me?" I laughed sharply. "Eli, you have done nothing but make my life difficult since I walked through your front door. You've insulted me in front of your friends, you've ignored me, you've told me where I can and can't go in a house I also live in, and now you want to police who gives me a lift to class? What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"I'm not policing anything, I'm warning you—"

"I don't need your warnings!" I yelled, half aware that people were staring at us now. "I don't need anything from you. I have been taking care of myself for a very long time without your input and I am perfectly capable of continuing to do so."

A muscle worked in his jaw as he glared at me. "Fine, yeah, do whatever you want. I hate you too much to give a fuck if you put yourself in trouble." He took a step back. "But Luca is trouble. Remember I said that."

He walked away, while I stood at the entrance of the law college and watched him go, my hands shaking at my sides.