My Favorite Souvenir(76)

“I’m sure once I get there, I’ll be happy to be back,” he said. “The idea of returning is a little daunting. But I’ll get into the swing of things fast. I do miss my kids.”

“They definitely miss you.” She sighed. “Alright. Well, you guys have a good night.”

“Thank you,” I muttered. The door closed, followed by a few seconds of awkward silence. “She seemed...nice. So, you work with her?”

“Yeah. She teaches English at the high school.”

“Ah. I know you said it was a friend watching your cat, but I hadn’t imagined she was so…” I shook my head to stop from making a total fool of myself. I was coming off as really jealous.

“Alright, Hazel, ask what you really want to ask.”

“It’s none of my business.”

“I don’t hide anything. There’s nothing going on with Carina now—although we used to date. But it was a long time ago.”

That admission stung, though I’d known something had happened between them even before I asked.

“There’s nothing lingering between you two?”

“Not on my end.”

“But she still likes you.”

“I don’t know. Maybe? It doesn’t matter to me.”

“Why did you stop dating her?”

“She wasn’t the one. I told her I didn’t want anything serious. She’s a friend now—one who happens to like cats and is one of the few people Bach seems to tolerate.”

“Oh, well, I know she still likes much more than your cat. It’s eleven thirty at night, and she came by with Bach when you told her to bring him by tomorrow? There’s only one reason someone goes to a guy’s house at this time of night. And it’s not to deliver an animal. She wasn’t expecting me. And she’s clearly not done with you.”

Well, if it wasn’t obvious before, my jealousy was definitely out in the open now.

“I honestly couldn’t tell you what her intentions were. But she saw that I’m with you.”

I had to know one more thing. It was eating away at me. “When you came back for that brief stay here between our trip and New York, you said you wanted to check on Bach. Nothing happened with her?”

His tone grew insistent. “No. Nothing happened, Hazel. It’s been over between Carina and me for a while. And I was way too hung up on you to even think about someone else. If you think I could’ve switched gears that easily, you don’t know me.” His eyes looked pained. “Although, you seemed to switch gears pretty fast when you got home.”

Those words hurt, but I knew they were true. Or at least they’d seemed to be on the surface.

He backtracked. “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.”

“I never forgot you for a second, Matteo. I was just confused when I got back.”

His eyes seared into mine. “And you still are…right?”

I couldn’t blame him for questioning my intentions. Here I was telling him I needed to test the waters. I’d given him no guarantees. And quite frankly, he deserved better.

“I see things much more clearly now,” I said. “And my reasons for being here are pure and show where my heart is. My intentions are in the right place, Matteo. I’m not out to hurt you.”

He closed his eyes and shook his head, seeming to come out of his momentary funk. “Come here. I’m sorry.”

As he pulled me into a hug, I spoke against his chest. “No, I’m the sorry one.”

“These have just been some of the toughest weeks of my life,” he admitted.

Something he’d said earlier was still weighing on my mind.

I moved back, out of his arms. “Can I ask you something?”

“Yeah.”

“You said you told Carina you didn’t want anything serious with anyone. But that’s not truly how you feel?”

“I didn’t want anything serious with her. But I’m not wasting your time, Hazel. I wouldn’t do that.”

“I’m sorry for all the questions. I’m trying to be mature about this. I was caught off guard by her showing up within the first minutes of my being here.”

His mouth curved into a smile. “You were jealous.”

“Yeah. And it’s not pretty.”

“Do you have any idea how happy that makes me—not to be the only one jealous as fuck lately?”

“You’re seeing a very tired, vulnerable, jetlagged side of me right now.”

“Well, how about we rest?”

Matteo walked over to the couch and fluffed the pillows. “Come lie down. I’ll make you some tea. It’s about all I have in the house until we shop tomorrow. We’ll just chill before bed.”

Noticing the very obvious fact that there was no bed in sight, I asked, “Where exactly is the bed?”

“This couch folds out into a very comfy one. And it’s gonna be all yours tonight.”

I sat down on the sofa. “Where are you gonna sleep?”

“We always work it out, don’t we?” He walked over to the closet. “Anyway, check this out.” He took out an air mattress. “This thing blows up in seconds. It’s where I crash whenever I have a visitor—although my parents swore they’d never spend the night here again after the last time. They prefer a little more space. So they’re staying at a hotel when they come in a couple of days. They’re coming for Christmas, but they fly in early to avoid the busy times at the airports.”