Cecilia's father, a well-known and successful lawyer, was tired of her problems. Tired of the issues she had been causing for the family and it's name.
After an incident, which she kept claiming wasn't even her fault, she's sent away to a boarding s...
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"Who was that?" I ask the moment Matteo steps in the room, radiating more tension than he normally does.
"Don't worry about it," he mutters without looking at me, pulling off his leather jacket and placing it on the chair. "Just some girl."
"She seemed a little more than just some girl." I mumble to myself, unintentionally loud enough for him to hear. He turns to look at me, and when he does the irritation is plain and clear.
"I said don't worry about it." He snaps. The hostility causes me to recoil into myself, tilting my head down to shield myself from his eyes. He opens one of his drawers and starts to rummage through a mess of his belongings before slamming it shut. I remain like that for a moment, before I seem to realize something and glance back at up at him.
Narrowing my eyes, I say, "don't talk to me like that." I frown indignantly. "It's not fair for you to snap at me every time something pisses you off."
"Sorry." He utters half-heartedly, but he doesn't bother to look at me with any sincerity to show he means it.
"Who was she?" I ask again.
"Jesus," i hear him grunt. "Cassidy." His answer is short, and he must sense me staring at him and waiting for any continuation because he actually does explain, albeit reluctantly. "She's just this girl I used to- erm- hang out with last year."
"Sooo, you were dating?" I ask curiously, watching a faint grimace appear.
He coughs. "Uh, no."
"Oh so you were just friends?"
"Not really."
"Huh?" I feel myself grow confused. Not dating, and not friends, but they used to hang out?
"Did you guys help each other with school or something?" I offer.
"No, Cecilia."
The crease between my eyebrows deepen. "Were you-"
"-no, Cecilia. We fucked last year." He says bluntly, finally turning to look at me. "We hooked up a lot and we were casual fuck baddies until she got a little too attached and a little too possessive. There." He sighs exasperatedly.
"Oh." I clamp my mouth shut, my face starting to burn hot red.
"Yeah." He rolls his eyes.
I open and close my mouth a few times, searching for any words to conjure up, but I come up dry. "Um..."
He seems to understand the rapid thoughts shooting through my head because he levels me with his piercing gaze. "I didn't realize she was going to be there, so I apologize. I also didn't know she was going to try and ambush you, so I apologize for that as well." He nods to himself, before turning away again.
"So what did she want then?" I tilt my head, deciding I'm not yet done with the conversation nor the questions.
"Not sure." He lifts and drops his shoulder.
"Oh." Then, right as I say it, realization strikes me. "Ohhh." Feeling a little guilty and embarrassed I say, "shoot, sorry."
He tilts his head at me with squinted eyes, a clear sign he has no idea what I'm apologizing for. "What for?"
"You guys- you were probably trying to...-and I accidently interrupted or something-" my voice wavers at the sight of a sly smile rising onto Matteo's face, and I feel myself burning a crimson red. "What? What's funny?"
"You think we were about to hook up in the middle of the hallway and you accidentally walked in?" His voice turns amused.
"Well- maybe not right there, but, you know..." I shrug sheepishly.
He releases a deep sigh. "No, we were only talking. And believe me," his eyebrows deepen as his gaze grows intense. "I have no intention of starting something between us ever again. I despise her, to be quite honest."
"You...do?" For some reason the words brought me a strange sense of comfort, almost like I was relieved.
His mouth tilts upwards, as if he can perfectly read my emotions. He can't, of course, but it's a scary thought to believe that he's completely aware of my feelings.
"I thought I was quite obvious, no?" His face crumples in mock confusion, a sly smirk on his face. "Though perhaps I'm not clear enough and that's why she continues to chase after me." He makes a "hm" sound following his words.
Luca's cheery voice takes my attention away from our conversation, drawing me towards the door where he stands with an excited smile. "Guess who just got here?!"
He doesn't let either of us answer before he rips the door open further, revealing an exhausted looking Grayson who glares half-heartedly at Luca's loud voice.
I barely waste a second before I'm jumping up, momentarily forgetting my conversation with Matteo to run towards Gray to pull him into a hug, which he reciprocates happily despite his obvious tiredness. "You're back, you're back!" I cheer.
"I'm back," he confirms, a soft smile on his face. "I know you guys missed me, huh?" He says easily.
"Oh we were just dying without your presence." I nod my head seriously. "Only having Luca and Alex back has been dreadfully boring," I whisper to him.
"Hey!" Luca exclaims indignantly.
"Kidding!" I call back. Turning back to Grayson, I mouth, 'not really.' He grins back in response. "Why'd you wait so long to come back?"
"Ah," he shrugs one shoulder, keeping the one my hand is rested on still. "I needed a long break and my family wanted me to stay even longer. If it were up to them I'd still be home. Couldn't leave you guys hanging though," he adds slyly.
I slap his chest and turn around to my dresser, briefly catching the scowl on Matteo's face. His eyes are dead set on Grayson, something burning behind his eyes. I wave it off, considering his normal resting face isn't that far off from the one he's wearing now.
"That new cafe just opened up downtown, you guys wanna go check it out?" I ask hopefully, already grabbing for my shoes.
"Duh." Luca says, reaching for a jacket. "You guys coming?"
Grayson agrees and Alex only offers a silent nod, but Matteo doesn't do anything. He says nothing and makes no move to leave, so I turn my attention to him. "You're not coming with us?" I try to hide the disappointment in my voice, but it only makes me sound pathetic.
"No." He says coldly, and I stand wondering what went wrong in the span of a minute. He was just perfectly fine- teasing me and being annoying- but he seemed perfectly fine.
"Um-okay..." I hesitate. "Do you...want me to bring you back a coffee or something?"
"No." His tone was blank. Like he was upset about something but was doing a pretty good job of covering it.
My lips tug down into a frown. "Alright, well. We'll see in a bit, I guess."
Grayson holds the door for me on the way out, but my feet are slow and unsure as I walk behind Luca.
