Chapter 8
tarane tumed around. Thisgo took a few steps forward, walking up the steps toward her.
The dun efreetemp cest a slented glow over him, tracing the lines of his broad shoulders and narrow waist beneath the white shirt. His trusted hangs fell casually across his forehead, and his sharp features were so striking they made her heart skip a beat.
Laurena’s first reaction was to turn on her heels and flee. To her surprise, Thiago grabbed the back of her collar.
“What’s with you? Do I have fleas or something? Why are you always avoiding me?”
Meanwhile, Lola stared in disbelief at them, “You two know each other?”
Thiago’s gaze dimmed. “Did Luciana say she didn’t know me?”
Without thinking, Lola blurted, “No, she said you looked too-”
Before the word “handsome” could come out, Luciana had covered Lola’s mouth and dragged her six feet away. “I–I didn’t say anything! She’s got the wrong guy!”
“Girl, what?” Lola thought.
A moment later, Luciana finally managed to send Lola off, but only after sheepishly promising to treat her to a meal. Throughout the jexchange, Thiago had been quietly watching them with amusement,
Lola eventually disappeared from sight after glancing back every few steps. Luciana slung her canvas backpack over one shoulder and walked bris ty up to Thiago, “You needed something?”
“I can’t see you if I don’t?”
She pulled out her cheeks slightly, blinking at him in confusion. She didn’t quite catch his meaning.
Hands in his pockets, Thiago crossed his legs, his posture lazy but deliberate, “I’ve waited for you for four hours.”
“What?” Luciana was shocked. “For what?”
“For a meal with you.” He tilted his head, continuing, “Did you forget what happened this afternoon?”
At that, she instantly remembered the pad incident and turned red, Had he come to a so–called idea and decided to let her buy him dinner?
“You didn’t grab a bite at all earlier?” she asked,
Adhuckle escaped from his lips. “Didn’t your coworker tell you? I only had water,”
Luciana Ishered, genuinely unable to make sense of Thiago’s behavior.
He had a girlfriend, so why wasn’t he with her? Why come looking for Luciana instead? He couldn’t possibly still be holding a grudge from high school when she used to pester him, right?
After some thought, she pulled out her phone, lowered her head, and asked, “What do you want to eat, and how much does it roughly cost? I’ll just transfer you the money”
This time, Thiago’s expression visibly darkened. “We were deskmates for a whole year, Luciana. Can’t we grab a meal and catch up like normal people? Ain I really that unbearable to you?”
Luciana instinctively took half a step back. “It’s not that I don’t want to…”
Deep down, she knew the truth.
She was afraid that too much contact with him would open up an old wound in her heart. She was afraid that emotions long buried would come flooding back like a fidal wave, drowning her and leaving her breathless.
That feeling resembled an addiction, and like all, she knew it would end in pain. Still, she couldn’t pull away from him.
Thiago said, “Then that settles it. Hop on. I’ll drive,”
“Oh, okay”
flona towed him toward a sleek blue McLaren parked not far away. She didn’t know much about cars, but she could tell this one cost a fortune. The moment the door swung upward with a dramatic whoosh, she stumbled back in shock.
Across from her, Thiago leaned his elbows casually against the car roof, a faint sinile dancing on his lips. It wasn’t mockery but something gentler, like indulgence or like he was used to her reactions.
He weid lastly “I forgot to tell you that it has scissor doors. If you’re not used to them, I’ll drive something more normal next time.”
Labor’s heart skipped a beat Next time? Why would there be a next time? How many meals did she owe him for a misplaced sanitary pad?
“Gr.” Things stopped suddenly “Do you prefer my not–so–sturdy mountain bike?”
Chapter 8
The moment those words left his mouth, Luciana realized he was teasing her for not recognizing his luxurious mountain bike. She pursed ber lips without replying and climbed into the passenger seat. With her canvas backpack resting on her lap, she had just barely settled in when the light around her dimmed.
Thiago had suddenly leaned in, his figure blocking out the glow of the streetlamps filtering through the windshield. They were so close that she could make out the tiny, seductive mole beneath the corner of his left eye,
Tension tightened every muscle in her body as she pressed herself back into the seat. She was afraid that even the slightest movement would result in making skin contact.
“W–What are you d–doing…”
“Seatbelt,” he replied, fastening the seatbelt for her. “Saving you the hassle,”
After doing that, he didn’t move away. Instead, he lowered his gaze and looked at her. Luciana felt like her heart was about to leap out of her throat. For a long moment, Thiago said nothing until…
“Why do you seem different from before?”
Luciana lifted her eyes, her voice soft as cotton. “Different how?”
He gave a lazy smirk, “You’ve gotten dumber.”
She was speechless.
The McLaren sped through the city streets, a streak of metal against the velvet night.
Luciana stared out the window at the blur of Jaxwell’s lights rushing past, her heart tight with unease. She had just sent money home earlier, and now, she barely had 500 dollars in her bank account.
What if Thiago decided to take her somewhere upscale? Would she have to stay behind to wash dishes if she couldn’t cover her part?
She bit her lip and finally turned to ask him cautiously, “Where are we going?”
was already late, and most restaurants had closed by then. Surely, he wasn’t planning to take her to one of those ridiculously expensive private kitchens?
Thiago’s hands rested casually on the steering wheel as the city’s neon lights spilled through the windshield, gilding the sharp lines of his profile with gold. “I’m craving burritos.”
Luciana widened her eyes in shock as if she had misheard something, “What? Burritos? Like, from a food truck?”
“Yeah.”
“You don’t mind food trucks?”
Thiago looked up, casting her an ambiguous look. “Were those burritos you used to buy me in high school from a five–star restaurant?”
The words hit Luciana like a soft slap, cutting off her anxious thoughts in an instant, Memories from her senior year flooded her mind.
The school cafeteria was expensive, and Luciana would often sneak out to buy breakfast from the food trucks outside. Almost every time, she would get an extra portion for Thiago.
He had never turned her down and always devoured every bite. However, that only fueled her assumption that he had come from a struggling family and showed up to school every morning with an empty stomach.
At that thought, Luciana asked, “You didn’t go to school without breakfast, did you?”
“Yeah. Imagine having a feast at home and then being forced to eat burritos like I was starving.”
She lowered her head in embarrassment. “Why didn’t you just tell me…”
“Didn’t bother to.”
“Oh…” She clutched the edge of her backpack, waves of regret crashing through her chest.
Thankfully, Thiago wasn’t the arrogant, entitled type. Otherwise, those countless burritos would’ve ended up splattered across her face.
The two didn’t say another word the entire drive. Before long, the McLaren pulled up to a street that felt oddly familiar.
Thiago switched off the engine and turned to her with a grin. “Were those burritos from this place?”
