Page 47 of Boy Friends
‘OK then. I promise not to mope.’
‘Good,’ I say. I wasn’t sure how to bring up that we’d be spending the entire holiday in different countries.
‘Two weeks, huh?’ Luca says.
‘Yeah,’ I reply, well aware of the fact that we’ve nevergone so long without seeing each other.
‘Don’t look so sad. You love it there; you’ll have a great time.’ He grabs several cushions, stacks them up against me and lies down by my side once more.
I guess this means he’s not mad at me for bringing up his dad, or my Christmas plans. His head rests on my ribcage, and for a while I keep my arm on the backrest above him. Then it starts to fall asleep, so I have no choice but to use him as an armrest. I pretend to be more casual about it than I am. We’ve slept like this before, our bodies close, but it’s different when we’re both awake. Currently, I’m very conscious that the heat of his body is seeping into mine, driving up my temperature.
‘Talking about holidays,’ Luca says, more than halfway into the film, ‘do you fancy a weekend trip away?’
‘Away where?’
‘To the capital.’
I takes me two seconds to travel from the early nineteenth century onscreen and land back in the present. ‘Why would I want to go to the capital?’
‘Because my grandparents invited us, and I want to go.’
I blink at him, slowly, to signify that he needs to bring better arguments. ‘Because we’ll be staying in their luxury town house. Because they’ll let us borrow their chauffeur. Because they’ll take us to a charity ball where we might bump into celebrities or royals.’
‘Literally none of that is doing it for me.’
‘Because,’ he says, propping himself up on his elbow, ‘we could sneak away to second-hand bookshops and find you stinky old books with stinky bookmarks and old messageshidden inside. Because the town house has a library and a pool.’ Now he has my attention. ‘And I want you there.’
I try to keep a straight face, but it’s hard keeping a lid on the sunny feeling that’s rushing through my body.
‘Just because it would be less scary,’ Luca adds, sounding defensive.
‘Sure,’ I say, unable to swallow my smile any longer.
‘You don’t find my grandparents scary?’
‘They can be intimidating,’ I admit.
‘Which means you’ll come.’ It’s a statement, not a question. He gets his way too easily.
‘If my being there makes you less intimidated,’ I say.
‘It does,’ he replies with sincerity.
‘Can’t wait to find stinky old books with you,’ I grin.
‘Can’t wait to see you wear a tux for the ball,’ he retorts.
‘Don’t ruin it,’ I say and flick him on the temple. ‘And focus on the film. You can’t afford to miss things, lazy-ass reader that you are.’
He doesn’t complain. He got what he wanted, after all. I guess we both did.
With Luca’s head in my lap and my arm around him, we continue watching. I could stay like this forever; I’d watch a thousand films with him, even without reading the book first. Luca tenses, and I look up to see the priest make a fool of himself in front of polite society. Luca is prone to second-hand embarrassment. While I close my eyes at gory stuff, he shuts his and blocks his ears whenever the cringe factor rises.
‘I thought you liked that actor,’ I say.
‘I do,’ he says, sounding surprised, ‘in roles where he’s not a twat, anyway. But I didn’t know you knew that.’
‘I notice things,’ I say.
