New York

Eddie lay next to a sleeping Parker, and all she could think about was Luca. They had been roommates for two, almost three years.

Eddie had been attracted to Luca since the day she met him. He was, after all, an Italian god. The body. The accent. But Eddie knew she never stood a chance.

Luciano Moretti was a playboy, a manwhore, whatever you wanted to call it. Eddie knew they were better as roommates, as friends. She didn’t want to get her heart broken.

Parker moved, and her gaze fell on his face as his eyes fluttered open.

“Good morning, beautiful.”

“Morning,” Eddie said with a smile. Parker was a reliable guy, and he was attractive. He was good for her. A good match.

Eddie’s phone buzzed on the nightstand.

“You get that, I’m going to see what I can scrounge up for breakfast,” Parker said, planting a kiss on her forehead before leaving her to her phone call.

Eddie pressed the phone to her ear.

~“Bella!”~

“Marc?”

~“Si, gorgeous. How are you this fine morning?”~

“I’m fine. What is up with you?”

~“Nothing, just checking in on my favorite girl.”~

“What about Sienna?”

~“No one is better than you, mi amore.”~

“Are you calling for a reason?”

~“Someone is snappy. Do you have company, Miss Jenkins?”~

“Yes, Parker is here, and I would rather not leave him alone with your brother.”

~“If you dated Luca, this wouldn’t be a problem.”~

“Marc! First your mom, now you! Luca doesn’t date. And if he did, he certainly wouldn’t date me. Look, can we talk later?”

~“Eddison, I’m sorry—”~

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll call you later, okay?” Eddie said as she walked out of her bedroom.

~“Ciao, bella.”~

“Ciao.”

Eddie put her phone down on the kitchen bench next to where Parker was sitting. Luca was cooking breakfast with his back to them.

“Listen to you speaking Italian,” Parker said, nudging her with his elbow.

“I had to learn something. Living with brothers who constantly speak it, it was a challenge. I could never understand.”

“That was the point, cara,” Luca said, turning to face her. “Morning.” He leaned over the kitchen bench and placed a kiss on her cheek.

“Morning,” Eddie said, trying desperately to hide her blush from Parker.

“Was that Marc?” Luca asked, turning back to the food.

“Yeah, he was just checking in.”

Luca dished out bacon and eggs, and the three ate in silence.

“I have to go,” Parker said, standing up and putting his plate in the sink.

“Why? It is Saturday. I thought we could hang out.”

“Study group,” Parker said quickly. He leaned down, pressing a kiss to Eddie’s lips. “Sorry. I’ll text you later.”

“Okay. Well, bye,” Eddie said, but Parker was already out the door.

Eddie turned back to Luca. “I guess you are going to meet Kate.”

“We are over, I thought I told you that.”

“Face it, Luca, you and Kate are never actually over. She asked you to meet her today, didn’t she?”

“Doesn’t mean I’m going to.”

“Fine, whatever.” Eddie collected their plates and moved to the sink. She began rinsing them and placing them in the dishwasher.

“You want to go to Queens?”

“Luke, that is like a four-hour trip.”

“We will stay the night, come home tomorrow night. We have the whole weekend.”

“We were just there.”

“So? My parents love you.”

“That is true,” Eddie said with a smirk.

“So, yeah?”

“Okay, sure.”

“Yes.” Luca lifted Eddie in his arms, swinging her around.

“What are you doing, you crazy oaf! Put me down, and I’ll go pack.”

Luca laughed, putting Eddie back down on her feet. She ran into her room. While she was packing the essentials for her weekend, her phone buzzed.

Parker

Sorry I couldn’t hang out today. Catch up tonight?

Eddison

Can’t sorry. I’m going to New York for the weekend.

Parker

Since when?

Eddison

Since you had study group and I had a free weekend.

Parker

Who are you going with?

Eddison

The roommate. Staying with his parents.

Parker

Have fun I guess. Call when you get there.

Eddison

Will do xx

Eddie got changed and finished packing about fifteen minutes later. She headed out into the lounge, knowing that Luca went out to get snacks for the road trip and wasn’t coming back anytime soon.

Eddie gasped as she stared at the coffee table. There, in a vase, were her favorite flowers—pale pink peonies.

Next to them was a small pink card that read:

~Beautiful flowers for my beautiful roommate.~

~You deserve only the best.~

~Il mio amore per sempre e sempre.~

~Luciano x~

Luca knew her better than anyone. She couldn’t quite understand the Italian but knew “mio amore” meant “my love.”

Eddie felt tears form in the corners of her eyes but held them back, quickly blinking them away. She smiled down at the card as the front door swung open. Eddie looked up to find Luca smiling at her.

“You ready, cara?”

Eddie nodded, worried she wouldn’t be able to form words. Luca grabbed her bag out of her hand. He held it in his left hand and took her left hand in his right as he led her out of their townhouse and to his car.

The two sat in silence for the first part of the drive until Eddie looked over at Luca.

“Thank you for the flowers.”

“You are very welcome,” Luca replied, smiling down at her briefly. Eddie rested back in the passenger seat, curling her legs up underneath her. Luca rested his hand on her thigh, and Eddie felt her breathing stop.

Luca’s finger traced circles on her thigh, and Eddie couldn’t help but notice how comfortable things were with him.

***

“What a surprise!” Maria Moretti was shocked when she opened the door to find her son and his roommate standing on the porch.

“Ciao, Mama. We hope it is okay to come for the weekend?”

“Of course, of course. You are welcome anytime,” Maria said, hugging them both. “I will make a big dinner tonight!”

“Oh Maria, you don’t have to go all out. Maybe we could cook for you.”

“Nonsense, cara. It is my job to take care of my babies. What are you going to do today? It is only three.”

“Maybe we could go into the city?” Eddie asked, looking at Luca.

“Luca will take you shopping!” Maria offered.

“Oh, no. I don’t have any money. I canceled my shifts this week to study.”

“Luca will pay.”

“Luca will what?” Luca asked, looking at his mother.

“Luciano, you get a monthly allowance from your father that is enough to buy a small country! The least you can do is take Eddison shopping!”

Luca rolls his eyes, winning a smack to the back of the head. “Okay, okay. Come on, Eddie.”

***

The pair took the subway right into the center of New York, standing on Fifth Avenue.

“Luke, this is way too much. Surely there is a less expensive street.”

“Eddie, Mom was right. Let me do this.”

“I love that your parents are worth so much, yet they still live in an average-sized house in Queens.”

“Pa says it reminds him where he came from. Sparrow Industries may be a multimillion-dollar company now, but Dad started it in the basement.”

“Will Marc take over from your dad?”

“That’s the plan. He is the one with the business and accounting background, after all. Plus, he just knows the family business.”

Luca stopped outside Tiffany & Co., and Eddie’s mouth dropped.

“Let’s go in.”

“No…”

“Come on, Eddie. It can be your Christmas present.”

“Luciano…”

“No arguing!”

Luca bought Eddie a classic Tiffany & Co. sterling silver necklace. The saleswoman asked if she would like it wrapped, but he insisted on putting it on Eddie right away.

“Luca, you said Christmas present! You should wrap it and put it under the tree.”

“I want you to wear it now, cara.”

“Thank you.” She pressed a kiss to his cheek before they exited the store hand-in-hand.

As they walked further up Fifth Avenue, Eddie’s phone rang. Pulling it from her pocket, she pressed it to her ear.

“Hello?”

~“Eddie. It’s Parker. Are you okay? You never called.”~

“Oh, Parker, I’m sorry. I completely forgot. I’m fine. We got here about an hour and a half ago. We caught the subway into the city.”

~“Can we FaceTime? I want to see where you are.”~

Eddie pressed the FaceTime button on her phone, and Parker’s face appeared on her screen. Luca moved closer to her, glaring at the screen.

“Hey, babe. Oh, hi, Luca.”

“Parker.”

“I hope studying is okay,” Eddie said. “We are on Fifth Avenue.”

Parker smiled at Eddie but then narrowed his eyes at the screen.

“Since when do you wear a necklace?”