Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Leyla
It was Saturday evening, and I was enjoying the setting sun in Vicky and Miles’ backyard. Their house was like a fairy-tale cottage nestled in a quiet Coronado neighborhood.
Having my two friends married to brothers was so much fun. I loved our group fiercely and how close we all were. I reminded Luke and Miles every chance I got how lucky they were with Sofia and Vicky. Nights like this reminded me of how lucky I was, too, to have them all in my life.
After a fun game of Dance Off with their daughter MJ, I brought my kombucha out here to wait for the rest of my friends to arrive, at my hosts’ insistence. When I tried to help in the kitchen, they shooed me out.
Alone outside, my thoughts were still raging war inside me. I wasn’t ready yet to delve into the part of the conversation with Niko about God, but it had stirred my heart. I knew I’d have to address these feelings, but there were other things plaguing my mind.
Reeling from my lunch with Niko, I was trying to figure out how to get out of the mess I’d gotten myself into.
Offering to help him improve his dating game was the dumbest idea I’d ever had. My emotions had been all over the place after my lunch confession. That was the only logical reason I could see for doing the unthinkable.
Understanding that he was neurodivergent took the sting out of what I thought he did back in college. While I didn’t know everything that meant, I felt like I understood him at least a little better than before.
Niko wasn’t rude, as I’d thought. He was disciplined.
He wasn’t arrogant. He was guarded. All of this had been swirling in my head for days, keeping me up at night.
I was trying to reconcile the man I thought he was for all these years with the man I now knew.
It was eye-opening to find that some of his prickly behavior had been a cover-up for things he was vulnerable about.
Once that layer of anger was lifted, I discovered that the attraction from before all of that resurfaced.
When he said he was awkward around women, I offered myself as tribute. It was still unclear whether my motive was truly to help a friend or to use it as an excuse to spend more time with him. Probably both.
“Thanks for coming a little early,” Vicky said, startling me from my thoughts. Her warm smile reminded me how much I missed her and how much I regretted not making time for her.
“Anytime,” I said, giving her a side hug. “It was an excuse to spend time with your sweet girl.”
Her wide smile grew impossibly bigger. She had married Luke’s older brother, Miles, a few months earlier. Even though MJ’s biological mother was Miles’ ex-wife Katy, Vicky was her mom, too, in every way.
“She’s in there now bargaining for a later bedtime.” We both chuckled. I had no doubt she’d have at least a small victory.
Looking around the yard, it was easy to see that it was well-loved.
A firepit had logs stacked nearby, with chairs surrounding it.
Strings of twinkle lights strung across the pergola were already glowing in the ebbing daylight.
Flowering bushes and a small, raised garden boasted herbs and what looked like a few tomato plants.
“I love this house. This yard,” I said, looking fondly at my friend.
She was several years younger than Miles, which had made their story challenging in some ways.
But she was an old soul, wise in so many ways, and she loved Miles fiercely.
As an interior designer, she came to help with his house and ended up falling in love, then was separated for two years.
I teared up every time I thought about their beautiful story.
“Me, too. It’s my favorite place in the whole house,” she said, pulling me down to one of the cushioned seats.
“How are things at work?” Vicky had a special talent as an interior designer, seeing into the hearts of everyone she worked with and creating beautifully unique spaces.
Her touches were everywhere in the backyard, from the furniture arrangement that invited conversation to the hurricane lanterns placed throughout, giving the space a fairy-tale look.
Which made sense because Miles’ nickname for her was ‘Little Fairy’.
“It’s going great. We’re busier than ever, but I’m trying to balance it all with family time,” she said, straightening a stack of books on a nearby table. “How about you? Miles mentioned a new R&D head.”
I took a deep breath and blew it out dramatically, making her smirk.
“Don’t be coy, girl. You know exactly who Luke hired.”
She laughed loudly, making me smile. When she first came to California from Rome, she was shy.
Miles was the first to recognize that it was more like a quiet strength.
As she and I got to know one another better, I saw a kindred spirit in her.
Although I tried to suppress that freer side of me, around her, it came out naturally.
“So tell me about the handsome Turk,” she teased. “Miles filled in some of the backstory from what Luke told him. Can’t imagine how awkward that has been. Sounds, though, that you’re getting along better recently.”
“Wow, sounds like all Luke and Sofia talk about is me and my soap opera at work,” I scoffed, taking a sip of my drink.
Waving her hand, she said, “Forget about that. I want to hear how it’s going from you.”
Setting my drink down, I turned the chair to face her. “It was really irritating at first. That anger from our college days burned even brighter when I saw him.”
“Because of how handsome he is, right?” she asked giddily like a schoolgirl.
“Vicky, he’s not that handsome,” I lied. “And no, that wasn’t why I was angry. It was just all that stuff coming back again. We butted heads initially, and it got heated there for a while. But we’ve talked and listened. And, yeah, it’s better now.”
She frowned and said, “That’s it? That’s all you’re going to give me?”
I swatted her playfully on the arm. “We are not teenagers gossiping about boys. He’s…nice. I’ve gotten to know him better and understand where he’s coming from.”
As much as I trusted my friends, I wasn’t going to break Niko’s confidence about what he shared with me.
“Sofia says he’s from Istanbul, but his first name is from his grandfather’s Greek side. Wow, what a combo.” She waggled her eyebrows and winked.
“Do I need to get you some ice water, my dear?” I teased.
Vicky cackled again and shook her head. “Nah. The only man I see is my gorgeous husband. I’m just teasing about the Turkish thing because Corinna and her friend Aria are obsessed with Turkish dramas.
Like, certifiable. There’s one about a girl from a simple Turkish neighborhood who wants to be a writer and falls in love with her boss, a famous photographer. Saw a few episodes. It’s really cute.”
“Yeah, obsessed is the right word. They send me reels every week,” I said, shaking my head. “Niko mentioned his mom watches them, too. Anyway, we decided to be friends.”
Her countenance fell. “Friends? Why?” She said it like she was spitting out something sour.
I lifted my hands up in confusion. “What do you mean why?”
“Listen, where I come from, a man and woman with that kind of volatility means there’s an attraction being played down.” Her raised eyebrow and wicked grin made me laugh.
“You’ve got this all wrong, my feisty Italian. Where I come from, what Niko and I felt for one another was called rage, pure and simple.”
She pursed her lips. “Rage…passion. Same coin, different sides.”
“You’re incorrigible. You and Sofia need to stop trying to get me to start something with this man. I’m just getting around to tolerating him.” I shrugged nonchalantly, hoping to appear uninterested.
My words may have said one thing, but apparently, my face was telling a different story, because my insightful young friend just shook her head with a smirk.
I definitely wouldn't be sharing how I felt when he put his arm around the back of my seat, leaned toward me to look behind him, so he could pull out of the parking spot the other day. Holy smoke. I’d seen that in romance novels but had never experienced it in real life.
Yeah, I get it now. That was the most masculine thing I’d ever seen, and I hoped he hadn’t heard the loud intake of breath I’d taken. Wow. I was just grateful I was sitting. I smiled just thinking about it.
“Yeah, you look like you’re thinking about a friend right now,” she teased.
“Ugh. Stop! Seriously, friends, that’s it,” my finger pointed at her in warning.
“I’m not saying I’m trying to ship you two. Just, you know, be open to the possibility.”
“Ship? Got that matchmaking term from MJ?” I teased. Vicky was about eight years younger than me, but even coming from her, that sounded strange.
With a heavy sigh, she answered, “Yup. My daughter got me saying that instead of relationship, and she got it from her friend. We can’t seem to separate those two.”
“Oh geez, you mean Jojo?”
Vicky just shook her head, her brows lowered.
Just hearing MJ’s friend’s name made me bite my lips together to keep from laughing out loud.
Jojo was twelve going on thirty-two. She had attached herself to MJ, to Miles and Vicky’s dismay.
She meant well, but she seemed well-versed in all things boys, and the stories about her were legendary.
“Anyway, shipping you two together or not, Luke said you get all mushy when Niko is near.”
I was going to kill my best friend.
“Honestly, you’d think that man had nothing better to do than gossip. Maybe I should be giving him more responsibility around the office,” I growled.
“He does think there’s something there, and it’s not one-sided,” she sang.
That got my attention. Trying to sound nonchalant, I asked, “What does that mean?”
“Hmm, just that Luke told Sofia that Niko looks at you like he wants to kiss you when you’re not looking.” Her amber eyes were filled with amusement.