“Not cool!” I giggled.
“Why? You trying to tell me that you’re oblivious to the effect you have on the male population in this town?”
I blinked and looked at him. “What effect?”
That sent him off harder. “Seriously? You ever wonder why everyone thinks you and Carter would be perfect together?”
That seemed like a really obvious question. Didn’t it? “Uh, because he likes me?” I asked.
He scoffed. “Okay, I’ll brush aside your obvious desire for him.” I almost saw him roll his eyes. “It’s because you’re the same. He’s you, you’re him. You’re both the idiotically popular, hot kids–”
“I’m not popular.”
“You’re not unpopular.”
I blinked again. “What? What does that even mean?”
He continued like I hadn’t spoken, “And, it would be a total travesty if the two of you didn’t get married as soon as exams were over and have a million beautiful babies.”
I grimaced. But, I wasn’t sure if was the idea or hearing it from Roman. “Please tell me you heard that somewhere. Because that just sounded heinous coming out of your mouth.”
He laughed. “Thankfully, yes. I did hear that somewhere. Quite a lot of somewheres actually.”
I ruminated for a few moments before I spoke again. “What do you think about it?”
“About what?”
“Me and Mason.”
“Am I supposed to have an opinion?” He sounded surprised I’d bother asking and I looked over at him. “Seems to me that’s your business.”
I appreciated that, but it wasn’t the answer I was looking for. “Humour me.”
He turned his head to look at me and our noses almost touched. His eyes searched mine for a moment and I thought he might be about to kiss me. The moment became two and a stupid excited flutter rippled through me. But, then a look passed over his face and he looked up again. “Well, the town gossips aren’t wrong. The two of you look good next to each other.”
Somehow, that didn’t make me feel better. “But?”
“Well, that doesn’t necessarily set you up for a successful relationship, does it? And,” I felt him shrug, “you could look just as good next to someone else.”
I smiled and told myself he didn’t mean what it sounded like. “Got any particular someone else in mind there?”
“‘Course not,” he replied, coyly. “I just think you’d look nice next to...other people.”
His hand slid off his stomach and it fell next to mine. It was like one of those cheesy romance moments, but neither of us made a move.
I grinned. “Other people?”
“Other people,” he agreed, sounding like he was holding back a smile of his own.
“And does this have anything to do with the totally bogus effect I supposedly have on the male population of our town?”
He laughed. “You can’t be serious?”
“What? Why?”
“You can’t seriously not realise, Barlow?”
“Let’s for the time being assume so, Lombardi.”
“You’re very assertive suddenly.”
“Shall I get back in my box?”
He huffed a laugh and sat up. “Fuck no, Barlow. Whatever you do, don’t do that,” he said, looking back at me with a devilish smirk. “Please, never do that. Not with me.”
“You don’t like me in my box?” I asked, pretending I was insulted.
I just saw his smile grow before he turned to look back over the lake as though I wasn’t supposed to see it. “I like you fine in your box. If you really want back in your box, I won’t stop you.” He ran a hand over his chin. “But, I’m not nearly annoyed enough by your incessant yabbering to wish you back in it.”
I grabbed his arm to pull myself to sitting. I almost didn’t let go, but I finally did. “You prefer me out of my box?” I hedged.
He chuckled roughly. “I don’t prefer you any way.”
“Is that not the same as saying you don’t like me?”
I was aiming for teasing, but the speed with which he turned to look at me with a frown on that aggravatingly handsome face made me think it passed over him. I could tell he was looking me over carefully, but I couldn’t have told you what was going through his head. He was quiet for so long, the intensity radiating off him, that I felt like I had to lighten the mood.
“You want to take a picture, Lombardi? It’ll last longer.”
The next thing I knew, a flash went off in my eyes and I was almost as blinded as the night before. I blinked, spluttering a laugh, and heard him chuckle roughly.
“I wasn’t being serious!” I giggled.
“Well, you shouldn’t offer things you aren’t willing to give.”
I was still blinking furiously, trying to clear the spots from my eyes. “It’s less I was unwilling to give it and more I preferred to not be blind!”
“Oh, come on, Barlow. Think of the actual blind people in the world. I doubt they’ll take kindly to your complaining.”
I did my best to glare at him as I tried surreptitiously to pull my phone out of my pocket. As I whipped it up and touched the button to take a picture, I saw him smirk around the cigarette in his mouth as though he was totally expecting it. But, then he was complaining just as much.
“Okay. No. Fair. That is painful,” he laughed and rubbed his eyes.
“Ah, revenge is sweet,” I teased and he laughed again.
“You at least seem in a better mood now,” he said as he rubbed his eyes again and shook his head.
“I was in a bad mood before?”
He shrugged. “You seemed kinda…funky.”
“I wasn’t the only one.”
He nodded as he kept his eyes over the lake. “No, you weren’t.”
“You seem less…funky now.”
“I am less funky now.”
Ignoring the confusion at a seemingly new side to him that still hung around the edges of my mind, I cleared my throat. “Um… Anything you want to talk about? Maddy’s…okay?”
He shrugged again. “I’m not going to do you the disservice of telling you your life seems easy, Barlow. All I’ll say is that you probably know life isn’t always as simple as it can be made to look.”
I nodded. “Fair enough.”
It was a completely true statement. I knew for a fact that people thought my life was easy and I tried to keep it that way. I would never try to imply that my life was hard, but it never felt as simple as I tried to make people think it was.
The idea that Roman’s life wasn’t a simple as he seemed to make it look was still a revelation to me.
“If there’s anything I’ve learnt, it’s that no one’s life is ever as simple as you think.”
“Are you implying I have depths, Barlow?” he scoffed.
I pulled my knees to my chest and smiled into them, not sure if I believed it myself. “I wouldn’t dare tarnish your reputation.”
I felt him shrug. “In my experience, reputations are overrated.”
“Shall I go back to school and tell everyone you like unicorns and keep fuzzy pink dice in your truck?”
He barked a laugh like it was totally unbidden. “Okay, you’ve made your point. You have the power, my queen. Please, for the love of all things I hold dear–”
“Your dick for one?” popped out before I could stop myself; something about Roman seemed to switch off my filter.
He turned to stare at me in complete shock, his cigarette hanging comically from his mouth. He blinked, grabbed his smoke and snuffed it out on the sand on his other side, all while keeping his eyes on me.
“Who the hell are you?” he huffed in surprise.
I felt my cheeks flame as I shoved my forehead into my knees. But, it wasn’t shame. I was just a little embarrassed I’d so brazenly said what was on my mind. And a little embarrassed that Roman brought it out in me.
“Sorry,” I mum
bled into my legs.
Roman laughed. “Oh no. None of that bullshit, Barlow. That was nothing to apologise for.”
“I shouldn’t have said it,” I breathed, still surprised I had.
“Try saying something else uncomplimentary about me,” he said.
I snuck a look at him. “What?”
He nodded once. “Go on. What would you say to me if you were going to be completely honest to me?”
I looked over the lake and thought about it. “I don’t… Nothing. I wouldn’t say anything.”
He laughed. “True. You and your lack of spine would probably not say anything. If we – for one second – pretend that you do have a spine, what would you say?”
I opened my mouth, then closed it and breathed heavily out of my nose. “You’re not very complimentary, yourself,” I pointed out, thinking I wasn’t going to be the only one to break habits.
“You don’t seem to like my compliments,” he countered.
“I…” I looked at him again and found him watching me with interest. “You don’t compliment me.”
“Because you don’t like it.”
“Fine. You give me something complimentary and I’ll give you something uncomplimentary.”
He chuckled and lit another cigarette. I realised that maybe he wasn’t quite as relaxed as he seemed; he smoked a fair amount, but I hadn’t seen him smoke that much in such a short span of time. Not that I was really in a good position to make comparisons, but it still seemed more than usual.
“All right. A proper compliment, hey?” He paused and I was pretty sure he was thinking, so I didn’t interrupt. “All right. Your eyes look crazy beautiful when you get embarrassed giggly. That’s the one time I see you these days.”
I’d been going to tease him on how long it had taken. But, my brain stuttered to a halt. I had to admit, I wasn’t sure how to take that. I needed so much more explanation for…just so much of that statement.
“I’m waiting on this uncompliment, Barlow.”
“I’m going to need more before I let that pass as a compliment,” I answered.
He huffed and lay back down. “In what way?”
I shrugged and leant my elbows on my knees. “Firstly, what’s embarrassed giggly?”
His chuckle this time was lighter. “It’s when you find something funny but embarrassing at the same time–”
“How often do you have cause to be embarrassed?” I scoffed.
“No, Barlow. It’s unique to you. I mean, probably not like only you in the whole world. But, it’s not a generic thing. You get like it when Hadley does something crazy–”
“Like when she called you beautiful the other day?” I offered, trying not to let it get to me that Roman obviously noticed things about me.
He laughed. “Yeah, like that. Like when I sing at you. And like those rare moments when you have a spine and say exactly what’s on your mind. Then you flush this cute shade of pink, you give this gorgeous little smile and your eyes fucking shine, Piper. It’s a beautiful thing to see, and it’s one time you’re really you.”
Well, if anything was going to set my cheeks flushing, it would be something like that. I tried to take my mind off the weird fluttery feeling he’d just given me because, let’s be real here, it was Roman Lombardi for crying out loud. Whether there were actually depths or not, he was still the guy that went through girls faster than I went through chocolate cake.
An uncompliment. The guy wanted an uncompliment. It would have to be something relatively real because otherwise it was just being mean for being mean’s sake.
“I know you’re totally flattered by my compliment, Barlow. But, I’m waiting on something scathing.”
“You know, you are so not as good as you think you are. Just because you’re demanding and smile nicely, doesn’t actually make you adorable. I have no idea why girls fall over themselves for you. You’re rude and obnoxious and seriously annoying.” I realised what I’d said and turned to him. “No! What I meant was…”
He just stared up at me, his face stony.
“I mean, I’m sure you… I can see why…” I huffed a breath. “That is, you have… Of course you have…good… What?” I asked as he’d started laughing.
“Oh, and you were doing so well!” he cried, putting one arm behind his head. “Sure, it wasn’t exactly original. But, it was unfiltered until the filter seemed to be stu…stu…stuttering back to life.”
I shoved his leg playfully. “Shut up. There is nothing wrong with a filter, nothing wrong with civility and human decency.”
“No, Barlow. I don’t suppose there is. But, there is such a thing as simpering. It’s a fine line to walk.”
“I think you left the line behind a long time ago, Lombardi.” I spread my arm out wide. “Like, you are now so far past the line – out in the wilderness – that you’ll never find your way back.”
“Yeah, quite possibly. But, at least you’ll never wonder what I’m really thinking.”
“Don’t pretend you care what I’m really thinking outside any entertainment I might give you.”
“I’m hurt, Barlow! How could you think I didn’t care?”
“Because you’re Roman Lombardi, resident underachiever, obnoxious delinquent, trouble-maker, and horrible flirt.”
He snorted. “Barlow, you insult me. I am a fantastic flirt, thank you.”
I looked back at him and grinned. “Yes, I know. Hence, horrible.”
He nodded. “Oh, I see. Horrible in the sense I do it a lot, rather than describing my ability.”
I shook my head at his mockery. “Yes, Lombardi.”
He sat up and bumped my shoulder with his. “Is that you admitting my flirting is fantastic?”
“That is me agreeing that we’re on the same page with that you flirt…” I stopped, realising that any way I ended that sentence would be a compliment to his flirting. “I’ll admit a lot of girls seem to think you’re good at it.”
“But, not you?” He sounded like he didn’t believe me.
“I wasn’t aware you actually tried to flirt with me. I’m not sure that mentioning you wanted to get into my pants one time counted as flirting. I assumed you were stating fact.” I shrugged nonchalantly.
He snorted. “Well, I suppose that’s not wrong.”
“Of course, your being here instead of using said flirting skills could be a testament to the fact all those stories about your flirting are trumped up exaggeration?” I hedged.
“Is that what you think?”
I shrugged, thinking whatever this was it was weird behaviour. “I can only call it like I see it, Lombardi.”
He scoffed. “Yeah, righto. I suppose Carter’s full of witty flirtation.”
I looked over the lake, my fingers finding my shoelace to play with. “Mason’s sincere–”
“And, you think I’m not.”
“I never said that.”
“You were thinking it.”
“I assume it based on how many girls you seem to get through.”
“Just because I share, does not make me insincere.”
“How sincere can you be when you move on right away?”
“I live in the moment, Barlow. Something I feel you need to learn more about.”
“There will be no inappropriate touching or fondling, Lombardi.”
“How about appropriate touching and fondling? I do a very good appropriate fondle.”
I looked at him, incredulous, and the smile he threw me no matter how small was completely infectious.
“I can never tell when you’re being serious or not.”
“Really?” he asked.
His tone was still light, but his eyes had gone serious.
And, that was one problem. I’d lied; I somehow did know when Roman was being serious and when he wasn’t. I knew what was intended as a joke to cheer me up, what was him being…well, Roman, and what was a combination of both.
“Really,” I replied as I wriggled guiltily.
“All right, then.” I was pretty sure he didn’t believe me either.
Like the night before, we hung out for a little while longer, sometimes in companionable silence, sometimes with bits of conversation and laughs until he walked me back up to our houses and said goodnight.
Chapter Seven
Definitely Not a Date.
Monday saw me unusually antsy and I had no idea why until I was halfway through a text conversation with Hadley.
Hads: You seem distracted.
Me: How can I seem distracted? We’re texting.
Hads: Yeah, but I know you. What have you been up to?
Hads: Tell me you’re talking to Mason!
And, that was when I realised I was staring out the window and watching Roman seemingly trying to wrangle what I assumed was this niece. She looked utterly in her element, running backwards and forwards as he tried to grab her. He, meanwhile, looked totally fed up. I had never seen him look so out of his element.
And, I couldn’t stop the way my brain was making me look at him differently. I distracted myself by replying to Hadley.
Me: No, sorry. Watching John Cusack.
Which wasn’t a complete lie, High Fidelity was on in the background.
Hads: Haha, I’ll leave you to it then. Gran’s calling anyway.
Me: Okay, cya xx
Hads: Much love babes xo
I opened the window and watched Roman close his arms on empty air and yell in frustration.
“Mads! Come on!” I heard him call.
He stretched his neck and his gaze fell on me. He gave me a small smile hello, pointed at the tiny running person and shrugged. I bit my lip to hide a smile and shook my head with an apologetic shrug. His look told me he didn’t think I was terribly helpful. I smiled and closed the window. He shrugged again incredulously and I held a finger up to tell him to hold on.
I jogged down the stairs and out the back door. By the time I stopped next to him, Maddy was running around at the bottom of their yard with her arms spread wide. Well, the bottom of the yard here constituting where the trees that surrounded the lake began.
“Is she a plane or a fairy?” I asked.
“No fucking clue.”
Accidentally Perfect Page 7