Chapter 41
Lemart soon finished his cigarette on the empty street
Inside the car, Samantha sat in the passenger seat, the soft ham of the engine fing the silence. The air conditioning was still running, but she barely noticed it. She had no idea what to say o do, so she just sat there, waiting.
After tossing the cigarette into a nearby trash bin, Leonardo lingered for a moment, letting the scent fade from his clothes before getting back into the driver’s seat
“Sorry”
Samamba’s head snapped up in surprise. She’d expected him to be angry or frustrated But she hadn’t expected him to apologize.
“T–II’s okay”
The car fell silent again. Leonardo didn’t say anything else as he drove her back home. When they finally reached her apartment complex, Samantha pushed open the doos, besitating for a second, unsure of how to ease the awkwardness.
“Thank you,” she said, defaulting to politeness
“Hold on.”
Samantha turned to look at Leonardo. His dark eyes were tied on hat, and the mole at the corner of his caught hat attention. “I’m sure you know exactly what I want now
“It’s no rush. Go home and think about it.” With that, he looked away.
Samantha quietly shut the car door and walked toward her building. She didn’t turn around, but she could hear the rumble of the engine idling behind her. The sports car only pulled away after she went inside.
samantha returned to her apartment and discovered that the living room lights were still on and the TV was playing. When she took a closer look, she noticed that Layla was curled up on the couch, munching on a bag of chips.
“Why are you still up, Layla?**
“oh, you’re back. Did you work time again?” she asked, sitting up.
“No, I went out for a late dinner.”
“Let me guest–steak?
“How did you know?”
**You ek of it. I could tell the second you walled in “Then, she huffed, “Unbelievable! Here I am, surviving on potato chips, while you’re out feasting like a queen!”
“That’s not true. I treated someone to a meal.”
“Is it that guy you mentioned before?
“Yeah”
“And” Did he agtertop you?”
Layla pasted the sput next to her, signaling for Samantha to sit down.
“Don’t take it too hard. It’s never easy to ask for you, specially with actual influence over Ethan. A guy like that isn’t just some random nobody–you’re going to have to work a little harder to get him on your side.”
Samantha parted her lips, wanting to explain that there was something the person wanted, but she couldn’t quite give it.
But it was too barrassing, so she just nodded. “Yeah I’ll keep trying” Layla started venting, “Listen, I waited for you to com
to come home to tell you something. You will not believi how the new place they were buying is meant to be his future marital bome. But be straight up said he wouldn’t buy li
sewhat happened with Ethan! I ran into him earlier, and his mom was talking about
“His moon and I were getting along great had her practically convinced, and then he just shut the whole thing dowit!,
“I was so mad But even though I was pissedalt, i stili aled and tried to get his number, thinking maybe I could talk him into it.
“But he just said that wouldn’t be cry and walked off with his mom! Seriously, he didn’t even look at me! Not even once What’s his problem?wear to God, have never met someone so rude! Actually, scratch thut–have. Leonardo’s number one, and Ethan is a close second”
Chapter 42
