GROW UP GINGER

"Hey," he said, when I opened the door. "I hope it's okay that I came here. I just wanted to make sure you'd be here."

"How did you know where I was?" My voice came out cooler than I felt. "Did one of the girls tell you? Bonnie or Olivia?"

"No, no, no. Small town. I discovered my uncle is friends with your uncle."

"Oh." I tried to figure out which uncle. "I see. What's the name of your uncle?"

"Do you know the Barberini family?"

"Barberini?" My brain did a slow, awful turn. The Barberinis were one of the oldest families in New Venice. Money. Wineries. The kind of family people gossiped about across kitchen tables in low voices. Oh. "Okay."

"Do you know the family?"

"Not really. So you're the eldest grandson?"

"Wow. You lied that you don't know the family?"

"I might have overheard my cousin and her friends talking about the boys and stalking them on Igram."

"Have you looked at them?"

"Nope. I blocked my Igram account because of finals. I only use Zapps."

He nodded. He looked, for a moment, slightly nervous, and I thought: he's not the only one who's good at performing.

"Anna, I also wanted to apologize for earlier."

"Why is that?"

"I should have been more upfront with you about my intentions."

"What intentions?"

He took a breath. "I just wanted to get to know you better."

I felt my face go warm. I hated that it did.

"I'd love to go out with you again."

Before I could answer, Megan appeared behind me.

"Hey Anna, did you forget you're seeing him tonight?"

"Am I? I thought I was leaving today for the city."

"No, you're not! I asked my mom to call your mom to stay one more day. You'll leave with your dad tomorrow after lunch."

"Right."

"We'll see you tonight at the club party."

Ethan's smile sharpened. "All right. But before I go — Anna, can I have your Zapps?"

"Here," Megan said. "I can give you her Zapps."

She held out her hand. Ethan handed her his phone. I made a strangled noise.

"Megan. Wyd," I hissed.

"Don't worry. He likes you."

I put my hand on my head. I tried not to make eye contact with Ethan.

"There," Megan said, handing the phone back. "I hope you can text each other later tonight."

"Ciao," I said. The word felt small in my mouth.

"I'll see you tonight. Ciao."

He left. I closed the door. I leaned against it and breathed.

Behind me, Megan was beaming.

"He's gorgeous, Anna."

"Yeah," I said. "I know."

She wasn't done.

"Anna. Anna. Do you understand what just happened? He's literally a Barberini. You know his cousin Lorenzo? The one with the green eyes? He came into the bakery last week. He smiled at me. He held the door."

"Megan."

"I'm just saying."

"He didn't even ask your name."

"Yet." She grinned. "He's still single. Bonnie's sister dated him for a summer in high school. The whole family is — there's like five of them, all gorgeous. It's not fair."

I rolled my eyes and she laughed, and the moment passed, and I went up the stairs to get ready for that night, and I did not think about a man named Lorenzo Barberini again for over a year.

I want to record that I did not think about him. I want to record it carefully. Because there will come a time, much later, when I will need to remember that I had been warned about that family — gently, by someone who loved me — and that I had laughed about it and moved on.

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