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“What is there to understand?”
“What’s the point? Why bother getting to know someone if you know it’s not going to last more than a week or two?”
“For fun.”
“In all the years I have known you, you have never been in a real relationship.”
“Real relationships cost time, and I’m selfish with the time I have. I don’t want to have to rearrange my life for someone else. Summer flings work for me. It gives me a chance to have a little fun, a little human companionship, then I can go back to life the way I like it.”
“Doesn’t it ever get lonely?”
She didn’t like where the conversation was going. She didn’t like being singled out and having her lifestyle choices questioned. “What about you? Other than high school and a little bit in your twenties, I haven’t seen you go on a single date. Don’t you get lonely?”
“All the time.”
She wasn’t expecting that answer. It was honest and raw and opened up a door to Enzo she never expected to glimpse behind.
“Why not date then?”
“Like you, I don’t have the time. My family and the restaurant have always come first, and most women don’t like to be third in line of priorities.”
“Men aren’t any better. God forbid you have a life outside of them.”
“Exactly.”
“And that’s why summer flings work for me. I don’t have to change my life to accommodate someone else.”
“Still lonely,” he said, and she couldn’t argue, because after listening to what he had to say, if anyone understood it was him.
“A little,” she admitted. “But I have my friends and family and all their drama to keep me busy.”
“Ditto. Or at least I did. With Marco getting married and Ella going to California.” He shrugged, a sad look on his face. “They don’t really need me anymore.”
“Maybe you’ll finally have some time for yourself.”
She thought the idea would thrill him, but the solemn glint in his eyes stayed. “Yeah, maybe.”
He put his blinker on to turn right. “I live that way.” She pointed to the left.
“I’m taking you to the doctor.”
“Oh no,” Cami said. “My cousin sprained his ankle two years ago and after they sent him for x-rays to confirm it was only a sprain, they sent him home with a script for pain pills and instructions to keep it elevated.”
“Your ankle is really swollen.”
“I have ice, I have a pillow, and I have an anti-inflammatory. I don’t need to go to the doctor.”
“It wouldn’t hurt to get it looked at.”
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I don’t have insurance, and the thought of spending money for a doctor to tell me what I already know…” She shook her head. “If I thought they’d be able to make me all better and get me up and walking, trust me I’d jump on it, but I know there’s nothing they can do.”
“Okay.” He put the left blinker on and turned.
He pulled into her development and headed toward her townhouse. “Make a right up here.”
“I know,” he said. He’d picked Ella up a few times the last couple of years when Ella was too tired to ride her bike.
“I thought you might have forgotten.”
