Page 37 of Just One Look

“Oh, man,” she said. “Iknewthis was a bad idea.”

“Why? In what universe could this be considered a bad idea?I’dgo to dinner with this guy, just to look. Is he as hot as he looks in his pictures?”

“He’s … OK, the first thing is, yes, probably. Though you’d think his friend was even hotter. Marko Sen-something, on the same team. You can look him up, too.”

Jordan gave a little scream. “MarkoSendoa?I don’t have to look him up. I’ve seen pictures. Tell me you’re going to dinner withhim,and I’ll faint.”

“No. He has a wife and baby. A brand-new baby. I met his wife today. Long story. They were in trouble, the wife and baby, but they’re going to be OK. Marko’s extremely scary-looking, but he’s laser-focused on his wife. Which he should be, and anyway, I liked her. She was … she was unusual. Different.”

“So we’re not interested in Marko. Why are we talking about him, then?”

“I thought you might want to know. Also, see, it’s not about being hot, because I never know who’s hot, except that Luka is about twenty degrees Celsius hotter than anybody I’ve ever been out with, which is myproblem.He’s sort of … intense. But casual. Casually intense.”

“Twenty degrees? That’s not saying much. And here I was getting all excited.”

“Twenty degreesCelsius.You have to convert.”

“No, I don’t. I do not have to convert. Keep going. Why are you calling me? To ask if you should go out with him? Of course you should go out with him.”

“He thinks I’m a wolf child, though.”

“A what?”

“You know. A wolf child. I got all nervous and literal, you know how I do. Anyway, he’s not interested that way. I asked him if it was romantic, or sexual, or whatever, and he said … well, I can’t remember what he said, but it’s clearly not romantic.”

“You asked him,” Jordan said slowly, “if it was romantic.”

“I had to know, didn’t I? Also—OK, this is the big one. He was Piper’s boyfriend. The love of her life. What am I supposed to do about that?”

“Piper? Your stepsister? He was the love of herlife?”

“Are you just going to keep exclaiming in astonishment about everything I say?”

“Probably,” he said, “if you keep saying things like that. Explain the context, please. How did this come up? Were you discussing your New Zealand stepfamily, or …?”

“No. I read his name on his films.”

“On his … films.”

“You’re doing it again,” she informed him.

“Sorry. So he was a … what?”

“A patient. After his rugby injury. Also after he tackled my dog. I noticed he was holding his head oddly, anyway, and that he was in pain. The thing with the dog exacerbated his injury. I fixed it—well, I did my best to fix it, except that heplayedon it five days later—but still, it was my dog that did some of that damage.”

“What is all this about a dog? And why was he tackling your dog?”

“Webster. Very large. Black. Hairy. Undisciplined. Never mind. I saw the name on his films, and it’s not like there are Luka Darkovics running around all over the place. Anyway, I recognized him, once I saw the name, because I met him when I was here before. With Piper.”

“So this was …”

“When I was eighteen. She dated him for at least a couple of years, though. So is that bad? Wrong?”

“Hmm,” he said. “Depends. Are you in touch with her now?”

“No, but I know I should be. And with Lauren.”

“Why?”