The first time she'd seen Leo at the end of the Italy U21 game against Japan, all she felt was curiosity, and she could feel that same energy from him too, with the way he stared at her, but only for a brief moment and hadn't looked back again.
She'd been so used to the opposite that the absence of it had stayed with her longer than any amount of attention would have.
He hadn't been rude, hadn't been performing indifference, hadn't been doing anything at all except simply existing in the background as Carlo talked with Gianna.
Another thing she noticed as they got closer was the plainness of him.
Not plain in appearance but plain in manner, the sense that what you were seeing was what was there and that there was nothing more.
No careful management of how he came across.
Most people she knew, herself included, if she was being honest, spent a considerable amount of energy on how they came across, but Leo apparently spent none.
