He smelled way too good, like soap and cologne. His hair was messy but also looked like he’d put effort into his appearance. He usually wore a sweatshirt, but instead, he had on a buttoned-up shirt with dark jeans that fit him well. If we were normal people, I’d say he dressed up like we were on a date. But I wasn’t normal, and this was not a date. Not even a little bit of one.
I’d done the opposite. Dressed in a shapeless shirt with a jean jacket and ripped jeans, I could’ve been going to a punk rock concert. I even put on my high-tops and laced them. Seeing him looking nice made my stomach do a swoopy thing that annoyed me. I shouldn’t care that he looked nice.
“I brought you some snacks, if you’re hungry.” He cleared his throat. “They’re in the bag on the floor by your feet.”
“Hm.” I made a noncommittal noise, trying and failing to not analyze every single interaction. Was he being kind because he wanted us to have sex again? Or was he just nice? Was he trying to trick me?
Did I care?
The holdup to this deal was my heart. How much power would I give that finicky bitch when this massive, gorgeous man wanted to get me naked twice a week? Goose bumps broke out over my skin, the hairs on my neck tingling as memories from Sunday night washed over me.
Best sex of my entire life.
Mack and I joked about doing one-night stands freshmen year, and while she did it twice and hated it, I never could. Sex and feelings confused me. They were too intertwined in my head. My lust for Luca overtook my senses Monday night, but now? How could I separate the two?
I opened the bag, needing something to do with my fingers instead of pulling at my hangnails, and my throat tightened. Oreos and little portable packs of peanut butter sat there. My favorite snack. “What is this? How did you know?”
“I’ve seen you sneak those at the house.” His voice warmed. “I made a quick trip to the store Thursday and thought I’d get those for you.”
“Thursday? Not today?”
“Correct. Why? Is that… alright? Do you not like them?” he spoke faster, unsure of himself. “Damnit. I almost brought the Blueberry Cheerios but figured it wasn’t breakfast, so I didn’t know if you wanted those. I’m sorry.”
That blip of uncertainty combined with the fact he’d done this two days ago, not today to bribe my heart but because he was nice. I needed to get over myself and stop overanalyzing everything. Sighing, I slammed my head against the headrest.
“Are you okay? Did I mess up? Shit. I was trying to be a good friend here.”
“No, you are.” I opened the cookies and took two out, biting the top half off and eating it. “I thought these were sex-bribing cookies.”
“Mm, didn’t know those were a thing, but they sound delicious.” Humor laced his tone, and I snuck a glance at him. His lips were almost curved up in a smile, his jawline unfairly perfect. He gripped the wheel with his left hand, his right one resting on the console between us.
I felt my pulse in my toes, between my thighs, and in my neck when I stared at him. Every muscle on his body was hard-earned, and I knew how his skin tasted. My restraint at protecting myself slipped, just by looking at him.
“I can’t get hurt again,” I blurted out. “I like you as a person, Luca, and it might be smarter to not confuse our friendship with sex any more than it already is.”
He nodded, working his jaw like he chewed food. Then, he sighed. “Excellent point, Ms. Romano, great concerns.”
My mouth quirked. “Why do you sound like a gameshow host? I’m trying to be honest here, you dingbat.”
He laughed, a full cackle that warmed me head to toe. “Dingbat, huh?”
“Yes.” I fought my own smile. “This is serious.”
“The most serious.”
“Luca, oh my god, I’m going to hop out of this car if you don’t knock it off.”
He reached over with his right hand, placing his palm over my thigh and gripping my leg. Heat spread everywhere from his touch, and I sucked in a breath. My jeans were the only layer, but I might have been naked with how I reacted.
“I feel carefree around you, goofy. Normal. I can be myself with you without worrying about anything else, and selfishly, I want more of it, but I need rules, limitations to not mess everything up. You want to protect your heart, but I need to protect myself too,” he said softly.
“Relationships shouldn’t have stipulations,” I said, immediately regretting it. Relationship wasn’t on the table at all, and I foolishly ducked my head, avoiding his stare.
“This isn’t a relationship, Lorelei.”
His tone wasn’t mean, but it was direct. We hadn’t agreed to a damn thing, and here I was, making it more than what it was. I crossed my arms and glanced out the window as my face heated in embarrassment.
Luca released a resigned sigh. “Lo, who cares about what we do with our rules? Do you enjoy spending time with me?”
“A little.”
He growled and squeezed my leg tighter. “Little liar.”
“Okay, yes.”
“And have you thought about Sunday night often? I have, every second I can.”
“Obviously.” I squirmed in my seat. His fingers moved up my thigh, digging into the fabric like he was afraid to let go of me.
“You do something to me no one else does, and football will always come first, but I want you too. You know going in what this will be. No surprises. No lies, no games. Your ex was a dick, but I’ll always be honest with you.”
Sexually, not a relationship. I repeated in my head. I ran my hands through my hair, giving up on my resolve. There was no way I couldn’t agree to this—to explore this chemistry for as long as I could? I’d be a fool not to, but I just had to build in layers of protection. This was similar to Eric, with baseball being his reason to dump me. Luca was not Eric. That was certain, but this still had heartbreak all over it. I nodded, more to myself than Luca, and smiled.
“If I were to agree to this, and that’s an if, would we have a schedule? Like a quick bang on Monday and Saturdays?”
“Big fan of everything you said. The biggest, really.” He laughed and gripped my thigh again, harder and in control.
My skin prickled with awareness and heat, any hang-ups I had completely gone. Licking my lips, I spread my legs a little farther apart.
Luca groaned and his grip tightened. It was a metaphor to how I felt around him—amazing, but with a little pain.
Maybe I was a masochist.
Chewing my lip, the flicker of resolve I still had shattered into a million horny pieces. “Fine. I’m in.”
“Lorelei,” he panted, his voice strained. “You’re… in, in?”
“Yes. Let’s do this,” I said, not even fighting
A strangled, throaty sound left his mouth, a mix between pleasure and annoyance. I arched a brow, on the edge of my seat.
“You alright there, Monroe?”
“I’m contemplating what excuse I can give my grandma so we can turn around this second.”
While my skin tightened with need, disappointing people, like his grandma, was not an option. I took his hand settled between my legs and intertwined our fingers, ignoring the blip of my heart at how natural this felt. “We will not let your grandma down. You can keep it together for a few more hours.”
“I didn’t expect you to agree this soon into the trip. I figured I’d convince you all afternoon. This was never part of the playbook.”
“Ah, well, like any good athlete, you gotta adjust. I’m on the offense now, Monroe.”
He slid a warm look my way, something like pride shining from his eyes. “I’m fucking glad we’re on the same team, temporarily. This is gonna be fun.”
Temporarily.
I blinked, giving myself one hot second to be hurt by that word, and pushed it away. I didn’t get to be angry or upset when he spoke the truth. This was a more structured fling, nothing more. I forced a smile, attempting to let go of his hand, but he held on tighter. We remained that way the entire ride.
Watching Luca hug his grandma caused my already-confused feelings to morph into more complicated ones. There was something special about this tall, grumpy tight end showing affection for a petite woman with an attitude the size of a football field.
She patted his back for a few seconds before releasing him, and what is she doing? She walked toward me, her smiling face almost teasing me. “I’m so happy you’re here, Lorelei.”
I blinked back shock and tried to relax when her arms came around me. She smelled like old linen and lavender, and I squeezed her back. I wasn’t expecting to hug Luca’s grandma or have a rush of fondness for her. The woman was incredible, and for the second time that afternoon, a warning bell went off in my head that this was gonna hurt when it was over.
“I’m glad we were able to come up again,” I said, pulling away and feeling Luca’s gaze on my face. I didn’t meet his gaze, too flustered and confused to, so I stared at the photos on her wall. There were photos of her and a young Luca, and even as a child, he’d been tall and had the same dark, mysterious eyes that gave nothing away.
“You’ve been the talk of the place, I tell ya. With the socials, we’ve had more money donated! They’re working on replacing the ceiling tiles in the cafeteria. Isn’t that great, Luca?” his grandma said, the excitement evident in her voice.
“That’s good,” he said, his tone flat.
“When I spoke to the manager earlier this week, he mentioned some news outlets covering the condition of this place.” I squeezed the back of my neck, my face blanching with worry. “I know you’ve said you’re okay with this, but if you’re not, please let me know, and we can scrap everything.”
“Honey, I am all in. Xavier and Jeffrey down the hall are thrilled to be getting their ugly mugs out in the world. Lupe is bragging to her family about how hip she is now.” His grandma walked up to me and put a hand on my forearm. “I appreciate your concern, and I’m sure some of this is coming from Luca’s overbearing protective streak, but we agreed to be a part of this.”
The first real smile stretched across my face, and I nodded. “Well, in that case, do you have time to film more for posts?”
“Why do you think my hair looks this good? Yes. I’m ready!” She twirled, fluffed her hair, and grinned.
God she was a spitfire, and I adored her.
Laughing, I pulled up my notes on my phone.
Text from Eric.
I’d somehow missed that notification, and I swiped it away. I’d read it later.
“Okay, I want to revisit the advice portion. What can the youths learn from your generation?”
“I’ve been working on a bit with my gal Gertie.” Luca’s grandma had an ornery expression on her face, where her eyes sparkled and she seemed on the verge of laughing. “It’s a winner.”
“I’ll follow your lead then.”
His grandma pointed to the window. “We need to be in the parking lot for this one. Follow me.”
She waltzed out of her unit, and I trailed her, but Luca gently gripped my elbow, stopping me. Even though there was a layer of fabric from his fingertips to my skin, I felt the warmth from his touch all the way to my toes.
“Hm?” I asked, a little breathless.
“You frowned. Is everything okay?”
“I’m great.” I chuckled, trying not to breathe in his clean scent or think about what would happen when we got back to the house. His lips were right there, and his tongue wet the bottom one, sending a bolt of lust to my core.
“You had your concerned face though, where you get a little line here.” He touched his pointer between my eyebrows, smoothing the skin. “What made you frown?”
“Honestly nothing.” I shrugged. “I’m in a – oh, I know. I got a text from Eric.”
“What did he want?” Luca growled.
“Oh, no idea. Didn’t read it.”
His left cheek twitched as his grandma said his name. “Luca, you can flirt with her later. I want to get this filmed before I forget my idea, so come on. I know you can move fast.”
I smiled, charmed even more by this sassy-mouthed woman. Luca’s eyebrows remained furrowed, the wrinkles along his forehead dented into his skin. He wore a frown well, hell, he wore nothing well too. Was I so horny for him that his frown was sexy?
Yikes on a bike. I needed to get it together.
“Okay, Nanette. I have my phone. Where are ya going?” I walked by Luca, ignoring the draw to him. Was it possible for his coat to be filled with magnets that scientifically pulled me to him? It’d make more sense and would let me sleep easier at night.
“Right here.” His grandma stopped in front of a very weathered car. The old sedan had seen better days—decades—yet that didn’t stop the beam from her face. “Are you ready? Count down and say action when the video is live, dear. I wanna be like the clock users.”
I bit my lip, a snort coming out as Luca met my eyes. “She’s my favorite,” I whispered.
I queued up the camera and counted my fingers down to one. Go.
“Hey, kids. Want to know how to make sure your car is never stolen, robbed, or messed with? Nanette has the answer.” His grandma clapped her hands and spun around twice. Then she grinned and pointed her thumb over her shoulder. “Here’s how. Drive a piece of shit.”
She jumped out of the way, and it took all my willpower to not drop the phone from laughing.
“Grandma!” Luca yelled, his voice amused. “What was that?”
“A little thing I like to call humor. Look it up sometime. It’d make you happier.”
“This is… perfection.” I saved the video, which I’d edit later. “Nanette. You are a gem to the world.”
“As long as my string of exes see this, that’s all I care about.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder and slowly marched by us back into the building. “I don’t need to be walked in. I saw how you looked at her, Luca. Take her home and use your bodies while you’re still young.”
