The knock came again. “Luca, let’s go.” Lyric’s voice was quiet, but I heard it as clear as if he were standing at my side. “Nevaeh is he
re and will be down soon.”
“Give me two minutes,” I called back and got to my feet.
“Dad is looking for you,” my twin grumbled. “Hurry the fuck up before they find you.”
“Two minutes.” I repositioned my cock so I didn’t hurt myself permanently, then fixed Violet’s dress. As I put her straps back in place, covering her perfection, I kissed each shoulder. “That was close. My brother just saved me from committing a felony.”
“I wish he hadn’t,” she muttered unhappily, making me grin.
I kissed her temple and finally took two steps back from her. “Part of me wishes he hadn’t either.” Grabbing her by the hips, I lifted her and placed her on her feet in front of me. Other than her fever-bright eyes, there was no outward sign on her of what I’d just done. “You are so beautiful.”
She started to smile, and my heart lifted. But before the smile could reach her eyes, she jerked back from me. “This doesn’t fix anything,” she said, her eyes turning stormy. “You can’t do…that…and expect me to go on like what happened on your birthday never went down.”
“I wasn’t expecting it to. I got carried away and nearly messed up. I haven’t seen you, touched you, fucking kissed you in months. I lost my head for a minute.” I cupped her chin between my thumb and index finger. “I love you, Vi. I’ve missed you so damn much. I’m not asking you to forget about what I did. All I’m asking is for the chance to make it up to you. Give me another chance, baby, and I’ll never hurt you like that again.”
Her teeth sank into her bottom lip, and I knew she was giving it serious consideration. Lyric knocked on the door again, reminding me that we had to go. I clasped her hand in mine and brought it to my lips. “Think about it. You don’t have to decide tonight. Just promise me you will consider it.”
“O-okay,” she whispered.
Some of the pressure in my chest eased, and I brushed a kiss over her forehead. “Thank you.”
Linking our fingers together, I walked toward the door
“Luca…” Her hesitation made me pause and look down at her.
“Yeah, baby?”
“I’ve missed you too.”
Chapter 12
Violet
Nevaeh’s birthday party was a turning point in me giving Luca a second chance. Our encounter in the bathroom at my uncle’s house had effectively softened me toward the boy who’d broken my heart, and while I felt easy for having given in and let him touch me, I wasn’t going to lose sleep over it.
Scratch that.
I was losing sleep, but it wasn’t from feeling guilty or even angry with myself. It was because I couldn’t stop thinking about what had nearly happened. Every time I remembered Luca’s lips on my chest, his soft kisses on my flesh, the hungry way he’d licked and sucked… Then the way he’d looked at me—there…
I didn’t sleep much at all because of the memories, and I was more than a little grumpy by Monday from lack of sleep.
I hadn’t seen Luca since the party, but when he called or texted, I talked to him. As promised, I’d thought about giving him another try, and with how much my body ached for him, I knew it was only a matter of time before I did give him that second chance he wanted.
Until I saw Lyric’s social media post. He took a selfie with Luca after football practice that evening with the caption: Feeling cute, might bang the whole cheer squad later. IDK.
Normally, I would have just rolled my eyes at what a horndog Lyric was and kept scrolling. But one of the cheerleaders in the background of the selfie caught and held my attention. Seeing Megan looking at Luca like he hung the moon made my chest ache, and all the pain from the last few months came flooding back.
“What are you looking at so hard?” Cannon asked as he came up behind me.
I was sitting at the island in his kitchen, doing homework with Shaw. But when my bestie had gone to the bathroom, I’d decided to check social media. Now I was wishing I’d deleted my accounts so I wouldn’t have to see the enemy practically panting over the one guy who was supposed to be mine.
Dropping one arm over my shoulders, he leaned down and frowned at the picture on my screen. “Lyric is such a dog,” he said with a snort before walking to the fridge for a bottle of water.
“Yeah,” I muttered, my eyes still glued to Megan.
I heard Shaw coming from the bathroom and exited the app. Schooling my face so it didn’t give away how destroyed I was once again, I turned my attention back to the rough draft of my essay that was due the next day.