He paid the vendor, and we moved on. I took a bite, and juices dribbled out of my mouth. “Oh my god, so good. Here,havea bite.”
Grabbing my wrist, he brought the plum to his mouth and took a huge chunk out of it.
“Hey! You ate half the damn thing.”
Luca chuckled,pulling me to his side, his warmth welcomed despite the late August heat. After he swallowed, he sighed. “Second best thing I’ve tasted today.”
He pushed aside my handfull of fruit, covered in sticky juices and kissed me deeply. His tongue moved slowly against mine, caressing it gently. I was being savored. Breaking the kiss, he didn’t move too far away. The corner of his eyes crinkled as he gazed down at me.
“Yeah, that’s the best thing I’ve tasted in awhile.”
I gave him a wry smile, but before I could make a joke about where I wanted him to taste, a voice I could go the rest of my life without hearing again shouted my name.
“Sasha?”
Turning away from Luca, I tensed as Beth Cooper cut through the crowd, dragging a woman behind her.
“Shit.”
Luca followed my eyeline. “Friendof yours?”
“Something like that.”I threaded my fingers through his, bracing myself for impact.
When Beth reached us, she was positively beaming. Even though she was smiling, the tightness around her eyes let me know she wasn’t here to be nice.
“What are you doing here,Sasha?” Her brown eyes looked me up and down, lingering on the flip-flops. “Dressed like that?”
Luca squeezed my hand. Squeezing back, I gave him a big smile. The last thing I needed was for Luca to stick up for me. That would only prolong this nightmare.
I turned toward Beth and a woman I recognized as an old college hook-up. “Lucashops hereweekly and asked me to join him. We’re picking up stuff for dinner.” Glancing down at my body, I laughed. “As for the sweats, I plead the fifth. It’s too early for me to make sound decisions.”
Positioning myself closer to Luca, I began the painful introductions. “Luca Moretti, this is Beth Cooper, my—”
Beth’s hand shot out as she interrupted me. “Ex-girlfriend.”
Luca froze next to me, but he shook it off and took her hand in a firm handshake. When their hands dropped, I looked at Beth expectedly, but she was apparently not going to introduce her companion.
Taking it upon myself, I addressed the fourth member of our group. “It’s good to see you again,Courtney.”
Beth’s eyes widened, and she stared at the woman holding her hand. Courtney’s cheeks crimsoned as her pretty blue eyes tried to look anywhere but me. I’m not going to lie. I loved thefact she remembered me and, maybe more importantly, she was uncomfortable with the possibility of re-hashing our tryst with her girlfriend.If that made me an asshole, so be it.
Beth dropped Courtney’s hand.“You know each other?” Her head whipped back and forth like she could glare the truth away.
“You could say that. We shared a suite in college.” Beth relaxed a smidge, and we couldn’t have that, so I added, “And I taught her how to go down on a girl.” I winked at Beth. “You’re welcome.”
It was petty, but Beth had always made snide comments about my partner count, so I figured why not use her slut-shaming against her? I felt a twinge of guilt for Courtney, buthonestly,she had to know that Beth was the fucking worst.
A sneer washed over Beth’s beautiful face. “Of course,you did. Is there a woman in the state that you haven’t fucked?” Her eyes turned to Luca with disgust. “Or man?”
“You know me. I like to fuck.”
Beth scoffed, and Courtney looked mortified by the whole interaction. I gave her an apologetic smile but offered no words to go with it.
An uncomfortable silence settled over us, so I finished my plum. Taking my time to suck the juices from my fingers, I went one by one. All eyes were on me.
Tossing the pit in the trash, I turned to a fuming Beth. Her eyes darted to Luca, and I was apprehensive for the first time since this little ambush started. Suddenly my goading seemed like a bad idea. Beth could be cruel when she wanted to be, and I didn’t want Luca caught in our crossfire like poor Courtney.
“Luca, was it?” He nodded, his jaw tight. “You know what? Good luck with her.” Her glare sunk into me as she continued to talk to Luca. “Theonlyperson Sasha loves is Sasha, so be careful with how much of yourself you give.”