22. Savannah
twenty-two
Savannah
As soon as Bradley speeds off down the street, I close my eyes and take a deep breath.
The anger I was clinging to in his presence drains from every cell in my body, leaving me cold and exhausted.
My ex took me by surprise when he stepped into my path as I walked up to my building with a takeout bag in hand. I don’t know how he found me, but it creeps me the hell out that he did.
Is Bradley having me watched, or is he watching?
An icy shiver slips down my spine.
The only person who knows I moved is Charlotte, and I made her swear she wouldn’t tell anyone.
Not even our dad, because I didn’t want to hear from my mother.
I’m already ignoring her texts about moving back to San Francisco.
If she heard I moved into a new apartment, she would only increase her messages for me to move home and start a surgical residency.
Nico, sensing my unease, tightens his arm over my chest in a one-armed hug. Absorbing the heat and safety I feel with him at my back, I lean into his hold for a second longer than I should.
My chest constricts in protest as I force myself to step away from him and put distance between us.
I liked how he came to my defense and threatened Bradley. No one has ever stood up for me like that before. The way Nico slid right in to protect me was hot as hell. Making Bradley jealous was icing on the cake.
When Nico told Bradley he was my boyfriend, a small part of me wished it were true.
Oh, no. This is bad.
“Gattina.” Nico calls me by his own personal nickname again, and my heart flutters. His gritty voice seductively brushes the innermost depths of my being.
A place no one else has ever reached.
Slowly, I turn around to face him, and I wish I didn’t. His smoky-gray eyes lock onto mine, and there’s no mistaking the flicker of desire in the silvery pools.
My heart races, and my lips prickle as he runs his thumb over his bottom lip.
The same energy that crackled between us as we kissed still hums in the air and below the surface of my skin, giving me goosebumps. It whirls around us like magic as we stare into each other’s eyes.
I wish I could go back in time so I could memorize the way his full lips tenderly cradled mine. He could have easily deepened the kiss, but he didn’t, even when every part of me wanted him to.
As if Nico can read my mind, a slow smile spreads across his wickedly handsome face. “Come on, let’s get you inside.”
He grabs the plastic bag of food I must have dropped on the floor and leads me away from the apartment building.
I pause in the middle of the sidewalk. “What are you doing? Our apartment is that way.”
Nico points to his car parked in the middle of the road. “But my car is over there, and if you think I’m going to leave you unaccompanied for even a second after that, then you are sadly mistaken.”
“Bradley is gone, and I know how to take care of myself.”
“Never said you couldn’t.”
“Good. Then we are on the same page.”
“Why are you being so difficult? Let me walk you upstairs.”
I gnaw on the inside of my cheek. Going with him is a bad idea.
“Do it for your new boyfriend.” He flashes me a sinful grin and places his free hand on the small of my back, nudging me forward. Heat pools where his hand lies on my body and travels south between my legs. “Please.”
The “please” does me in, and a bad idea gets upgraded to terrible, but I have a feeling that if I don’t give in, he’ll just hound me.
“Fine. But to be clear, you are not my boyfriend.”
Nico hums low in the back of his throat at my clarification of our relationship status. “Don’t tell that to Bradley.”
I cringe, hoping Nico doesn’t think that my lack of interest in him is because of the way he looks.
Nico is gorgeous, and all the ink on his body makes him ten times hotter. From the few pieces I’ve seen, I can tell they mean something to him and have been specifically chosen and placed on his body for a reason, which I find incredibly sexy.
Nico opens the car door, and I pause, staring into his beautiful eyes. “I hope you know that us not working out isn’t because I’m a doctor and you’re covered in tattoos.”
“Good to know.” His top lip twitches, and for a second, I’m afraid he’s going to ask why we won’t work out, but the question never comes. I can’t tell if I’m relieved or annoyed.
I quickly slip into his car, and he closes the door. The black leather interior is buttery soft, and the inside smells like Nico—leathery with a touch of salt and something a little dark and floral, sinful. I breathe his unique scent into my lungs, tasting the luscious notes on my tongue.
Whatever cologne he wears makes my mouth water and my clit pulse with desire.
I shift in my seat, easing the ache with a touch of friction. Why does my body have to have this biochemical reaction to him of all people?
Because he’s a sexy beast of a man who isn’t as big of an asshole as you thought he’d be.
I roll my eyes at myself and watch Nico strut around the car. He might not be an asshole, but he is cocky…and sexy.
Damn, he looks good tonight.
In dark-blue jeans and a heather-gray long-sleeved Henley with the buttons open at his neck, Nico looks effortlessly handsome.
The thick chain around his neck is hot as hell.
I kind of want to tug it. His dark hair is combed back in a way that’s neither messy nor neat, making it look like he just climbed out of bed.
My cheeks heat as thoughts of him in bed, my fingers tangled in his black tresses as he kisses my neck, rush through my head.
The temperature in the car shoots up ten degrees as Nico smoothly slides in beside me and starts the engine.
I stare out the window, trying to get my breathing under control, as he drives down the block and turns into the underground parking garage.
“You were engaged to that guy?” Nico mumbles under his breath, shaking his head in disbelief.
“Yep.” It’s hard for me to believe it too.
Saying yes to Bradley never felt right. I felt sick to my stomach until the moment I broke off the engagement. The anxiety and heaviness I was carrying fell away in an instant.
“You dodged a bullet. That guy is a douche-canoe.”
I throw my head back and laugh. “He is.”
Nico pulls into his parking spot and cuts the engine.
“Stay put,” he orders as he climbs out of the car, making my hackles rise in defense.
I know Nico’s being gentlemanly, but I don’t appreciate the gruff tone. Being ordered around bugs me. My knee-jerk reaction is to do the opposite. I blame all the years of being told what to do and how to act by my mother as the root cause.
Tell that to your nipples. My traitorous brain taunts me.
Looking down, I find said nips hard as diamonds, poking through my shirt like a strip of candy buttons.
I cross my arms over my chest and pray Nico doesn’t notice them, but when I look up, I find him smirking down at me. He totally noticed. Thankfully, he doesn’t acknowledge my situation and offers his hand for me to take. I ignore it.
Somehow, he’s still holding my carryout bag in his hand because, apparently, I can’t remember my dinner. My stomach growls in complaint. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” He taps his phone, and as if called by magic, the elevator dings its arrival.
I really need to find out how he does that.
Nico ushers me into the elevator as he scans the garage for any signs of danger, and only when he’s satisfied does he step in beside me.
Nico Romero might look like a dark villain on the outside, but deep down, he’s not all bad.
I’ve seen him with his mother, and Talia always sings his praises. He saved me from burning down my apartment, selflessly came to my rescue, and is now making sure I get home safe.
I don’t know if I can handle a thoughtful and protective Nico. If he keeps being sweet, I won’t be able to resist him. I already find it hard not to think about him throughout the day.
Plus, that kiss…
I shake the memory away as his heady masculine scent fills the space between us and keeps me from fully letting it go.
I keep my gaze forward, too afraid to look at Nico. Too afraid to see in him what I already know is happening to me. We’re drawn together. As if tiny invisible threads, woven around each other, are tugging us closer.
My skin prickles with awareness as the energy in the air shifts. I glance over to find Nico watching me. Again. Just like he did the first time we shared an elevator.
“You’re staring,” I scold.
“I know.” His tone is rough and gives nothing away. He continues to watch me.
“Stop it.” I move to the farthest corner of the elevator and lean against the wall with my arms crossed over my chest.
He tilts his head to the side, and his eyes roam over my face, searching. “Why?”
My throat thickens, choking on the truth. “Because I said so.”
Nico bites his bottom lip to stifle his laugh. “Sorry. Can’t stop. I enjoy staring at you. Trying to figure out what’s going on in that brilliant head of yours.”
Brilliant? How could he say that? He doesn’t even know me.
“Nothing going on up here.” I tap my temple and roll my eyes at him.
“Liar.” He places the takeout bag on the floor and mumbles, “I wonder.”
Nico takes two bold steps towards me. I put my hand out, and he stops, respecting my boundary. But for how long, I don’t know.
“Don’t,” I pant as if I’d run a marathon. My heart pounds in my throat as he takes another step forward.
“Don’t what? What am I missing, Savannah?”
Shivers wrack my body as Nico says my name for the first time since we met weeks ago. Each syllable pronounced in his gritty tone feels like a calloused caress to my senses.
“Help me understand because I know you can feel this attraction too. I’ve never experienced anything like this before.”
“Nico.” I say his name with an alarming level of yearning laced through each letter.
He shakes his head as if he’s waging a battle in his head. “Fuck it.”