Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
P icking up my phone from the breakfast table, I kiss my mom and then my dad goodbye.
“Who is calling you at this hour?” Papa asks when my phone starts ringing. I look at the display before turning the screen to show him.
“Trial number one,” I tell him, my brother Lorenzo’s name flashing across the screen. I miss him something crazy. While we were in Italy, he did the unthinkable. Asshole ran off and got married.
I helped him, like any good sister would. I wasn’t missing my brother’s wedding for anything. But, seriously, he married the daughter of our parents’ friends from Australia. Kyla. I’ve always liked the girl. Never thought she’d become my sister, though. But here we are.
“Lorenzo, you homesick already?” I ask, answering the call as I make my way to the garage.
“I miss you,” he says. “How’re things?”
“Same. Not much has changed. I just have one less brother trying to lock me away in Rapunzel’s tower.” I laugh.
“ She escaped. There are no windows to climb out of in the tower I have planned for you, little sis,” he tells me. “You staying out of trouble?”
“Yes, Dad , I am.” I start the ignition and wait for the car’s Bluetooth to pick up the call before I pull out of the garage. “I’m heading to school as we speak.”
“School, huh? That where you threw a star at some kid yesterday? Or is that where you knocked a girl unconscious and broke her wrist?” my brother asks me.
“I feel like it’s the same place for both of those incidents,” I say, while trying to figure out which one of my cousins is the narc. My money is on Orlando, because ever since we’ve been back, Dante has been all up in Josie’s ass.
“Aurora, why?” Lorenzo sighs.
“Two reasons. One, I won’t be disrespected. And two, I won’t let anyone disrespect my family.”
“You know you don’t need to fight Orlando and Dante’s battles. They’re big boys,” he says.
“I know, but it was fun.” I laugh. Also, better me than them. Connor wouldn’t have got off lightly if I waited for Orlando to retaliate. The only reason he didn’t is because I beat him to it. So, basically, I saved Connor. In a way.
“You really need to rein it in. Think of Mom. How is she going to feel if she finds out what you’re up to at school?” My brother’s right. My mother would be upset.
“Way to lay on the guilt. It’s not like I didn’t have a reason.”
“I’m not saying you didn’t. But please, just try to stay out of trouble,” Lorenzo pleads with me. “Maybe you can come to Australia during the break.”
“I knew you missed me, but I’m busy this summer.”
“Doing what?” he asks.
“Working on my tan,” I tell him. “Where’s Kyla? I wanna say hi.”
“Hello, Aurora?” My sister-in-law’s voice comes through my car’s speaker.
“Hey, I need you to make sure my brother can’t hear me.” I haven’t told anyone what I’m about to tell her. But she’s my sister now, and this is the kind of things sisters share, right? Also, we’ve been friends for as long as I can remember.
“Okay, I’m alone. What’s going on?” she asks me.
“I met someone. A guy,” I admit.
“Ohhh, oh shit. Lorenzo is going to lose his shit, Aurora,” she whispers.
“He’s not going to know,” I remind her.
“Well, not from me, he won’t. Tell me everything,” she squeals.
I knew I could count on her. “I’m so glad you’re my sister.” I grin. “His name is Connor. He’s… ah… not Italian. And he is… I don’t know. He makes me feel things.”
If anyone understands what I mean, it’s Kyla. She’s a lot like me in the feelings department. It’s why we’ve always gotten along well. We understand each other.
“Okay, that’s a good thing. Did you… you know?” she says.
“Have sex?”
“Yeah? Did you?”
“Yes.”
“And you liked it?” she presses.
“Oh, I liked it a whole lot,” I tell her. “Probably too much.”
“I know the struggle.” She sighs.
“Ew, nope, we are not swapping sex stories. You’re sleeping with my brother, Kyla.” I laugh.
“Well, you started it,” she says. “Okay, what else? I’m taking it no one knows about him? Is he from school?”
“He just transferred here, from Boston.”
“Does he know who you are? Like who your family is?”
“He does.”
“Okay, well, that’s good. I guess. When are you going to break it to them?” she asks. “Just so I know when my husband is going to suddenly need to fly to New York.”
“Not anytime soon. It’s early and we’re not dating. Just slept together a couple of times. It’s not that serious.”
“Are you being safe? Because teen mom isn’t how I picture your future.”
“I am,” I tell her. “So, how is it being married?”
“Amazing. I have the world’s best husband.”
“Are you just saying that because I’m his sister?” I laugh.
“As scary as you are, no, I mean it.” She sighs. “I never thought I could love like this.”
“What does it feel like?” I genuinely want to know.
“It’s like I can’t breathe when he’s not near, and when he is near, my skin prickles with awareness. My stomach fills with butterflies when I look at him, and my chest aches when I think about anything happening to him,” she says. “It’s hard to explain.”
“Yeah, I think I get it.” Wait. No, I don’t get it because I am not in love. I’m in lust. That’s not the same thing. “I mean, I get what you’re saying, not that I feel any of that,” I clarify.
“When you do feel it, don’t fight it, Aurora,” Kyla says.
“I just got to school. I gotta go. Tell Lorenzo to chill. Maybe give him a kid or something so he can stop worrying about me.”
“Even if we have kids, your brother will always worry about you. You know that,” she tells me.
“I know. Love you.” I cut the call and look around the parking lot.
Connor’s car is already here, but so is someone else’s I wasn’t expecting. I get out and walk over to where my cousin Mabilia is leaning against her trunk.
“What are you doing here?” I ask her.
“Papa enrolled me. Told me I messed up one too many times, so now I have to go here with the plebs. His words, not mine,” she says.
I laugh. I can see my uncle saying that. He wanted his kids at the predominately Russian school. Mabilia got expelled just before we went to Italy. I didn’t realize she wasn’t back yet. I’ve been a shitty cousin for not calling and checking in on her.
“Well, now we get to hang out at school together.” I smirk.
“Oh, fuck no. What the fuck are you doing here?” This comes from Orlando.
“I go here now.” Mabilia smiles.
“No, it was bad enough with one of you, but both of you. Fucking hell.” He shakes his head. “It’s too early for this.” He turns and walks away. “Stay out of trouble,” he yells out at us over a shoulder.
“So, you wanna give me the tour?” Mabilia asks.
“Sure, come on.” I link my arm with hers and we walk in together.
“Damn, there’re a lot of fine-ass guys here. You’ve been holding out on me,” she says, looking at all the crowds gathered around in their cliques.
“Not them,” I say when her gaze falls on Kenny and his group of jock friends. Connor isn’t there. Still, Mabilia needs to stay far away from the jocks.
“But they’re so pretty,” she says.
“The captain, Kenny, is Irish,” I tell her.
She laughs. “Papa would make an Irish stew out of him.”
When my phone pings with a message, I check it quickly and then pocket the device again when I see Connor’s name on the screen. “So, let me take you to student services and get your schedule sorted, or do you already have it?”
“I have it. And a locker, number four-one-one.”
“Up this hall. I’ll show you.” Her locker isn’t anywhere near mine.
“Hey, I tried to call you last night.” Krystal approaches us. “Mabilia, how are you?”
“Good, you?” My cousin doesn’t like Krystal. They’ve met a few times at parties. But Mabilia is polite.
“Good,” Krystal says.
“Why were you calling me?” I ask her.
“To see if you wanted to go to a party this weekend. You’re welcome to come too, Mabilia.” Krystal looks hopeful. She wants to be liked, always has.
“I can’t,” Mabilia says, dismissing her before turning to me. “I can catch up with you later.”
“Ah, you sure?” I ask her.
“Yep, positive.” As she says this, the bell rings.
“Show me your schedule.” I take the piece of paper from her hand. “Okay, your first class is down the hall, fourth door on the left.”
“So your cousin goes here now?” Krystal asks when Mabilia is out of earshot.
“Yep,” I say. “Who’s throwing this party anyway?”
“Kenny, who else?” she asks with a raised brow.
“I’ll think about it,” I tell her as I pull my phone out of my pocket and read the message from Connor.
Connor:
Don’t wear panties to math.
I snort. Aloud.
“What’s up?” Krystal asks.
I shake my head and pocket my phone again. “Nothing. Just my brother being an idiot as usual. I gotta go. Catch you at lunch?”
“Sure,” she says. We don’t have any classes together this morning. I do, however, have a math class with Connor. And when I walk in late, he’s already seated in the back, right next to my empty chair.
“Sorry I’m late, sir,” I say as I pass Mr. Porter.
“Miss Valentino, get your textbook out, page one sixty-three,” he replies with a disapproving tone that makes me want to cut his damn tongue out of his mouth.
I drop into my seat and start digging through my bag.
“You okay?” Connor asks.
“Peachy,” I hiss under my breath.
“Did you get my message?”
“I did, and if you even think about touching me right now, I will cut your fingers off,” I tell him with a smile.
“You like what my fingers can do to you way too much to cut them off,” he says confidently.
“Wanna wager on that?”
“Nope.” He shakes his head and turns his attention back to the front of the class. After about five minutes, Connor looks across to me again. “Seriously, what’s wrong?”
“I want to cut out the teacher’s tongue and shove it up his ass,” I whisper.
“Want me to hold him down for you?” Connor lifts a brow.
I look at him, considering his offer. Is it genuine? I have no idea. “Do you actually mean that? Would you really do that?”
He lifts one shoulder up and down. “If it means you’re not maiming me , then sure. I’m still recovering from where you stabbed me yesterday.” He smirks.
I roll my eyes. “I kissed you better.”
“Maybe I need a little more to really recover?” he suggests.
“Or you just need to toughen up,” I counter.