13. Buckle up, buddy!
Chapter 13
Buckle up, buddy!
Ariana
I ’m not a morning person. Never have been. Don’t figure I ever will be. I’ve never understood how Lil can be so fucking awake first thing. She jumps out of bed, sometimes before the alarm even goes off, and is just ready for the day.
What the fuck is up with that?
Getting me out of bed takes an act of god and a promise of coffee. Luckily, Becca would never let me down in the coffee department. And the act of god part is usually Lil.
My eyes are gritty as I glare at my supposed best friend. “Wake up. Wake up. Wake up,” she chants while bouncing up and down on the bed. She’s already showered and dressed.
With a groan, I pull the blanket up over my head. “Can’t we just play hooky?”
“No, we can’t play hooky. If for no other reason than that Luca has to go with us and do his babysitter thing.”
Oh, yeah. I forgot about Luca.
Okay, I’m lying. I definitely did not forget about Luca. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him. I was up half the night thinking about him. But I can’t tell Lil I’m crushing hard on her cousin.
We don’t keep many secrets from each other. I’ve never crushed on anyone like this before, and not telling my best friend in the whole world feels so fucking wrong. I’ve done a lot of stupid shit in my life, but this crush on Luca is probably the stupidest shit so far.
She drags the blanket off of me. After flipping her off, I roll out of bed and clean the sleep from my eyes in the shower. I pull on a short flared skirt and a t-shirt, then white knee-high socks. It’s the last clean pair in Lil’s drawer, so I order a couple more packs and click on same-day-delivery because I’ll forget to do it later.
Figuring out my shoes is always the hardest part of getting ready, and it takes me a solid five minutes before I finally settle on blood-red Mary Janes.
After I pull my hair up in a messy bun, we go in search of coffee so we don’t murder anyone. Luca’s door is still closed when Lil and I walk by it. Maybe he overslept. No way am I knocking to find out.
Our cups are waiting for us on the counter in the kitchen. “Becca, you’re my favorite person,” I tell her as I inhale the sweet smell of coffee and creamer. She chuckles and hands me a plate with a waffle on it. Halfway through my breakfast, an alarm goes off on my phone to remind me to take my ADHD meds, like it does every morning. It surprises me, making me jump, like it does every morning.
Luca comes in a few minutes later.
“Do you want coffee, Luca?” Becca asks.
He nods. “Please. Black.”
Yuck. I crinkle my nose and wonder what I ever saw in him. He brings his mug up to his lips and raises that fucking sexy eyebrow at me. Fuck, that eyebrow. Why does it do things to me ?
I should have thrown extra panties in my bag. It’s going to be a long day.
“Shit, we need to get going.” Lil jumps up off her stool.
I chug the rest of my coffee, pour more into a travel mug, and then grab my bag and keys. Luca doesn’t say anything. He just follows us out to the garage.
“This should go without saying, Luca, but ‘shotgun forever.’” Lil opens the passenger door and hops in. As I slip into the driver’s seat, I swear I hear a low growl leave him, which would go along and even rhyme with his scowl, but maybe I imagined it. Who fucking growls like that in real life? He folds himself into the back seat behind me and crosses his arms, staring out the window. At what, I don’t know because we’re just sitting in the garage. Maybe the Ferrari next to us pissed him off somehow.
After two minutes, half of which I spent putting my seat back to where it belongs because a fucking growly giant drove my car last, he turns to look at me in the rearview mirror. Fuck, that growly giant is fucking hot. He doesn’t say anything, but his face asks, ‘Why aren’t we moving?’ for him.
“Seatbelt,” I say aloud, having no idea how to convey it silently without looking like a mime.
“Seriously?” He glares, and I fight the urge to giggle. Annoying him is fun.
“Yes, seriously.” I wait, tapping my bare fingernails on the steering wheel. I’ll wait all day.
He sighs, clearly exasperated with me already, which makes me chuckle, which makes him glare again, but he buckles his seatbelt. As soon as it clicks, I back out of the open garage, spin the car around, and haul ass down the driveway.
“Fuck, I thought you were the good driver,” he mutters.
“She is.” Lil’s always the first to have my back. The gate opens as soon as they see us coming, so I don’t have to slow down. I wave at the guards, and they raise their hands, showing three fingers .
“Did they just do the Hunger Games salute thing?” Luca looks confused as fuck when I glance at him in the rearview mirror again, and it’s seriously cute.
“May the odds be ever in your favor, Luca.” I grin as I drift around a few corners on our private road. Once we get to the public street, I stop driving like an asshole and crank up the music. Fifteen minutes later, I pull into the parking lot on the West side of Finch Hills University.
“Damn it, Lisa washed her car.” I let out a sad sigh.
“Because you drew penises on it, Ari.”
“They were unicorns, Lil. U-ni-corns.”
Lil laughs as I park. “Peniscorns. Unicocks. Walking wieners with horns. Definitely not normal unicorns.”
“I worked hard on those!”
“I know. They were good unicocks.”
Luca’s got one of those expressions I can’t figure out on his face. Sometimes I can read him, and sometimes it’s like he’s putting on a mask, so I can’t.
“So, are you just supposed to follow us around all day?” Lil asks as we get out of the car.
“Yup.” He pops the p before sighing heavily. “Follow you, stay close by, sit outside the rooms you’re in… are all your classes together?” he asks while looking around like he’s expecting someone to stroll up and try to assault us. I wonder how much Dad’s told him so far.
“That’s one way to look at it,” I say.
His head turns my way. “What does that mean?”
“It means I don’t take classes. I just hang out in Lil’s.”
His eyebrows go up. Both of them. Way up. “What?”
I tilt my head. “What, what?”
“You’re not enrolled in classes?”
“No.”
“But you come to campus? ”
“Yes.”
“And go to Lil’s classes?”
“Yes.”
“And do… what?” he asks, looking adorably confused.
I shrug a shoulder. “Whatever I feel like at the moment. I made bracelets last week.”
“Why?”
“I like bracelets.” I wave my arms round, making the beads clink together.
“No. Why do you come here?”
“Someone needs to drive her, and I get bored at home without her,” I say, not wanting to let on to just how codependent Lil and I are.
“The instructors don’t have a problem with this?” His head swivels between us.
“Not usually, after we show them our note,” Lil says.
His eyebrows go up another notch. I think they’re legitimately trying to crawl up into his hair. “You have a note?”
“Of course we have a note,” I scoff. Unzipping a pocket in my purse, I pull out a folded-up piece of paper and hand it to Luca. My fingertips brush his, sending a sharp zap through my body. His blue eyes dart to mine just long enough to make me think maybe he felt it, too.
Clearing his throat as he unfolds the note and reads it aloud. “To whom it may concern, Ariana DeVille shall be allowed to accompany Lilith DeVille anywhere on campus as her emotional support human.” He looks up from the paper. “This is handwritten.”
“So?” I ask.
“And you signed it yourself.”
“Well, I wrote it.” My forehead crinkles, pulling at my stitches.
Luca pinches the bridge of his nose, muttering, “Jesus Christ.” A heavy sigh slips from between his full lips. Shit, how long have I been staring at his lips? “And this works?” he asks.
“Most of the time, yeah. If they give us any grief, ask if they want one signed by Dad, and that shuts them right up.”
“I bet it does.” He looks down again, flipping the paper over. “Why is it ripped around the edges?”
“I may have given Lil’s number out a few times.”
His chin raises, his blue eyes dancing with amusement as they meet mine.
“Hey, you gave yours out, too!” Lil blurts out.
I watch that amusement in Luca’s eyes morph into something darker. Could he maybe… nope, not going there. He’s not jealous. He doesn’t like me that way.
Snatching the note from between Luca’s fingers, I fold it up and shove it back in my purse before addressing Lil. “One time. Like a year ago.”
Lil purses her lips and furrows her brow. “Nah, it was at least twice. What about that guy last fall? The sloppy kisser?”
Forcing myself to not glance at Luca, I keep my gaze on Lil. “Are you trying to be late for class?”
“Shit. No.” She turns and heads for the building.
As we walk across the parking lot, Luca mutters, “You two are kinda weird.”
“We know,” we say in unison.
“We also don’t give a fuck what people think about us.” Well, for the most part, anyway.
Between being followed by a smoking-hot stranger and the still-fresh injuries on my face, we get a lot of stares as we make our way to the classroom. I start to care what people think a little bit.
Luca waits in the hallways while Lil learns some history shit and then some science shit while I read on the Kindle that lives in my purse. Not to be confused with the Kindle that lives on the coffee table. After months of forgetting to grab it before leaving the house, I had the brilliant idea to order another one to leave in my purse. Now, I’ve lost count of how many of those fuckers I have around. I bet Lil knows.
After Lil’s second class, we hit the cafeteria. Luca leans against the wall close to our table. With his arms crossed. In a short-sleeved T-shirt. Almost all the girls and a fair amount of guys who walk past eye fuck him, and it gets old fast. Real fast. I kind of want to growl at them or shoot them. Apparently, I’m possessive and jealous and murdery, even though I don’t understand why. It’s not like he’s my boyfriend or something. He doesn’t seem to notice any of them anyway, other than to assess their threat levels. I guess he’s taking this gig more seriously than I expected.
Luca’s clearly disappointed in our food choices, if the stink eye he gives them is any indication. I take a bite of my soft pretzel covered in an ungodly amount of warm liquid cheese. My eyelids drift closed as I let out a moan. I fucking love cheese. When I open my eyes, I catch something like fire in Luca’s gaze for a second, but then it’s gone.
What the fuck was that? Why was it so hot?
My new goal in life is to see it again.
Lil reaches into her backpack and grabs an energy drink for each of us.
“You girls trying to have heart attacks before you’re twenty-five?” Luca glares and shakes his head in an obviously disapproving manner. I roll my eyes at him.
“Just trying to make it through the semester, my dude,” Lil says in a terrible surfer guy impression and glares back at him. I snort at her ridiculousness, and the energy drink goes right up my nose.
“Fuck, that hurt!” My eyes are watering from the burn, but I’m still laughing. When I finally go back to eating my pretzel, I see Luca’s eyes darken again when I lick some cheese off my fingers.
I think it’s something along the lines of desire. And it’s hot. So hot. Like ‘I think my panties spontaneously turned to ash’ hot.
Ugh. I’m seriously crushing on Lil’s grumpy cousin, and either he’s crushing back, or I’m imagining that he is. My brain does weird things sometimes, so it really might be the second thing.
We hang out in the cafeteria until it’s time to go to Lil’s math class. While everyone settles in, I notice Melissa staring at me, so I meet her gaze and hold it. Melissa hates us just as much as we hate her.
After thirteen years of staring contests with Lil, I don’t lose them against anyone but her, and that’s a rarity. Melissa finally rolls her eyes and puffs out her breath. “Your face is distracting,” she complains in a horrible, whiny voice.
“Your dick breath is distracting, but somehow the rest of us are managing just fine,” I spit out, the words spilling from my lips before I can stop them. “I’m all for giving blowjobs, but would it kill you to pop a mint in your mouth when you’re done?”