30. The future might not suck
Chapter 30
The future might not suck
Luca
T he death of me. Ariana is going to be the death of me. She drinks more caffeine than even someone my size should. She forgets to eat at least half the time, especially in the mornings. She doesn’t know when to stop drinking, or if she does, she just shrugs and barrels past it anyway. She’s my cousin’s best friend, my uncle’s adopted daughter, and has the same last name as me. She has trauma I don’t really know about and drives me fucking insane most of the time.
But I’m in love with her. She’s it for me. Her smile, her laugh, her spirit—I need it all in my life forever. I never believed in love at first sight or soul mates, but I sure as fuck believe in both now, and I don’t care if I sound like someone in a romance novel.
Which I know I do because I’ve read a few of the books the girls have been reading, and holy shit… But I digress.
Choosing who to invite to a party at the DeVille property is a big deal, and I learned a lot about background checks and shit over the last week from Parker. He might be a little weird, but he’s thorough. I’m not technically on duty today, but I don’t think I can turn it off when it comes to Ariana’s safety.
I stand next to her, making sure she’s actually eating the sandwich she has on her plate and drinking something that’s not caffeine or alcohol, when something behind me makes her face light up. She crouches to the ground as a tiny blonde girl bolts by me and into her arms.
“Ari!” The little girl lets go of her but places her hands on Ariana’s cheeks and pushes them together. “I missed you sooooooo much!”
“I missed you sooooooo much, too, Callie.” The tiny palms pressed against her cheeks makes her voice sound funny.
Callie giggles and drops her hands. “You haven’t come to babysit me in FOREVER!”
“I know. I’ll talk to your mommy and see if she needs a girl’s night or something really soon so Lil and I can come have a playdate.”
“With a tea party? And a movie with popcorn? And a cake?”
“Of course!” She picks the little girl up and plops her on her hip. “Hungry?”
I recognize the girl’s mom from the dance class as she walks up. “I’ll grab her a plate. She said she plans on spending at least five whole minutes just giving you hugs.”
“Who can resist five minutes of Callie hugs?” Ariana smiles at the mom, who smiles back before heading over to the food tables.
“Who is he?” Callie points to me.
“That’s my friend Luca. He’s Lil’s cousin. When we come over for a play date, he’ll probably come, too. He’s Lil’s babysitter.”
The little girl looks me dead in the eye and says, “Because Lil is a troublemaker.”
I chuckle and nod.
She turns back to Ariana. “Not you, though.”
“Oh no, not me.” She grins and boops Callie on the nose .
Callie looks at me again. “Luca’s pretty.”
My cheeks feel hot when Ariana’s eyes move to my face.
“Luca’s very pretty,” she says, blushing slightly.
Callie’s mom returns with a plate of food and a lemonade. “I can take her if you want.”
Ariana shakes her head. “I’m not giving her up yet unless you make me.”
“Okay, I’m going to go say hi to your mom. Callie, you be good for Ariana. And eat your carrots.”
Callie glares at the plate. “Ew, carrots.”
“But look, there’s ranch!” Ariana says with a laugh. “And if you eat three of those carrots, I’ll let you have one of the cookies.”
“Did you make the cookies, Ari?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Okay, good. Your cookies are the bestest.” Callie beams at Ariana, who kisses the top of her head.
As she hands food to Callie, they chat about preschool and dolls and cartoons. Warmth fills me. This might just be what my future looks like. Ariana, with an adorable tot on her hip, throwing smiles my way someday? Sounds fucking perfect all of a sudden. I don’t know if she wants kids. Hell, I never even thought about it before, but I’m thinking about it now.
Ariana, Lil, and I have an epic water gun battle with all the kids. After shooting Ari in the ear, she and Lil gang up on me and knock me to the ground.
“Dog pile on Luca!” Ariana shouts, and half a dozen little kids launch themselves at me.
She and Lil play bocce ball and horseshoes with their friends. They sneak attack me, Marco, Ford, and Sully with water balloons all damn day long. I’m sure they would get Parker, too, if he wasn’t hiding inside. He’s probably watching the whole party from his security room. I flip a camera off, and my watch dings, showing a middle finger emoji. Yeah, he’s watching .
For two girls who were adamant they don’t like parties, they sure as hell are enjoying it.
I can’t help but stare at Ariana all day. And follow her around like a puppy dog.
As the party winds down, she smiles while saying goodbye to a few guests.
Marco stops next to me and hands me a beer. “You’ve been looking at Ariana like she’ll be your queen one day.”
“She’s already my queen. Now, I need to convince her I’m worthy of being her king.” I take a drink of my beer and watch my girl.