Chapter 5
Five
Harper
Luca is far more charming than I first anticipated. I shouldn’t be surprised since he gets all the girls he could want. He’s certainly had plenty of practice flirting his way into their beds.
That’s one of the perks of being an athlete. I’m not blind to it. There are tons of girls who stare at him in class or “accidentally” knock into him to win his attention.
And he always falls for it, bending down, helping the girl pick up her books that she dropped.
You’d think that half the freshman class at Evergreen are clumsy, based on how many times he runs into a girl on a weekly basis.
Or maybe Luca is clumsy.
Not a chance in hell is he the one bumping into them. He’s got finesse on and off the ice.
I’m pretty good at ignoring it. In the beginning, I honestly didn’t care, but the more time I spend with Luca, the more I want to chase the other ladies away before they even have time to make eye contact with him.
Do I feel the embers of jealousy tingle and burn my flesh? Maybe a little.
We’ve spent the past several nights studying together. Mostly, it’s Luca teaching me everything that I didn’t grasp in class, which feels like a lot.
The first night, we had the place entirely to ourselves. Tonight, Ashton is in the living room with a movie, and the girl who had been upstairs at the party with Luca is crashing on the couch.
“Do we have to watch another boring documentary?” she asks, although it’s more of a whine.
“Nova, you decided to hang out with us. And I enjoy watching this shit,” Ashton says.
Luca chuckles and shakes his head, smiling at me. We’re situated at the kitchen table, with him seated beside me, studying. He leans in, his breath caressing my cheek. “Ashton can’t stand documentaries. He’s just torturing Nova for showing up uninvited.”
I don’t quite get the relationship between all of them. “Is Nova his girlfriend?” I ask. It’s impossible to ignore them in the next room over, the open layout not offering much privacy.
“Definitely not. She’s seventeen. I’ll kill him if he lays a finger on her.”
I press my lips together, wanting to ask but not sure I should. “Why is she hanging out on campus?”
“Home life is complicated,” Luca says, not further elaborating.
I’ve always been close with my family, but I had friends growing up who preferred my parents to their own. I get the explanation, but it also feels like an excuse.
My mind is miles away from the book staring open at me on the table. “Do you want to take a break?” I suggest and nod toward the living room.
“And watch that garbage?” Luca asks, raising an eyebrow. “I’d rather study,” he says, making eye contact with me.
That’s what we’ve been doing, studying, for the past two or so hours. I refrain from glancing at my watch. I don’t want Luca to think that I’m ready to leave, because that’s the furthest thing on my mind.
He’s quiet for a moment, scoots his chair back and stands. “I get it. You need a brain break.” He heads for the fridge.
I watch him from across the kitchen. He’s tantalizing and hard to tear my gaze away from.
“You’re staring,” Luca says, before glancing over his shoulder at me.
How the hell did he know that before turning around? Was he guessing that I was watching him because that’s what all the other girls do when he invites them over to study?
“Do you have a lot of study dates?” I ask and immediately regret my question. I’m not sure I want to know the answer.
He grabs two bottles of water from the fridge and the bag of potato chips sitting on the counter, bringing the snacks back for us to consume. “That’s funny,” Luca says, offering me the water. He drops the open bag of chips on the table between us.
I can’t help but stare up at him peculiarly. “What?”
“You thinking I have time to tutor other girls.” He smiles warmly and plops himself back down beside me. “We can order dinner, but it’ll probably be a while until it gets delivered. I thought you might want something to snack on in the meantime.”
“I have dinner plans for tonight, but thanks.” I grab a potato chip from the bag and stare at Luca. It’s hard to imagine him without a long line of girls waiting to be tutored.
“Hot date?”
There’s a hint of jealousy in his tone.
The truth is that I have zero plans, but I don’t want Luca to think that I have no life.
I smile coyly and glance at my watch. “I should start packing up and head out.” I organize what I can and shove the rest into my backpack.
“Let me drive you home.”
“It’s only a couple of blocks, I can walk.”
“It’s dark out already. You’re not walking alone,” Luca says with insistence.
I don’t argue, mostly because it’s chilly outside, and while there isn’t any fresh snow on the pavement, there’s plenty of ice from the previous week. “Thanks.”
Standing, Luca grabs my backpack before I can toss it over my shoulder. He’s got it tight in his grip. The chair squeaks across the kitchen floor, announcing our departure.
“Are you leaving already?” Ashton asks from the couch. He pauses the documentary, and there’s an obvious sigh from Nova, seated beside him.
“Please don’t leave.” Nova’s eyes plead with me to stay as she shuffles around on the sofa and clasps her hands together. “I’m begging you, if it’s me with these two monsters, there is zero chance of watching anything enjoyable tonight.”
“Drama queen much?” Luca asks, tilting his head slightly at Nova, as if he’s warning her to behave.
“Only because you’re a remote-control hog!” She grabs the pillow that was left out for her to crash on the couch and throws it at Luca.
The pillow lands with a soft plop onto the wooden floorboards.
“I can’t remember the last time someone cleaned that floor,” Ashton says, grinning at Luca.
“That’s because you can’t be bothered to clean anything, ever,” Luca says.
Nova’s face scrunches up in disgust. “Gross!” She hops off the couch and grabs the pillow, an unsatisfied look on her face as she attempts to dust off the pillowcase. Groaning under her breath, she glances up at me, looking for someone to come to her aid.
There’s a teasing sibling energy between them that I can’t believe I didn’t see earlier.
“Nova, do you want to grab dinner while these two boys clean their apartment?” I ask.
Luca lifts his right hand a few inches, gesturing at the backpack in his grip. “I thought you had a hot date tonight.” He glances briefly at Ashton, and there’s a look between them that I can’t quite distinguish.
“I said I had dinner plans. You inferred hot date from that,” I say.
Luca turns his full attention back to me. “With your friend, Kensley?”
I could make plans with Kensley, and I might catch up with her in the dorm, but she wasn’t my dinner plans.
I emit a soft sigh, lick the corner of my lips because, suddenly, I feel like I’ve been caught mid-lie.
“Okay, fine. I don’t have dinner plans with anyone.
Happy?” My tone comes out snippier than I intend.
Luca hasn’t done anything wrong, it’s just my defenses coming up, trying to keep my heart from getting stomped on all over again.
His shoulders seem to relax at my admission. Is he happy that I don’t have plans? He grabs my coat and helps me into it, like a perfect gentleman, before tugging me closer, pulling at the lapels. “You need to button this monstrosity up. It’s freezing outside, and we don’t want you to catch a cold.”
His breath tickles my cheek. His hands firm and strong, keeping me close, sends tingles throughout my entire body. My breath catches in my throat, my eyes slightly glaze over while I stare at him, perplexed.
His fingers deftly button my jacket for me when I don’t move quickly enough to do it myself.
I laugh, surprised by his actions.
“What’s so funny?” Luca asks, working on the buttons from the bottom of my coat. He’s on the fourth one already.
“I’ve never had anyone button my coat for me.”
“Never?” he asks. “Not even when you were a kid?”
I gently brush his hands away, doing the remaining buttons on my jacket myself. “Maybe when I was a child. I don’t really remember anyone doing it for me. It’s been a long time.”
“I'll bet that’s not the only thing that’s been a long time,” he mutters under his breath playfully.
I laugh, shocked by what I’m hearing. “Excuse me?” My mouth hangs open, staring at him, perplexed.
I secure the last button near the top of my coat, dig my hands into my pockets for my leather gloves, and playfully slap him with one of them on his arm before shoving the gloves back into my coat pocket.
“What exactly are you implying, Ricci?” I say, using his last name, scowling playfully at him. I’m not angry, just shocked by his comment.
“That it’s probably been quite some time since anyone laced up your boots for you too,” he says with a smirk. “What did you think I meant, McKenna?” he teases, using my own last name but in a much flirtier way.
I step into my boots, lean down and zip up the side, which makes it so I don’t have to lace up my heavy winter boots. It saves time, and right now, I’m ever so grateful not to be fumbling with the laces.
Luca slips his shoes on first and then grabs his winter coat. I swear he had me putting everything on backward just to fluster me. Is everything a game to him?
“We’re heading out now. Let’s go,” Luca says. He grabs his hat from his jacket pocket, slips the beanie on over his head and glances back over his shoulder at his roommate. “Clean the damn place while we’re gone.”
Ashton tosses up his middle finger at Luca, who waves and salutes his teammate on the way to the front door.
Nova throws the pillow at Ashton and hurries around the sofa, grabbing her jacket and slipping into her shoes. “Wait for me!”
Luca leans in, his breath teasing my ear as he whispers, “Did you really have to invite my sister on our first date?”