Chapter 9
Nine
Harper
“When do I get to open my present from you?” Nova asks, her gaze fierce as she waits for Luca to hand over his present.
I get the distinct impression that he didn’t bring her a gift, which seems quite unlike Luca. Maybe he left it at home and is embarrassed not to have it with him?
“Later,” he says with a smirk.
Nova groans and rolls her eyes. A typical teenager move. “Whatever. You weren’t even invited to my birthday party. It was supposed to be girls only. Remember.”
“I think it’s nice that Luca and Ashton decided to join us,” I quip, trying to ease the mounting tension. I don’t point out that her friends bailed last minute, and otherwise, it would have been just the two of us if the boys hadn’t decided to drive up and stay over for the night.
Plus, the bonfire was a nice suggestion.
I stretch from the lawn chair, needing to move around. My legs are getting achy, and my butt is sore and a tad numb from sitting for so long. It might also be the cold getting to me. I’m not a fan of winter.
I keep my hands buried in the sweatshirt I’m wearing. It smells distinctly of Luca, and I try not to take a huge whiff, or he’ll probably notice and chide me for being weird.
It smells like him, though, and I hate to admit I like it, a lot.
“Are you okay?” Luca asks, glancing up at me as I tower above him, shuffling my feet.
He’s sitting in the lawn chair, enjoying the warmth of the fire.
“Yeah, I just, I need to use the bathroom. Do you think they’ll care if I wander inside? I mean, if they’re planning a surprise for Nova, she’s the one they want to keep out of the house.”
Luca clears his throat, his eyes widen, and he stands. “You can’t just go barging into the house.”
I don’t know what the big deal is. It’s not like we weren’t inside earlier. “I have to pee. I’m either going to do it out here or inside.”
Ashton and Luca exchange a glance.
“What?” I ask, looking between them. What aren’t they saying?
“Fine, I’ll walk you inside,” Luca says and takes my arm, guiding me toward the house.
“I can find the bathroom myself,” I say, unsure why the theatrics. Luca accompanies me to the back porch as we approach the door.
“Yeah, well, they asked us not to come inside until they were ready for us,” he reminds me. He knocks on the glass door and then goes to slowly open it when a man appears on the other side of the closed curtain.
I don’t recognize the gentleman, but he’s tall, a bit stocky, and bald. He’s got black slacks, and as he opens the door farther, I realize he’s wearing a suit.
Luca leans in, whispers something to the gentleman, and he glances at me.
The man isn’t quite dressed as a butler, but I can’t put my finger on why this man is standing at the back door, dressed in a black business suit, looking more like a bodyguard than anything else.
“I have to pee,” I say, interrupting whatever exchange is happening quietly between Luca and the mysterious man at the back door. “Can you let me in, or do you want me to go pee in the lawn like an animal?”
I’m joking, but the man doesn’t laugh, and Luca, I swear, forces a smile.
“She’s kidding. But she does need to use the bathroom.”
The bodyguard clears his throat, glances over his shoulder and grumbles. “Make it quick. Your father will have my head if he sees you inside.”
The mysterious man opens the back door farther, granting us entrance inside.
Luca grabs my arm and hurries me down the hallway. He’s practically running for the bathroom.
“Slow down,” I chide. “I’m not actually going to pee myself.” I do have to go, but the fact is I can walk to the bathroom like a normal person. I don’t need to run like a toddler who is potty-training.
Luca doesn’t say anything, just ushers me to the bathroom on the left, pushes open the door, flips on the light and fan and practically shoves me inside. “Be quick,” he recants.
“Fine. I’ll pee quickly, just for you.”
I shut the bathroom door and do my business, relieved when I finally get to sit on a toilet. And it’s a warm toilet. The unit actually has a heated feature.
“Swanky,” I mumble, finishing up and washing my hands. I glance at my reflection in the mirror.
My cheeks are rosy from the cold, and so is my nose. “I look like Rudolph,” I mutter, shutting off the sink and drying my hands.
I unlock the bathroom door and pull it open. “Do you want to go? It’s nice in there, heated toilet seat and all.” I point behind myself.
Luca abruptly shakes his head. “Let’s go back outside.” He saddles up next to me, his hand on my lower back as he begins ushering me down the hallway, back the way we came in hastily.
“Can we grab some hot chocolate, please?” I ask and pause near the entrance to the kitchen. The window overlooks the backyard, but the blinds are closed, and I can’t see the bonfire from inside. “It’s getting chilly outside. My fingers could really use a warm mug to help keep them toasty.”
“Of course,” he says and presses a kiss to my cheek. The warm gesture sends tingles throughout my body. I glance around, and there’s only the mysterious bodyguard standing near the door. His parents are nowhere in sight.
“What was that for?” I ask, staring up at him.
“Do I have to have a reason to kiss you?” Luca asks. He smiles at me, and my stomach flutters with a thousand butterflies all at once. “I’ll get the hot water started on the kettle, and you can go keep Nova company outside. I’m sure she’s dying of boredom with Ashton outside alone.”
He leads me to the back door, and the bodyguard opens the back door, letting me back outside.
“Weird,” I mumble to myself. I head for the bonfire, nearly tripping over my own feet, but thankfully I manage to catch myself before face-planting onto the grass.
That would have been embarrassing.
“Where’s Luca?” Ashton asks, glancing at me.
“He’s putting on the kettle to make some hot cocoa.” I sit back down on my lawn chair beside Nova. She hands me the bag of marshmallows.
“Hot chocolate must have marshmallows. The hot chocolate in the house is missing the best ingredient,” Nova says.
After Nova gets tired of the bonfire and we’re invited back into the house for cake, Luca produces a present wrapped haphazardly in birthday paper.
Although it looks like two rolls of different gift-wrap.
It’s a huge box, and I’m not quite sure when he brought it inside.
He must have done so when we clearly weren’t looking.
“Sorry, I ran out of wrapping paper. The dollar store stuff wasn’t a full roll.”
Nova laughs and shrugs. “Do you think I care about the wrapping paper? It’s huge! What is it?”
“Open it,” Luca says and leans back against the kitchen wall.
I could have sworn he didn’t get her anything, but maybe he was hiding his present all along?
Both of her parents are in the kitchen. Paige is nursing a glass of wine, and Moreno keeps glancing at his phone, clearly distracted by something—I’m guessing his job. He’s still in a suit. The man looks like he hasn’t gotten off work yet, and it’s well past ten o’clock.
I’m on my third cup of hot cocoa, craving chocolate, and it’s absolutely delicious. I swear Luca put something in it that makes me want another cup.
Nova tears the wrapping paper off the cardboard box. She yanks open the box and pulls out packaging paper, looking inside for her present. The box is huge, knee high and the amount of paper just keeps coming out.
“Did you forget the present?” Nova asks.
Luca grins. “It’s two presents in one. A moving box.”
Nova’s eyes narrow. “I don’t get it.”
Paige smiles, like she’s in on the surprise, or maybe she has an inkling of an idea what Luca got her as a gift.
“Since you’re attending EU next semester, you’ll have a place to stay with us. Jessie graduates early, and when he moves out, you’ll have a place this winter to move into, if you want to live with us.”
Nova’s eyes widen, and she takes a step back, clearly overwhelmed.
“Wait. You want me to move into your gross apartment? No way!” Her nose scrunches up in disgust. “You boys never clean that place. I’m not moving in to be your housemaid or whatever. Worst gift ever, Luca.” She tosses her hand up and gives him the finger.
“Nova!” Paige scolds her daughter.
Moreno ignores the entire exchange, texting on his phone as he’s physically present in the kitchen, but mentally, he’s a million miles away.
Is that how Luca’s parents are as well? He certainly seems closer to his mother than his father, at least the brief encounters I’ve seen at their house today.
“Keep digging. There’s a gift card at the bottom,” Luca says.
Nova rolls her eyes and lifts the entire box, tossing it upside down, allowing all the contents to drop to the kitchen floor and spill out. She fumbles around through the paper, finally finding a small envelope with a gift card inside.
She tears open the envelope and squeals. “Holy cow! It’s two hundred dollars for a spa day!” she squeals with delight.
“I thought you might take your new bestie with you,” Luca says, nodding toward me.
“That was really nice of you,” I say, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze.
Not that I was expecting to be included in the spa day present, but that he clearly spent quite a bit on her birthday.
Not to mention inviting her to live with him.
Although I don’t blame her for being grossed out at the idea of living with her brother and his teammates.
I’m not entirely sure he really thought that through, unless he was hoping to keep an eye on her. He’s made it clear to his teammates that she’s off-limits. I’ve heard the way Luca talks; he’s protective of Nova.
It’s actually quite sweet.
“Happy eighteenth birthday, Nova,” he says. “I’m really excited that you’ll be joining us next semester at Evergreen.”
She throws her arms around Luca, clearly pleased with his gift, at least the spa package.
Paige and Moreno smile and glance at each other. He’s finally off his phone, at least for the moment. “We have a gift for you, too, sweetheart,” Paige says.