Chapter 24 Luca #3
“Please, tell me you’re joking.”
“I’m not. No, listen. It’s not as crazy as it sounds. My best friend Daisy lives in LA, and when I told her about our bet last night—”
“I thought we weren’t allowed to tell anyone about us.”
“Anyone who might risk the information getting back to my father. Daisy doesn’t know a single football player except for my brothers, and she’d never tell them or anyone else.”
“Does that mean I can tell the people I trust, too? My family, at least?”
“No. So, anyway, my best friend lives in LA, and when I told her about our bet, including the part about the devil’s housewarming party, she begged me to take her with me if I wound up losing the bet. Can your plus-one have a plus-one?”
I laugh. “Of course, she can. We’ll be a throuple.”
Chelsea giggles. “Oh my gosh, Luca. Daisy’s going to lose her mind.
Your brother has been her celebrity crush for years, ever since I showed her a photo of him while explaining the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry.
” She rolls her eyes. “It totally backfired on me, unfortunately. I was trying to explain why my people hate Number Ten, but she got little hearts in her eyes at the sight of him, and she’s been deeply in love with the devil ever since. ”
I crack up. “I like Daisy already.”
“She’s a huge football fan, thanks to me. Not for the right reasons, mind you. She likes gawking at hot men in tight little pants throwing their bodies around. But at least she’s willing to watch games with me nowadays.”
“She sounds awesome. Can’t wait to meet her.”
“You already have. She’s the friend who was sitting next me at breakfast in Bloomington.”
I don’t remember Chelsea having a friend back then.
In all my memories of that fateful encounter, the cute little brunette with the stunningly blue eyes was the only person sitting at her table.
In fact, once my eyes met with hers, Chelsea was the only person in the whole damned breakfast room as far as I was concerned.
But since that’s too intense a thing to admit to her, I scratch my chin and murmur, “Oh, yeah, I think I remember Daisy now.”
“So, anyway, she’ll pick me up at the airport, and then I’ll catch up with her over lunch for a bit, and then we’ll come to the party.”
“Is this the only way you’ll agree to come?”
She nods. “You only got two sacks, Luca, so don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”
She’s got a point. “Okay, I’ll fly commercial with you, then. That way, we can watch film together during the flight.”
“No, your big body will do much better on a fancy plane. Your comfort is too important for you to fly commercial when you’ve got the option to travel in style. Plus, I trust you to effectively watch film on your own now. You’ve gotten really good at it, Luca.”
I feel deflated. But then again, I’m fully aware it’s a blooming miracle Chelsea’s even agreeing to come to my brother’s shindig at all. “Okay,” I say on an exhale. “Sounds like I’ve got no choice in the matter.”
“You don’t.” She rolls off the bed and starts gathering her undergarments off the floor.
As she slides on her panties, she says, “I’ll tell my father I’m visiting Daisy for her birthday.
He’s got no idea Daisy’s birthday isn’t for months.
And if I say I’m going to squeeze in a couple training sessions with you while you happen to be out in LA at the same time, I’m sure he’ll let us come back a touch later than the current schedule allows. ”
“Where are you planning to stay in LA? Roman’s got a bunch of guest bedrooms.”
“I’ll stay with Daisy.” She’s got her undies and bra on now, and she’s moving on to her clothes. “So, don’t forget to text me the address.” She flashes me a heart-melting smile and slides on her shoes. “Sleep tight. Sweet dreams.”
“Wait, Chelsea.” When she meets my gaze, I say, “When it turns out you can’t resist fucking me at the party tomorrow—”
“Luca.”
“No, listen. When the urge strikes you, and you can’t contain it, tug on my sleeve and whisper the secret code.” I raise my eyebrows suggestively. “‘The limit does not exist.’ Say that, and I’ll drag you off like a caveman.”
Chelsea rolls her eyes. “Thanks, but that’s not going to happen. Not at the party and not ever again. Tonight was a total one-off.”
Everything about Chelsea’s body language betrays she’s trying to convince herself of that ridiculous proposition every bit as much as she’s trying to convince me. The glow in her cheeks. The flare of her nostrils. The telltale twitch at the corner of her mouth.
“Like hell it was a one-off, Chelsea. No, baby, that was just the beginning. Especially now that we know we’re a nuclear bomb together, we have to do this again and again, the next time being as soon as humanly possible.”
Her mouth twitches again. She’s obviously fighting not to return my smile, which I take as a very good sign.
“Good night,” she says, ignoring my prior statement. “Get some good sleep, and I’ll see you tomorrow in the pits of hell, otherwise known as the devil’s housewarming party.”