“Me either,” I whispered in a voice full of all the remembered pain.
His lips brushed over mine again, this time in a barely there caress, making me gasp at how sweet it felt. “I love you, baby. I swear on my life, I won’t ever hurt you again.”
“I believe you,” I told him honestly. “But…”
His face darkened. “But what? Tell me, Vi. I’ll promise you anything right now if it means I get you back.”
“But you have to kiss me whenever I ask you to from now on.”
“Baby…” The amber of his eyes became molten, but I saw the hesitation cross his face.
“And I really need another kiss right now.”
“I don’t know how much willpower I have, Violet. If I kiss you as much as I really want to, I might not be able to stop.” But he was already cupping the back of my head, angling me so he could slide his mouth over mine.
“I trust you,” I murmured as our lips connected.
“But I don’t trust myself,” he groaned. “And you taste so fucking good.”
My fingers clutched at his T-shirt, pulling him closer in the confines of the vehicle. “Luca. Please.”
“Fuck.” His lips caught mine in a fierce kiss that left my mouth tingling long after he lifted his head.
“We have to be careful,” he muttered when he pulled back. “I could lose my head and mess this up. I love you so damn much, Violet. I don’t want to give anyone any reason to keep us apart.”
He was right, and guilt instantly flooded me because I was the one pushing for more than I knew he was able to give me. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to give me everything I wanted—we both wanted. It was that he couldn’t.
I should be patient and wait for when we could safely—legally—be together, but I was greedy. I wanted everything I could steal from him. If all I could take for now was a few kisses, then I was going to beg for all he would give me.
Chapter 13
Violet
I went to Luca’s game on Friday night, wearing his jersey from the week before and made sure everyone saw me as I took my place in the stands with Shaw and Lyric. And by everyone, I meant that bitch Megan. We sat waiting for the game to start, and when the team took the field, I screamed Luca’s name with my friends.
Like always, he fisted his hand and put it over his heart, and I returned the “I love you” gesture.
I could feel Megan’s hate-filled glares the entire game, and every now and then, I would meet her gaze and grin at her. She was obsessed with Luca. I could see it in her eyes, but she was never going to get him. His heart belonged to me just as much as his soul did, and I wasn’t going to let her take what was mine.
After the game, I waited right outside the locker rooms with Lyric and Shaw while Luca showered and changed. I was spending the night at Shaw’s, and her parents gave her a later curfew than mine, so we could stay out later if we wanted.
I knew it was coming before I even saw Megan. The air around me was thick with the dislike aimed at my back, and I almost laughed when I heard my name.
“Violet…right?”
I slowly turned my head, having been listening to Shaw and Lyric flirting for the past ten minutes while we waited. We all knew nothing was going to come of it, but Lyric was a total flirt with every girl, and Shaw could be an unrelenting tease at times. Plus, Jagger was nearby, talking to a group of cheerleaders and other girls, and she was trying to get a reaction.
My gaze drifted up Megan’s body, starting at her expensive white tennis shoes, over her silky-smooth bare legs to her ridiculously short skirt in the Malibu Academy colors. Her belly button was exposed by her uniform, and her top barely covered her chest. Her long blond hair was pulled up into a chic ponytail, and her makeup was absolute perfection despite having sweat the entire game from cheering.
On the outside, Megan was gorgeous. But her eyes told just how ugly she was on the inside. She wanted what was mine, and from the wild way her eyes looked at me, I wondered if she was mentally stable. For a flash of a moment, I had a shot of fear at what she could be capable of if she didn’t get what she wanted. But then she opened her mouth again, and all I wanted to do was shut it for her.
“I’m surprised your mommy and daddy let you come to the game all by your little self,” Megan said with a nasal laugh that was like nails on a chalkboard to me. “But then again, you have someone to hold your hand if you need to cross the street.”
“Back up, Megan,” Lyric warned. “Keep moving before you get into something you can’t run your mouth to get out of.”
Her gaze flickered to him for a moment. “I’m not scared of this little girl.”
“It’s not her you need to be afraid of,” he said with amusement, but there was steel in his eyes as he glared down at her.