Rolling her pretty eyes, she stepped into my space. “You can’t kill every guy who looks at me, Luca.”
“No, but I can blind them so they can never do it again.” She sighed dramatically, and I smirked down at her before kissing the top of her head. “Let’s find a place to sit.”
We walked through the house, but each room was practically splitting at the seams with people. Keeping her close, I walked us outside because it was just too crazy inside. Violet seemed bored, and I was beyond ready to take her back to the dorm for an all-night cuddle fest.
I opened my mouth to tell her that, when something seemed to catch her eye. Violet’s brows wrinkled together, and then she scrunched up her nose as if she’d just smelled something foul before she turned angry eyes back to me.
“Were you even going to tell me?” she demanded.
“Tell you what?” I glanced back to where she’d just been looking, but I seriously couldn’t tell what or who had pissed her off so suddenly. There were about ten girls and just as many guys in that direction, and other than a few of my teammates, no one else was even remotely familiar to me.
“Megan!” she exclaimed. “Why didn’t you tell me Megan Hawthorn was going here?”
“Who?” I was clueless for a moment, then the name clicked in my memory. “She’s here?”
“She’s right there, Luca,” she hissed, waving her hand at the girls.
When I looked again, the girls were looking right at us, and I got a better look at their faces. The blonde in the middle did look a little familiar now that I was really paying attention, but I’d had no idea Megan was attending Alabama. It was the first time I’d seen her in all the weeks I’d been there.
“I didn’t know she was here,” I told Violet as I focused back on her. But her purple eyes were full of disbelief. “I swear. This is the first time I’ve seen her all semester. I don’t go to these damn parties, and you know it.”
“You’re honestly telling me you haven’t seen her this entire time?” Her brows were raised in skepticism, but I saw the way her eyes brightened, wanting to believe me.
“Babe, I go to practice, class, eat, and sleep. Not always in that order, but that’s my schedule every day. I don’t have time to socialize, and even if I did, I wouldn’t want to.” Grabbing her hips, I lifted her off the ground until our eyes were on an even level. “If I knew she was here, I would have told you. That bitch tried to come between us before. I won’t let it happen again.”
Violet wrapped her legs around my waist, locking herself against me. “I don’t like that she’s here.”
“Maybe she’s just visiting,” I suggested, hoping I was right, but I had a bad feeling I wasn’t. There was something off about Megan. She couldn’t take no for an answer, and she’d gotten more than a little stalkerish even though I’d told her to leave me the hell alone when I got tired of her constantly trying to get my attention the last few months of high school.
But she hadn’t been on my mind once since graduation. I’d forgotten she even existed until Violet pointed her out to me.
That she was at my school, when she could have gone to any other college in the country—fuck, the world—made me think she’d followed me specifically. I needed to talk to Dad about this, ask him if maybe I needed to get a restraining order or something.
But I would worry about that later. For now, I only wanted to soothe my girl. Rubbing my nose against hers, I pulled out my phone and ordered us an Uber. Once that was done, I shot Marsh a text, because I hadn’t seen him since we’d split up while getting drinks, to let him know I was taking Violet back to the dorm.
With so many parties and parents in town, the driver was dropping off a group of students in front of the house and was able to pick us up within a few minutes. In no time at all, we were back at the dorm, and I was locking us in my bedroom.
Chapter 20
Violet
I didn’t know how I was going to repay Uncle Jesse and Aunt Layla—and my mom—for taking me to Alabama for the weekend, but I was so grateful. It was something both Luca and I had needed.
I left that Sunday with a heavy heart, but at the same time, feeling lighter than I had in weeks. Having to wait until Thanksgiving to see him again didn’t seem so daunting now that I’d gotten two full nights of snuggling up to him, kissing him whenever I’d wanted, and just soaking up the joy being beside Luca Thornton gave me.
Because I was in such a good mood, when Shaw asked me to go to a party with her the following Friday, I actually gave in and decided to accompany her. Luca had an away game and was already on his way to Mississippi with the team. As a kid, Luca never traveled well, especially when it came to flying. It wasn’t nearly as bad these days, but motion sickness still hit him pretty hard. Luckily, they took a bus when away games were only a few hours from Tuscaloosa.
Still, he needed two motion sickness pills to make it through the ride, and they usually knocked him out. Thankfully, Marsh would sit with Luca during the trip to keep people from messing with him while he was out cold.
“How do I look?” Shaw asked as she walked out of her bathroom and did a little twirl. She was wearing a little black dress that fell a few inches past her ass. The glittery black boots she was wearing went all the way up
to her thighs, making her incredibly long legs look even longer. She’d done her makeup with a smoky eye and bold, dark-red lips, while her hair fell around her shoulders in silky waves.
I gave a wolf whistle. “Sexy,” I told her then looked down at my simple jeans and vintage Demon’s Wings T-shirt. My feet were in a pair of running shoes, and the only makeup I had on was a little mascara and Chap Stick. My hair was in a messy knot, and when I looked at my hands, I saw my polish was badly chipped. “Don’t even think of asking me to change.”
“Vi, you’re dressed like a rag doll, and you’re still hot as hell.” She rolled her blue eyes at me then grabbed her keys and purse. “Let’s go before Cannon starts running his mouth.”
I grimaced, hating that she and her brother were fighting so much lately. Since Shaw had gotten her license and she’d been given a car of her own, we’d hung out less and less with Cannon. That had put distance between the two siblings. But with how things were between Shaw and Jagger as well, that was probably a good thing.