Sempre (Sempre 1)

Her heart raced at the closeness. His body was flush against hers, the heat radiating from him warming every inch of her. He pulled away slightly to take a breath, their foreheads touching with a light sheen of sweat on his. Her nose brushed against his as she stared into his eyes, the green radiant. Looking into them, she could see the emotion inside him, hints of all those things flourishing in her. To Carmine, she wasn’t a possession. She wasn’t a title. She was just a girl.

A girl who suddenly felt like she was floating.

“I love you.” The words tumbled from her lips easily, like they had rolled from her tongue hundreds of times. But they hadn’t. She had never said them before, but as she heard them in her own voice, every cell in her body knew they were true. She hadn’t known what love was, but she knew it now. Love was the fluttering in her tummy whenever Carmine was near, the twinkle in his eyes when he laughed, the heat in her body from his words. Love was happy. Love was safe. Love was green.

Love was him—the beautifully flawed boy who made her glow.

He stared at her, those words hanging in the air between them.

“And I love you,” he said, his voice a whisper, but Haven felt it powerfully, deep down in her soul. “Per sempre.”

“Sempre?” she asked.

Cracking a smile, he brushed his pointer finger softly across her lips. “Always and forever.”

A loud whistling sounded out at that moment, followed by a thunderous bang. Haven ducked and covered her ears as Carmine continued to stare at her. “It’s fireworks.”

He helped her down and leaned against the car door with her to his chest, his arms around her. There was another loud whistle, and she looked in the direction of it as the bang rang out with a burst of color. She gaped at the vibrant lights in the sky, and Carmine chuckled. “See, just fireworks, tesoro. Nothing to be afraid of. They won’t hurt you.”

They watched them quietly before the crowd by the bonfire counted down. Carmine swung her around to face him, more fireworks going off in the distance. He leaned down and kissed her deeply when the countdown reached one.

“Do you have any idea how important you are to me?” he asked, pulling from her lips. “I’m finding myself again because of you. I never thought it would happen. My mom used to talk about fate, and I think you’re it . . . you’re my fate. You were brought to me for a reason, for us to save each other. Because you weren’t the only one needing to be saved, Haven. I was drowning, and you rescued me.” He paused. “Happy new year, hummingbird.”

She laughed. “You said all of that without cursing.”

He blinked a few times. “I guess I did. Well, then . . . fuck.”

* * *

Carmine held Haven tightly, the two of them enjoying the newfound silence. The fireworks had stopped and the crowd quieted, so all that was left was the two of them in the darkness. He could smell her shampoo, feminine and sweet, and all he could think about was how sexy she looked. Those other girls, with their and miniskirts and makeup, weren’t sexy to him anymore. La mia bella ragazza, with her chewed-up fingernails and flushed cheeks, was sexy. Because sexiness wasn’t manufactured—the shit was real.

She was real.

“I never hoped for a future until I met you,” she said after a while, “but I want us to have one.”

“You don’t know how much I love hearing you say that.” He brushed her hair aside and ran his tongue up her neck, circling her earlobe. “Can I keep you?” he whispered, laughing and pulling away from her as soon as the words came out. “What’s wrong with me? I’m quoting Casper.”

She glanced back at him. “Casper?”

“Yeah, Casper the friendly ghost.” He hoped she knew what he was talking about, but she just stared at him. “It doesn’t matter. It’s some stupid movie. You’d probably like it.”

A hard edge laced her voice. “What are you saying?”

He blanched. “I didn’t mean it like that. I wasn’t suggesting you’d like it because it was stupid or because you’re stupid.” He groaned. “Not that you’re stupid, because you aren’t. That didn’t come out right. You know I don’t think that. You’d have to be fucking stupid not to see you’re smart.” He paused. “I should probably shut up now.”

The corner of her lips turned up as she leaned back against him. “Thank you.”

“For knowing when to shut up?”

She laughed. “No, for always thinking about my feelings. I know that’s not something you’re used to doing. I’ve never had someone look out for me before.”

“I’ll always do what’s best for you, Haven,” he said. “I’ve thought about it a lot, you know. After I turn eighteen and can access my trust fund, we could disappear together and get away from all of this bullshit. Probably couldn’t take the Mazda, though, since it has a GPS chip in it.”

“A GPS chip,” she whispered.

“Yeah.” Carmine looked at his watch. “You wanna head home?”

She nodded. They climbed into the car, and he put it in gear, driving down the small road toward the highway as Haven looked out the side window at the trees lining the road.