face cloaked in shadows, but her green eyes glittered up at me.
“DiMarco sent me,” I said. “There was an incident at the bar.”
“Incident?” She kept the door firmly in place, like a shield between us.
“Are you okay?” I asked. “Zander said you didn’t answer his call for you to check-in.”
“I… I should go. You can tell him I’m fine.” She went to close the door, but my hand shot out, steadying it.
“Wait.” There was something familiar about her. Gently, I pushed the door open further, forcing her to sidestep the damn thing.
“You.”
Her breath hitched as she met my confused gaze. “Please,” she begged. “Just tell him you saw me and that I’m fine.”
My hand shot out, capturing her chin. I stared at her, my brows furrowed, and growled, “Tell me what the fuck happened.”
Chapter 12
Nora
“Morning,” Luca said as I joined him at the breakfast counter.
“Why are you so fresh and awake and I’m… ugh, my head hurts.”
He chuckled and shoved a glass of water and a couple of pain pills toward me. “Take these. It’ll help.”
He leaned back against the counter, watching me with those warm hazel eyes of his.
“Things got a little crazy, huh?”
“You could say that.” After we’d gotten back to his apartment, Lucii had challenged the guys to beer pong. Only, Luca had no beer, so it became tequila pong. I’d crashed out after a couple of rounds and vaguely remembered someone carrying me into the guest bedroom.
“Thank you, for putting me to bed,” I said.
“You remember that?” His brow arched.
“I remember… bits. I didn’t do anything too embarrassing, did I?”
“I never kiss and tell.” A faint smirk traced his lips.
“We didn’t…” My cheeks burned.
“Relax,” he chuckled, “you tried to kiss my face off, but I was the perfect gentleman.”
“I did not,” I gasped, and Luca’s laughter only increased.
“You’re teasing me.” My brows furrowed, but relief seeped into me.
“I couldn’t resist. Nothing happened. I don’t take advantage of drunk girls. Even if they’re as cute as you.”
“Luca…”
“Nora…”
The air crackled with tension. I was ready to change the subject when Lucii breezed into the kitchen looking as fresh as a daisy.
“Why am I sitting here with a nest on my head,” my hand went to my hair, trying to take the wild curls from my face, “and you two look like… like that.”
“Good genes.” Lucii shrugged, completely at home in a guy’s kitchen. “Is there coffee?”
“I just made a fresh pot and I’m making pancakes.”
“My hero.” They shared a smile, and something twisted inside of me.
Luca wasn’t mine… I had no right to feel jealous of their small interaction.
But did I want him to be mine?
That was the question I’d grappled with all night as we’d sat around until the early hours playing beer pong and listening to Nate regale us with stories of his college days.
“Where is Nate?” I asked her, because the last thing I remembered was the two of them getting up close and personal on Luca’s couch.
“He already left.”
“Oh. Are you seeing him again?” I teased.
“Maybe.” She shrugged.
“Well, before you leave, you can disinfect my couch.” Luca gave her a pointed look and the three of us burst into laughter.
“It was a fun night. We should do it again. Although we might have to find a girl for Isaac next time. I kinda got the impression he didn’t come because he didn’t want to play fifth wheel.”
“Fifth wheel?” The words spilled out, even though I knew exactly what she was getting at.
Luca cleared his throat and turned around to tend to the pancakes. Lucii shot me an amused look, but I ducked my head, nursing my glass of water.
“Good thing we don’t have classes until late morning,” I said. “I’m not sure I could handle it.”
“Nothing giant sunglasses, a strong coffee, and some Advil won’t fix.” She grinned. “I’m going to use the bathroom.”
“Can you remember where it is?” Luca asked, and she nodded.
“I think I’m just going to go…” I got up but the room span. My hand shot out to steady myself, but Luca was there, gripping my shoulders as he stared down at me with concern in his eyes.
“You good?”
“I… yeah, thank you.”
“You know, I wanted to ask—”
“Your apartment is so—my bad, am I interrupting something?”
We both turned to meet Lucii’s suggestive grin.
“Uh, no, I just felt a little lightheaded. I’m going to head back to my apartment though and take a shower. I’ll see you in class later?”
“Sure thing.”
“But I made pancakes.” Luca frowned, but I was already backing away