Jealousy.
Luca had never given me a reason to be jealous. Not once. And I was so confident in his love for me that I hadn’t really cared when other girls tried to catch his attention. It tended to be more amusing than anything else, and I knew I had more than a few enemies in the world because Luca was mine.
But right then, I felt sick with it.
Why hadn’t he told me about her?
And why the hell hadn’t I noticed her at any other game?
Then again, I might not have noticed her tonight if Mom hadn’t pointed out Megan’s obvious dislike of me.
“I’m hungry,” Shaw announced and grabbed my hand as she stood. “Let’s go get some concessions.”
I was so lost in my head, all I could do was nod as I followed her.
At the bottom of the stairs, Lyric was standing talking to a few girls, but when he saw my face, he grabbed me around the waist and hoisted me over his shoulder, ignoring the girls when they whined as he left them behind. “Where are we going?” he asked Shaw as he fell into step beside her.
“Anywhere that we don’t have to see that Megan Hawthorn girl for a few minutes,” my bestie told him.
“Ah fuck. What did she do now?” He slapped me on the ass, forcing a startled laugh from me.
“If Luca saw you right now, you would be so dead,” I told him as he set me on my feet.
He shrugged. “You’re laughing and you no longer have that lost look in your eyes, so I figure he’d get over it.” He wrapped his arms around me, hugging me against him hard. I sighed dramatically but hugged him back.
This guy looked just like his brother—minus about thirty pounds of muscle—but they were still identical in every other way. Yet I didn’t feel a single spark of attraction for him, whereas with Luca, all he had to do was smirk at me and I wanted to climb him like a tree.
But I adored Lyric. He was like another brother to me, and I knew he loved me like a sister. He was a great guy—at least he was whenever he wasn’t conspiring to cause trouble with his twin.
Shaw linked her arm through mine, and Lyric stepped up on my other side as we turned for the concession stand. “Tell me about this Megan bitch.”
Lyric shrugged. “There’s not much to tell. She tries to get close to Luca, but you know how he is. He only talks to the girls in our family, and his eyes only see you. But it seems Megan doesn’t understand the word ‘no.’ She follows him around school like a pathetic stalker, and she even tried out for the cheer squad in an attempt to get closer.” He got in line with us and then turned to face me. “You have nothing to worry about, Vi. Luca would never touch her. My brother is loyal and loves you.”
“I know that,” I told him truthfully. “But why hasn’t he told me about her?”
“Probably because he never thinks about her. She annoys him, but out of sight, out of mind. The only person who is important enough to Luca to be constantly in his head is you.”
Lyric’s answer made me smile. Most of the jealousy that was making my chest feel like someone was sitting on it eased. What he said did sound like Luca, but I couldn’t help the small bit of hurt that lingered.
Chapter 5
Luca
Sweat was pouring down my face and back by the end of the game. I was starving, sore, and ready for bed. But more than anything, I wanted to spend the rest of the night with Violet.
That wasn’t likely to happen, but hopefully I could talk her dad into letting me drive her home.
I rushed through a shower, ignoring the other players as they talked about a party the quarterback, Franklin, was having in the guesthouse his parents let him live in on their property.
“Yo, Luca,” Franklin said as he came up behind me and slapped me on the back. “You coming tonight? I know Megan would be really happy if you did.”
“Who?” I shrugged his hand off my back and pulled on a clean T-shirt. That name didn’t even sound familiar to me, and I didn’t care enough to try to figure out who he was talking about.
“Megan Hawthorn?” He rolled his eyes when I just looked at him with a blank stare. “Dude, that chick has been trying to get on your dick for, like, forever. You should come tonight and get some of that. Then maybe some of the rest of us will have a shot at her.”
“No thanks,” I told him as I grabbed my gym bag. “I’ve got something a million times better waiting on me.” I pushed past him, then called a goodnight to my fellow defense players as I left.
There were at least a hundred people standing around outside the field house locker room. Most of them called my name as I walked through the crowd, looking for my family and Violet. I spotted my dad’s bald head. He threw up his hand, waving me over, and I started toward him just as someone jumped on me.
I dropped my gym bag at the sight of blond hair flying and caught whoever it was in an effort to keep her from taking me to the ground. I didn’t even realize my hands had grabbed her ass until her lips connected with mine.
Everything around me seemed to go deathly silent, and I tried to pull my head back. But the girl grabbed my head and thrust her tongue into my mouth. She tasted like Diet Coke and mint gum, and she sure as hell knew how to kiss—and without even thinking, I let her.
“Vi!” I heard my brother call out, and that was enough to kick my ass into gear.
I dropped my hold on the girl and pushed her back. “Back the fuck up,” I snarled at her when she pouted up at me, and I glanced around for Lyric.
My twin stood there with his mouth gaping open at me, his eyes wide and his hands balled into fists at his side. “The fuck was that?” he demanded.
“Where is she?” I yelled and picked up my gym bag.
“She ran that way,” he said, nodding his head to his left. “Better go fix this, man.”
“Luca,” an annoying voice whined from beside me, and I looked down to see the girl still there. When I realized who she was—the annoying chick who followed me around like some pathetic lost puppy, whose name I couldn’t remember—I muttered a curse. “What do you even see in that kid anyway?”
“Who the fuck are you?”
Hurt filled her eyes. “You don’t remember my name?”
“Why would I?” Everyone around us was still quiet, and their eyes were riveted to the scene we were causing.
“I’m Megan,” she whispered.
“Well, Megan, don’t ever do that shit again. I’ve got all I need and more.” I tossed the strap of my gym bag over my shoulder. “Stay the fuck away from me.”
“But—”
“Back off,” I roared when she tried to touch me, and she flinched. I walked away but not before I saw not just my dad but Uncle Shane standing there watching me with narrowed eyes.
Fuck.
“She jumped me,” I tried to explain as I got closer.
“Yeah, we saw that,” Uncle Shane said, his eyes glued to my face. “But Violet only saw the end result. Wipe that girl’s lipstick off your face, and go after her.”
I scrubbed my hand over my mouth. “Did I get it all?” He nodded, and I took off at a run.
There was no sign of her right outside, so I headed for the parking lot. I caught sight of her as she was getting into the back of Cannon’s car. Muttering a curse, I ran faster and reached the front of the car just as it was being put into gear.