Page 14 of Fire
By the third shot, the tequila goes down easier, and a plan forms in my pleasantly hazy brain. By the fourth shot, I realize it will take about one more shot to reach the stage when I can carry out said plan. When I reach for the bottle, Luca whisks it away. “Hey!”
“You’ll thank me tomorrow,” he says, standing up and putting the tequila on top of my tall kitchen cabinets that only giants like him and Grave can reach without the help of a step stool.
“That’s probably a good idea, considering you’re a rookie,” Dream chimes in. “Puking in someone’s belly button totally ruins the sexiness of a body shot.” He gives me a serious side-eye. “Trust me.”
I need that fifth shot.
“It’s been a blast, new bestie,” Dream announces. “But it’s late, and tequila always makes me horny.” He winks at Grave, who smiles at him. “It’s time for my boyfriend to take me home and make me scream his name.”
We all get up, and I want to tell Dream how much actually making a friend means to me, but the words stick in my throat.After watching me struggle, Dream’s face fills with compassion. “I get it. I know what it’s like to be lonely,” he whispers in my ear. Then he hugs me, which I try to mimic with awkwardly splayed arms.
Luca walks them out to the elevator, which is finally working because of Luca’s conversation with the landlord. While he’s out in the hallway, I push the dinette chair to the cupboard, retrieve the tequila, and chug back my fifth shot.
Luca walks in on me mid-swig. His blazing glare burns more than the fire of the tequila down my throat.
I put back the bottle and jump off the chair.
“You’re going to regret that in the morning.”
“No. I’m not.”
He gives a disbelieving snort.
“Even if I feel awful tomorrow, I don’t care. I wanted that shot.”
“Why?”
“Because I needed the courage to do this.” I march toward him, only a little unsteadily, and then I’m standing right in front of him, so close I can feel his breath on me.
I lick my lips, and I swear I hear a low growl come from him, but it must be the tequila fucking with my head. Whatever, as long as it gives me the courage to do this, I’ll cope. I lean closer. “I need to apologize to you.”
His brow furrows. “Apologize?”
I nod. “I’ve been awful to you. I shouldn’t have screamed at you. I shouldn’t have called you those names, shouldn’t have—” I try to finish the sentence. I really do, but I can’t get the words “I shouldn’t have tried to suck your cock” out.
Luca’s fists curl beside him, and he regards me with an intensity that makes my nerves fire throughout my body. “Shouldn’t have what?” he prompts.
“I shouldn’t have made it so easy for you to hate me,” I whisper, then turn and flee to my room before he can stop me.
Chapter 5
Luca
“I shouldn’t have made it so easy for you to hate me.” Evan’s words play over and over again in my head.
The apology hadn’t been what I expected when Evan walked up to me last night with determination burning in his eyes and told me he’d needed that last tequila shot for courage. I’d thought he was going to try to try to seduce me.
With every footstep he took closer to me, my cock grew harder—which seemed impossible since it had been rock hard since I’d watched him licking the Tajín off his lips from his first tequila shot.
Then he’d leaned in toward me, and all the good reasons I told Grave I had for not sleeping with Evan had lost any meaning. All I knew was Evan’s lips were inches away from mine, and my body tensed, waiting for Evan’s next move.
Which was to apologize to me, and before my lust-filled mind could come up with a response, he’d run into his room and locked the door.
He hasn’t come out since. It’s mid-afternoon, and I’ve barely heard a sound other than the opening of a cat food can and Delilah’s grateful meow.
But that was hours ago.
Just when I’m about to put my lockpicking skills to use, I hear his door open. “Morning,” he says, barely looking at me as he shuffles to the kitchen, where he downs a bottled water.
