Page 58 of Siren's Heart

Finally, the elevator stops as I reach her level, and excitement makes me hurry out of the metal prison. I haven't seen her since we arrived at the stadium this morning, and I'm quickly finding that being away from her is annoying as hell.

"Lucaaaa," she greets me through her open apartment door, and I quickly hide my two surprises behind my back. This is the most casual I've seen her yet, besides naked, and I'm so damn enamored.

She's not wearing any makeup, her messy curls sticking in all directions, she’s rocking a way oversized shirt that exposes her collar and naked shoulder, and jogging pants that look so wide they’re about to fall off her hips.

"Hi there, Sunshine," I greet her with a grin and brush my lips against hers, sighing when I taste her. "I've missed you. How was your day?"

Instead of answering, she purses her lips again and lays her head back until I give her another kiss.

"It was okay," she replies afterward, but she doesn't sound very happy.

"That doesn't sound very 'okay,'" I point out as I shuck my shoes off and push them out of the way with my feet, setting down my surprises for her on a dresser right next to the door. When I follow her to the living room, I find her looking out of her high-rise window contemplatively.

"Hey." I step closer to her, snaking my arms around her from behind. Putting her hands on my forearm, she melts against me.

"Sorry. I had a rude fan encounter today, and it left me a bit out of sorts. I’m pretty sure they’ve also filmed it, and now my mind is racing while I wonder if they uploaded it somewhere and if now even more people think I’m an asshole.” A heavy sigh moves through her whole body. “I haven't looked at social media all day, but at this point, not knowing what people say about me might feel even worse than knowing what they're saying, even if it's mean."

"What did the fans do?" I ask her softly, squeezing her a bit tighter and pressing my lips against her hair.

She pushes out another heavy sigh, her shoulders tensing as she recounts it. "You know, a lot of times they might call themselves ‘Siren’s’ fans, but really, they like only one of us." I hear her gulp and hold her a bit tighter. "And most of those times, they want to talk to or take a picture with Kayla, not me. Which is fine; I get the favoritism. It's nothing new, but the fans today were kind of rude about it."

"I'm sorry you had to experience that," I mumble against her hair. "People suck."

"They do," she lets out a long breath. "But this is what I signed up for, I guess. If it weren't for the handful of my fans who take the time to write me encouraging words, I'd take a page out of your book and just abandon social media." She turns around in my arms, leaning her chin against my collarbone as she looks up at me. “That sounds relaxing. But let’s talk about happier things. How was your day?"

"I got to watch the Walker brothers throw hands again, so that was fun." I kiss her forehead, a smile tugging at my lips as I feel her tremble with laughter.

"When are they not at it?"

"Probably when they’re asleep, but somehow, I doubt even that," I say with a chuckle. "Maybe this match is just bringing out the worst in them."

"I just hope the match doesn't end in a bloodbath." She snakes her arms around my ribs, sighing happily when I tighten my embrace even more.

"From what I heard, their sister is attending, so they might just be on their best behavior." I laugh. "Whatever that might look like."

"Right." I press my lips to her hair again, then slowly let her go. "Would you like something to drink?"

We go to the kitchen together to make coffee when I remember the surprises I brought and had left on the dresser. Millie’s already filling the coffee beans into her automatic coffee maker when I feign a trip to the bathroom and return with both of them.

"I got something of yours," I say teasingly, hiding it behind my back when I trudge back into the kitchen.

"Huh?" She looks up, an adorable wrinkle forming between her eyebrows as she contemplates what it might be.

“My panties?” she asks with her eyebrow high, but I shake my head. I’m keeping those. Maybe I’ll frame them, just to see her adorable blush.

"Ta-dah!" I say and pull it out from behind my back. "I collected it on my way here."

"Oh my God," she runs up to me, taking her mug from my hands. "What? That is beautiful! It looks so different now!"

"Right?" I chuckle, loving the way she's eyeing her creation full of pride, turning it in her hands to get a good look from all sides, extremely careful not to tip it over and scatter the pralines on the ground.

"Great, that means I can finally send out my post." She takes out her phone, and I eye her curiously as she scrolls, then taps a few times, then puts the phone away again with a satisfied grin on her face. "Just a little bit of promotion for her studio. I hope my fans come through and she won’t have to depend on her fundraiser."

I smile at her, my heart growing twice its size to make room for my adoration for her. I love that she's using her reach to help out Mary in a sustainable way instead of only throwing money at her. Mary’s fundraiser has already long reached its goal, and I can’t help but think that she has something to do with that.

She eyes her mug again, this time paying more attention to the pieces of chocolate inside it. With a sharp eye, she continues to turn it while slipping one of them into her mouth, groaning when the flavor hits her tongue.

Fuck I love that sound.

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