Page 35 of Tulips and Lost Time

“I don’t take relationships seriously. I rarely revisit the same person more than a time or two. And I’m okay with what people say about it. I am who I am.”

“And perhaps you’re you, because you haven’t found a woman to take seriously yet.” She grabs my shoulder, digging her nails into my flesh until I feel her threat, then she drags me back until I lie flat on the halfpipe and my head tilts her way.

But now our eyes meet.

Her sweet breath on my tongue.

Her soft exhalations, a tickle on my lips.

“You’re a chauvinistic pig who tries women out like they’re a ‘trial before you buy’ kind of situation. It’s an icky personality trait to have.”

“Exactly, so?—”

“But I have a theory.” She glances down at my lips. It’s brief. Fleeting. So fucking inappropriate, I already hurt from the punishment Marcus is going to slam into my body. “My theory,” she whispers, “is that you’ve been waiting.”

“Waiting?”

She nods, just a tiny movement that somehow packs as much punch as if she’d swung her head around. “Waiting. Your heart knew those women weren’t right. But you were so caught up in loyalty and family and what was proper, you never stopped to examine the why and the who.”

“Kari—”

“Are you attracted to me, too, Luca?” Her green eyes glitter under a million stars. Her cheeks, warming because she’s just not this person. She’s not forward. Not confident. She doesn’t solicit a man and put her feelings on the table first. “I need you to answer me with just a yes or a no. There are no justifications allowed here. No qualifiers. It’s really simple. Are you attracted to me too?”

A long, pained groan works along my throat. “Bear… I can’t?—”

“Yes,” she growls. “Or no?”

“Yes.” I bring my head back around and my eyes up to the half-moon shining bright in the darkened sky. “Yes, I am. But it’s not gonna happen.”

She turns on the platform, resting on her side and cupping her face with her hand. I see her in my peripherals. But I refuse to drop my gaze and look her way again. “What’s not gonna happen?”

“You and me.”

“A relationship? Why not?”

“Because you’re a fucking child. Because you’re way too young to be thinking about anything with a guy like me.”

“I’m not a child.” And just to fuck with me, she hovers her free hand over my chest and traces the pattern of my shirt with the tip of her finger. “In fact, I haven’t been a child in quite some time.”

“You’re my best friend’s baby sister.”

“A topic that has been discussed ad nauseum. Men hit on your sisters every single day of their existence. Do you think it’s something you, as their brother, get to control?”

“No. But I’m not Marcus, and Marcus has made his wishes clear on the matter.”

“You mean, his wishes that I live a very long, very boring life with my girlfriends, seven cats, and absolutely no interaction with danger, excitement, or men?”

“Pretty much.” I reach up and take her hand. It’s short lived, and still, her eyes alight in my peripherals. But then I push it away and release her before I forget how.

Now her eyes darken. Narrow.

“You’re heading off to college.” I swallow and glance to the side. It’s a mistake. A weakness I swore not to give in to. But she’s so pretty. So sweet. And so close, I’m not sure in all my life I’ve been this near to her. “You’re leaving, Bear. And you’re gonna be gone for years.”

“School is an hour away, not the other side of the world. I could come home every single night if I wanted to. Every weekend if I was feeling lazy.”

“Being on the freeway every damn day is dangerous. And you’ll need weekends to catch up on your schoolwork.”

“So you don’t want me around?”

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