Page 132 of The Trophy

His mouth is so close to mine that his warm, minty breath tickles my lips; his strong, muscular body is pressed against mine warming me up for the first time since I ran from the Grand Hotel.

“I want to believe you. I need to believe you, because I love you too and?—”

He cuts me off, silencing me with his lips.

It’s a hot, hard, almost bruising kiss and I melt against him.

“Will you forgive me?” he asks softly and the only reason I can hear him in the deafening noise of the storm is that his lips are still touching mine.

I want to forgive him, it just hurts that he could think, even for just a second, even if he didn’t truly believe it, that I would betray his trust.

It takes two to tango.

My nana used to say that every time Bay and I got in trouble and my sister managed to look the picture of innocence when questioned. I never could keep my poker face and crumbled under pressure. But Nana knew that usually Bay and I were equal partners in any crime that was perpetrated in her house; no matter if it was breaking a priceless porcelain figurine that had been in our family for generations, or stealing some extra cookies from the jar in the kitchen.

It’s almost funny how that comes to mind in this situation, but Nana was right.

What happened isn’t just Luca’s fault. Maybe he let a flicker of doubt put a crack in the trust between us, but I also believed he would think the worst of me and ran away. What I should have done was putting my big girl pants on and knock on that door. I should have stayed and questioned him, heard him out and then kick his ass to the curb if he still thought he couldn’t trust me.

I know Blaze was reasoning with him and perhaps I should have given them the chance to figure things out before thinking the worst of them.

“Ok.” I say.

Luca’s big hand cups my jaw, his eyes searching mine. “Si? You forgive me?”

A giggle escapes me. “Yeah. I guess I should have heard you out before walking away. Besides, this rain is freezing and I need to get out of it.”

I was so worked up that I hadn’t noticed the giant umbrella with the Grand Hotel logo on it that Luca is holding in his other hand.

“I can help with that,” he says, opening the umbrella.

“How—” I blink, confused. “Why didn’t you use that sooner? You’re just as wet as I am.”

Knowing Luca, the answer shouldn’t surprise me.

“Because my thinking out loud almost broke us up and until I fixed it and I got you back, I didn’t deserve an umbrella.”

Laughter bubbles up in my chest. “So you punished yourself?”

He offers me his trademark cocky smile. “I thought I’d get started on that, just in case you decided you couldn’t forgive me.”

Cash and Blaze snicker behind Luca.

“Yeah, it was nothing compared to the ass kicking he would have gotten if he didn’t grovel properly.” Cash says.

Blaze runs a hand over his sopping wet hair. “Guys, now that the biggest part of the groveling is done, can we continue to apologize indoors? We have a hockey championship game to play tomorrow and we can’t if we all die of hypothermia.”

Luca passes the umbrella to Cash and sweeps me up into his strong arms. “Good thinking. Let’s go, I have Luigi waiting in the car just outside the gate of the pier. We need a warm shower and a big bed to help us forget this horrid day.”

“Does Luigi have a blanket or something in the trunk?” Blaze asks. “It’s a fifteen minute ride to campus, I don’t want Lake to be too cold.”

Luca’s smile widens. “We aren’t going back to campus.”

“Are we going back to the Grand Hotel?” I ask.

“No, that place has terrible juju, I don’t want to spend the night. I have a suite permanently reserved at the Country Club and it’s just a mile away from here. We’ll be dry and drinking a nice cup of hot chocolate before you know it.”

That sounds like Heaven, but I don’t get the chance to say that, because Cash rolls his eyes, snickering at Luca’s words.

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