Page 127 of Possess Me! (I Want You To)

He looked like Luca. Tall. Gangly but muscular. Though he was a lot thinner than his older brother was. His eyes were a dark gray, nearly black, and he had a suspicious lack of freckles that I decided I didn’t like. At all.

No.

Freckles were superior.

This was unbiased fact.

Luca swallowed, the aforementioned freckles on his nose scrunching up as his grin turned wicked, and his eyes sparkled with mischief. “By the way—I lied.” His cheeks were pink, his broad shoulders relaxed, a leftover paint smear sticking out of the collar of his shirt. His mother hadn’t seen the mess we’d made in his bedroom the night before, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what she’d say when she did.

“What?” Betty narrowed her eyes at him.

“While I’m a big fan of chocolate—” he began importantly, “when it comes to birthday cake, I actually prefer vanilla.” His grin was shit-eating as she gasped in mock outrage and Adam chuckled wickedly beside me.

I didn’t understand what they were laughing at.

Eliza smacked both her kids as she passed by them, shaking her head despairingly though no one believed the unspoken reprimand. How could they? When she was as shit at hiding her grin as her children were. Paul chuckled from his spot behind everyone, gathering the half-eaten gallon of rainbow sherbet ice cream from the fridge.

Apparently everyone was in on the joke other than me.

Adam nudged my shoulder, cocking his head toward Luca with a private smile. As Luca continued to mess with his little sister and his parents unsuccessfully tried to hide their amusement Adam ducked down to speak.

“He looks happy,” he said quietly, his voice deeper than Luca’s by half an octave. I didn’t like it. “You’re better for him than Hunter was.” Adam scowled, his ire mirroring my own as Luca’s asshole ex was mentioned for what felt like the millionth time. I wanted to set him on fire. To erase him from memory, like he’d never happened at all. “Luca never smiled this much when he was around.”

“Good,” I said, honestly.

Adam laughed, and straightened.

Luca’s eyes met mine, glancing between the two of us with unguarded fondness.

And I decided, despite the fact he’d mentioned Hunter, Adam was alright.

They were all…alright.

High praise, coming from me.

Luca’s eyes twinkled as he raised another forkful of cake to toast me.

When evening rolled around we found ourselves outside, lounging on the front porch, ice cream cones dripping. Luca was still too sore to play so instead we watched his family perform the most painfully horrible game of basketball I’d ever been cursed to witness in their driveway. Luca was surprisingly relaxed, considering the weight he was holding on his shoulders. The secret he still hadn’t told me. The promise—of what he’d agreed to do for me tomorrow.

I didn’t want him to meet Lydia.

She didn’t deserve to look at him.

But most of all…I was struggling with the idea of a world without him in it. There was no evidence to suggest that releasing me from the curse would kill him. But it had never been done before—a host, releasing their ghost while still in the prime of life. It wasn’t the way the spell had been intended to be used.

I couldn’t imagine a world without his stupid grin.

Sunset painted his floppy hair orange as he spread his ridiculously long legs wide, thigh bleeding heat into mine. Every so often Luca pushed the porch swing forward—a slow swoop, drop—our bodies swinging back and forth as he lapped melted ice cream from his fingers, content. Like clockwork after every deliberate lick, he’d raise his voice to heckle Adam, his eyes twinkling every time he got his little brother to stumble.

“Stop!” Adam yelled angrily, once—just for Paul to swipe the ball right out of his hands.

“Foul!” Adam screeched, but no one listened as Paul dribbled toward the basket, and scored.

Eliza gave him a high-five, their matching tracksuits (fuchsia today) somehow even more horrible in the setting sun than they had been indoors.

Luca’s gaze met mine as he chortled. The bruising on his cheek had faded some, but his features were still tainted by another man’s touch, and I hated the fact that my marks wouldn’t be the last left on him. He leaned over with a playful smile, tongue hot and wet as he sucked melted ice cream from my fingers.

My cock twitched.

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