Page 107 of Lunar Crest University

“When he comes to you—” He pauses. “And he will. I’ll kill him.”

“That simple, huh?”

“He’s visited you already,” Luca says. “Alone. He’ll do it again. We can corner him.Baithim.”

Bait.

Oh, no.

“How?” I falter.

His silence is loud, and I immediately start to shake my head as I move his hands from my hips. I change my mind; I don’t want him to tell me after all. Facing the mirror once more, I dig through my makeup bag and continue fixing my face as I blot concealer under my eyes.

“Ask him to walk you home.”

I freeze, gaping up at him in the mirror. “That doesn’t sound evenremotelysaf?—”

“I’ll wait in the alley you always cut through,” he interrupts quickly, as if this is some crazy, genius plan. “I’ll do it there.”

“Luca, that is theworstplan I’ve ever heard.”

It sounds like a plan that’s serving me up on a silver platter right at Javier’s doorstep. He might as well put a sticky note on my forehead that reads:Here I am. Take me.As if he can hear my thoughts, he turns me to face him by my shoulders before cupping my cheeks in his large hands. I haven’t even blended my concealer yet.

“That fucker isn’t going to say no to you,” he says confidently. “He’ll see it as the perfect opportunity.”

“Forwhat?”

“It doesn’t matter,Princesa. You’ll never have to find out.”

I have a giant inkling in my gut that this isn’t going to work out that easily, but I’ve had enough stress for one night. If I worry anymore, I’m just going to be nauseous for my entire shift tonight. This plan makes me nervous, but I trust Luca. He has saved me over and over again and has protected me since the day we met. So, instead of arguing, I give him a tiny nod.

He kisses the tip of my nose before letting me get back to what I was doing and takes a seat on the toilet lid as he watches me work.

“Levi hasn’t responded to any of my texts,” I say, dabbing my finger under my eye to blend out the concealer. “And he wasn’t in class today.”

“You think something is wrong?”

“I don’t know.” I sigh. “Maybe he’s just committing to the ‘avoiding’ me part, but he’s never done it this long before.”

Luca purses his lips. “He ignores you like this often?”

Levi has some maturing to do still, I won’t deny that, but he’s my family. He’s there for all the holidays, anytime I’m going through it, and will drop everything to come to my rescue if I ask him to. We love each other even when we hate each other; that’s the rule.

“We have our tiffs.” Sifting through my makeup bag, I shrug. “That’s what friends do. Then, we’re okay again.”

“Sounds like he’s just pouting, then,” he reassures me. “Give him some time.”

“Yeah,” I mumble, my lips twisting as I chew at them. “I hope time is all he needs. I know he’s hurt, but I never wanted him to hate me.”

I’d be heartbroken if Levi hated me, especially without even allowing me to apologize and explain my side of everything. Of course, it’s going to look insane from his perspective, but he just doesn’t understand. Maybe I should’ve filled him in from the start, sure, but I can’t go back and change that now.

The past is the past.

And all I can do is apologize for being such a shitty friend to him over the past few weeks and validate his feelings while also protecting my own. I just want the chance. Lord knows I’ve been there for him every time he doesn’t deserve it, either.

I just hope he isn’t so stubborn that he pushes me away for good.

Chapter Forty

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