Page 41 of Lunar Crest University

I know his words mean something entirely different than what is pumping through my heart, but I’m too selfish to give up the pieces he’s giving me. Tooweak.

The confirmation warms me from the inside out. I have to fight the smile that begs to appear on my face, so instead, I nibble at my bottom lip as I glance down at my fidgeting fingers. “I don’t want you to stay away.”

His sigh is quiet but echoes in the silence filling the apartment. It reverberates in my ears, making me wince as I peek up at him with a pained look. I should be thanking him for at least trying to be the sane one here, because all my sanity flew out of the window the moment he walked in the door. If I’m honest with myself, I haven’t grasped any rationality since I met him. It was left in the alley that night.

Luca cocks his head at me, and his eyebrows furrow as a torn look flashes across his face. It’s the first time I’ve been able to decipher any emotion in his features at all.

The doorbell ringing slices through the tension like a sharp knife, bursting the bubble and bringing us right back down to Earth. We blink slowly in unison at each other for a moment before he stands from the couch, straightens his shoulders, and walks toward the door. I find myself staring at his broad back as he whisks his wallet out of his back pocket to pay the pizza guy and how it flexes beneath his shirt with every movement.

Oh, Finn.

My life has been thrown off balance in ways that should send me spiraling, but instead, I find myself wanting to chase the chaos.

“Pepperoni pizza.” Luca’s voice brings me back to the present. His lips curve as he approaches me, opening the box and giving me a glimpse of the greasy pie. “No pineapple. Just as you requested.”

“Will you ever let that go?” I ask, taking a slice.

He plops back down next to me as he sits the box down on the coffee table in front of us. I don’t miss the way his arm rests on the cushion behind me as he bites into the pizza. His fingers brush my shoulder as he mumbles, “I’ll think about it.”

“Is it that weird?”

He looks at me pointedly, but there’s amusement in his eyes.

“Weird enough to make you want to leave?” The words shuffle out of my mouth quickly before I bite into my pizza, and a piece of cheese dribbles on my chin in the process.

A mortified laugh escapes my lips as I lift my hand to swipe it away, but the sound dwindles to more of a gasp as Luca reaches up and presses the pad of his thumb against my skin. His gaze sends goosebumps traveling down every inch of my body, like tiny bolts of electricity, straight to my heart as he gently brushes it across my chin. I’m practically a puddle at his feet as his eyes observe me through his thick lashes. The pizza slice goes limp in my hand as I freeze under his touch.

“No,” he says, and his voice rumbles through me. “I think I’ll stay right here.”

I’m a goner.

“Is that so?” I rasp.

“Yes.”

He sounds so confident as he speaks, and his eyes never waver from mine. It makes my knees wobble even though I’m sitting down. My chest shudders as I try to breathe through my nose, and I hope he doesn’t notice. As I’m on the verge of passing out, he’s stoic, not a twitch in his features or hesitancy in his demeanor. He’s being truthful—hewantsto be here.

“Is that okay?” Luca asks after a moment, and I realize I haven’t responded. I’m too busy trying to breathe in and out. In and out.Inandout.

“Yes.” I nod, only a little, careful not to move his thumb against my chin.

He moves it anyway as he brings it to his lips, licking the cheese from his finger and making my stomach seize from the rupture of butterflies inside of it. The sight steals my breath, and I only have a moment to recover before he leans forward to press his mouth against mine. It’s the tiniest of kisses, a soft peck that makes warmth pool like honey within my chest. He tastes like pizza and sin and all my darkest desires. I want to whimper as he pulls away, because I already miss the heat of his touch, but then, he kisses me again. Andagain. A multitude of pecks against my parted lips lock in my fate a little tighter each time.

It’s like he knows just how badly I need this. How badly I needhim.

“Finish your pizza,” he orders after the last kiss, leaning back with a faint smirk that disappears just before he bites into his own piece again.

“Yes, sir.”

His eyes catch mine as the words leave my lips, and he cocks his head slightly as if to saydon’t tempt me. This only makes me want to tempt him even more. I wonder how far he’s willing to go—how far I can push him. I know it’s wrong to think that way, considering our situation, but something about how those brown eyes warn me silently makes me want to disobey. The thought makes fire ignite inside the lower pits of my stomach.

A smile threatens to creep onto my face, so I eat another bite of my pizza before I allow him to see it. We sit in silence for a few moments as we finish our slices, and I’m particularly careful not to look up at him, because I know that suggestive smirk will be resting on his lips.

My knee bounces as I chew my last bite.

“Do you want another piece?”

I glance up at Luca, and all the anticipation erupting in my body flickers through his irises. It’s a trick question. Do I eat more? Do I say no because I’m impatiently awaiting what happens next? Every fiber of my being screams no. Screw the pizza.Kiss me again.

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