Page 70 of Lunar Crest University

The laugh that rumbles through my chest is louder than I mean for it to be, and Finley jumps in surprise as she twists in my arms to peek up at me, and that only makes me laugh harder. She could’ve easily told me this. All day, she could’ve told me this. And it’s…funny. It has been the longest fucking day known to man, and all I can do is laugh.

Finley starts to giggle along with me, and the bath water ripples, shifting the bubbles around as we both laugh so hard, we’re practically gasping for air.

“I’ve never heard you laugh like that,” she says after a moment, out of breath.

“I don’t think I’ve ever laughed like that before.”

She rests her cheek on my chest, playing with the bubbles around us. “I should’ve told you that earlier. I know I’ve been…a child today. I’m sorry for being mean.”

“That was you being mean?” I tease.

She swats playfully at me.

“I’ll run to the store after our bath for medicine,” I tell her. “And anything else you’d like. Soup, maybe?”

She frowns. “You really don’t have to do all of this.”

I stare down at her on my chest. “I know.”

Sitting up slightly, she rests her hand on my thigh for leverage as she studies my face. “Why are you, then?”

“Para ti.”

“For…” She trails off, thinking. Her brows furrow as she looks at me questioningly. “Me?”

“Sí, Princesa.” I reach up to cradle her head, bringing her back down to rest on my chest as I press a chaste kiss against her hair. Her arms twine around my waist beneath the water. “For you.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

FINLEY

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 5TH, 2023

The flu had me bedridden for an entire week.

I missed a full week of classes—two, if you count the trip to England—which meant I couldn’t go to work, either. Two weeks of being behind on curriculumandmoney. My parents pay for my apartment while I go to college, but everything else is all me from my shifts at work. I took money from the stash I’d been saving since I’d been working to use toward the trip, which was a giant chunk of it.

It was my worst nightmare come to life. The thought of being behind with everything only created stress on top of not feeling well and, needless to say, I was an exhausting person to be around for the whole seven days.

And yet, Luca was there every single day. He said he didn’t feel good either, hence why he was out of class all week as well, but I think he was lying. Not once did he even remotely look like he didn’t feel good—meanwhile, I was a feverish, snotty, aching mess. I’m not sure what the real reason was for staying, but I wasgrateful for his presence. The week would’ve been even more insufferable if I had to have gone through it alone.

He had a solution to everything, every problem I created in my head. He just…knew what to say or what to do to help reassure my high-strung mind. Baths, movies, ice cream, or even foot rubs, which I declined arduously despite secretly eating it up every time he insisted on propping my feet in his lap on the couch.

But it was the most he touched me all week. Rubbing my feet or washing me in the bubble bath—that was it.

I’d made an embarrassing amount of attempts to get him to touch me, but it was like he was insistent on taking care of me instead. He diverted the attention to watching movies or couch rotting with any snack you could think of. As much as I loved the domestic way we were existing this past week, I felt like I was in heat. The ache between my legs grew stronger every day I was around him. It was so pitiful, I even tried to satisfy that ache when he would make a medicine or snack run, but something was blocking it. I could never reach it before he got back, and it frustrated me to the point of being the biggest brat on the planet.

Which was only met with more relaxing bubble baths.

The jingle of the front door at Celestial Reads pulls me out of my brain fog and back to the present. Standing up straighter, I force my friendly customer service smile at the man who waltzes inside. There’s a sinking feeling that rests in my stomach as I take him in, and my smile falters just slightly before I regain composure.

He’s tall, and I mean freakishly tall, with muscular arms and thighs the size of tree trunks. His dark hair is buzzed nearly to the scalp, and there are balding spots from obvious scars I don’t care to know the backstory about because I have a feeling it’s not good. His left eyebrow is split from another scar, and I cansee the tattoos peeking out of the collar and sleeves of his jacket. He’s the epitome of scary, and goosebumps rise on my neck.

Oscar is cleaning in the back since it’s nearing closing time, so I’m essentially alone with this terrifying man who’s looking at me like I’m his next meal.

“Hi,” I greet. “What can I get for you?”

“What’s your favorite thing on the menu?”

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