Page 89 of Spring Tide

“Nice place,” he says.

“It’s pretty ostentatious, I know.”

“Your dad lives here alone?”

“Actually, he’s barely ever here. He has an apartment in the city, and then he lives out of a hotel room the rest of the time.” I wring my hands together in my lap, a guilty sense of entitlement washing over me. “He keeps the condo for me, mostly.”

He gives me a comforting smile. “I’m glad we could use it tonight.”

“Me too,” I say. “You ready to go in?”

He sighs, leaning over the center console and touching his forehead to mine. “I want to say thank you first.”

“For what?”

“For this, for tonight, for everything.” He kisses me then, just once, right on the lips. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’ve been doing.”

“What do you mean?” I whisper, my heart swelling inside my chest.

“You’ve been trying to distract me from everything that’s been going on.”

“Is it working?”

He stares at me for a long moment, an unreadable expression on his face. I tense in my seat, hopeful that my efforts have paid off tonight, that driving us here on a whim was a good decision after all.

“You know, I’ve always known what it was like to be needed by someone, from my parents to my siblings to my one hundred and eighteen fucking teammates. Being needed feels endless. Until I met you, I never knew what it was like to be the one in need,” he says, the corners of his lips hinting at a smile. “And I do need you, so fucking badly.”

My heart is hammering, blood boiling inside my veins. “You do?”

“Fuck yes, I do.” He swallows, throat bobbing as his eyes rake over me. “Harper?”

“Yeah?”

“I need you, and I want you. Tonight.” He clears his throat, a flush of heat crawling up his neck. “Right now.”

My mind spins, my thoughts and feelings teetering on the edge of a cliff as I decipher his meaning.

“You mean ... like in bed?”

He chuckles, one arm snaking around my neck as he pulls me in for another long, heated kiss. Leaning back, he says, “Yes, Harper, in bed.”

26

LUCA

“Do you really want this?”I ask, lips pressed against the hollow spot near Harper’s collarbone.

We’ve made our way into the back bedroom of the condo, brushing lips and touching hands along the way. There’s a queen-sized bed covered in throw pillows and about a dozen photographs of Harper lining the walls. Fake sunflowers sit in a hand-painted vase on top of the dresser.

My heartbeat jumps into my throat.

“Of course I do. Do you?” There’s a hint of insecurity in her voice now. It makes my stomach clench to hear it, knowing I’ve put doubts in her head about how much I want her.

I swallow hard, forcing my eyes to lock onto hers. “There’s nothing I want more right now than to be inside of you.”

Her eyes widen. One hand wraps around my neck as she pulls me in for another kiss, lips so fucking soft. When I feel her smile against my mouth, I can’t help but form one of my own.

I pull back, dipping my fingers underneath the tiny straps of her sundress. Slowly, I drag the material across the curve of her shoulders, watching as it slides off her body. Her feet shuffle in closer. She’s blushing now—peachy and perfect—so I brush my hand across her cheek to feel the warmth.

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