Page 65 of Trouble in Love
“No, Pol, it is.” I said, kissing her forehead. “It’s amazing. I’ve never been strong enough to be you.... Like you. I mean.” Polly sobbed out a chuckle as my ramble continued.” I was never brave enough to be me… who I was. Who I really was, just who I thought I should be. You though, you make me feel more me than I’ve ever been. There’s something between us and its more than sex. I know it and you know it, and the minute you put that jersey on you became mine. This would just make it official.”
“Luca.”
“No, wait. Please just …. If that’s too much rainbow and sunshine for you to accept, look at it this way: I have an image to repair and so do you. This will get the team off my back, your mom off yours and get you away from Elias the smiling jerk. Plus, we can have an awesome time together while doing it. In six months, if you’re miserable, you can just come home. No biggie.” Not one fiber, cell, or atom in my body believed that. If Polly came home with me, she would stay with me, because we were meant to be.
“No biggie?” she scoffed, kicking my shoe. “You’re bloody crazy.”
“Crazy for you.”
“Oh my god.” Biting her lip to stifle a smile, she rolled her eyes and shook her head dismissively. “And you’re corny too.”
“I am. But I’m serious. This is up to you, Pol. It’s important for you to feel in control and make your own decisions. I never want you to do anything that doesn’t make your heart beat with joy. Not when you’re with me.”
“Luca,” It was almost a whine.
“I’m taking that as a yes.” Ducking down I pressed my mouth to hers. She tasted of salt and gum and everything I wanted. When she bit my lip and tugged, I was tempted to throw her in the bed of the truck and show her exactly how serious I was. But we had a flight to catch. “Is all your stuff in the car?”
“Yep, well, everything I had with me at Mum’s.”
“And your visa is still current?”
“Yeah, but I can’t … Wait. You remember I have a visa?”
“Of course I do. I remember everything you tell me.”
For some reason, that made Polly cry even harder, and I didn’t like it. Not at all. But then she kissed me and licked my neck and kissed me some more while grinding against me, and that I did like. When she pulled away, panting with swollen lips and mussed hair, I knew I had won her over. Almost.
“I can’t just drop everything, jump on some plane, and fly to the States,” she whispered as she rested her forehead against my chest. “Can I?”
“You can and you will, Princess. Besides, it’s not just some plane. It’s Qantas first class, baby.”
After waving goodbye to her beloved little hatchback, Polly climbed behind the driver’s seat of Nate’s truck, kissed me till I forgot my name, and took off in a cloud of dust. Her extreme road rage and impressive-as-fuck stick-driving ability made near impossible to concentrate, but as we drove, our plan was hatched.
The first issue: getting her to the States. Unsurprisingly, bumping Teddy, Asher, and I to first class and adding an extra seat for Polly was not a problem. Funny how a hundred- and twenty-thousand-dollar upgrade can guarantee results. After landing in Sydney, we would have a five-hour wait before the flight to Dallas. Polly would use that time to go to her apartment, grab her passport, visa documents, and whatever else she needed for the trip. Lingerie perhaps.
Polly
Luca D’Cruz is going to break my heart. It will be an agonizingly slow process. Piece by piece. Day by day. With every touch, every kiss, a little more of the novelty will fall away until I’m nothing to him. He could never love me. Should never love me. That’s why every dimpled smile I receive from this day on will be locked away. Preserved in my mind like a precious Grecian artifact, so that when he’s done with me, I can pack them up with my tattered remains, go back to Sydney, and start over. I’ve done it once. I can do it again. Shit, did I pack my glasses?
There I was, innocently predicting my relationship’s demise while rummaging through my hastily packed bags when a burst of bitter air bit against my back. “What are you playing at? Why are you here?”
Fucking Evie.The two rapid-fire questions from the wicked witch of East Coast Australia were an almost-welcome disturbance. If I wasn’t catastrophizing me and Luca I was stewing over about mum. The whole wishing me dead thing hadhit hard. “Look,” I kept my gaze locked on the floor scarred with tiny suitcase wheel marks and attempted to keep my tone civil. “I’m running on three hours of sleep, four almonds, and a soy latte. What do you want, Evie?”
“What, are you losing your hearing in your old age?” she snorted. “I said, what are you playing at? Why are you here?”
Politely reminding Evie we were the same age crossed my mind, but I went straight to sass, instead. “Well, this is what they call an airport. Big planes fly people from here all over the world. Since I’minAustralia, but Iwantto be in America, the planes will take me there. Remember planes, Evie? The big things with the wings? You went on one when you flew to New York?” Chuckling to myself, I turned to face my nemesis and found not only her but her husband and kids, too. Nate looked hotter than ever, a toddler hanging under one arm, and another standing on his feet as he pushed a pram carrying the babies back and forth. Heat tickled my cheeks. Despite my reputation, badmouthing a mum in front of her babies was a low even I wouldn’t sink too.
“Hey Pol. How you doing?” he said, eyes darting between me and Evie.
With a smirk, I leaned in, inserting myself in the small gap between them. “Natey, you seem a little tense. Is the Mrs. not satisfying you in the bedroom?” It was a cruel blow, and I deserved the stinging slap I knew Evie wanted to lay on me. Her restraint was impressive,
“You know what?” her lips twitched as she sandwiched her girls’ heads together and cupped her hands over their still exposed ears. “I came over here to make peace, but you can go get fucked.”
“Oh... Umm, I’m going to wait … somewhere else.” Nate grappled with the twins and pram and dragged them to safety, leaving me and his wife to face off once and for all.
“You came to make peace?” I scoffed, “Why would you come to make peace with me?”
“Because I heard congratulations are in order. You’ve finally convinced someone to stick around. Will you and your soon-to-behubbybestarting your own family soon?”
