Page 561 of Not Over You

“Stop repeating after me.”

“It’s hard not to when I’m not getting clear answers.”

“Chocolate,” she says. “I eat chocolate, okay! But they’re telling me it’s a coping mechanism. That’s how I’m ignoring the…sadness, or whatever. With sweets. I’m not dealing. I’m penning my emotions up. I don’t see what the big deal is. Isn’t it better to keep them locked up than to let them run wild?”

“That’s all you eat.”

She turns her eyes away for a second, then she turns them back to meet mine. “When…I eat.”

She tugs on my hand when I take hers and turn us around.

“Wait! Where are we going?”

“Back to my house,” I say. “Whatever we’re having, I’m sure you’ll like it.”

“Nooo,” she protests, but I ignore her and her pulling. She’s trying to pry my fingers while digging her tennis shoes in, but she slides. “I’m really not hungry. I’m not going to eat—” She blows out a breath that I swear I feel on my neck. “Damn you’re strong. No wonder Mrs. Carine named you Brio.”

A grin lingers on my face as we pass the window to Valentino’s again. The look on pop’s face is the exact opposite. He’s frowning. But what’s new?

I glance at Lucila.

Everything.

LUCILA

PRESENT DAY

I couldn’t avoid him forever. Not that I would. I knew why he was here. So did he.

The moment our eyes would meet, he’d feel all the words I never said. He’d feel all the heavy things I’d been carrying around with me until it was time for me to meet him in the hole he’d dug. It was big enough for three.

Usually that sort of silence would create a jail for the one who kept all the wild feelings pent up inside. But it set me free, while it created a grave for him. That hole where he’d sit with my feelings and whatever was left of his. For a man like him, it was a self-imposed prison.

Each time he came around, each time he met my eyes—his so guileless but still so ruthless—I’d dump a little dirt on top, adding to the weight, burying him even deeper.

He wanted it. Craved it. I gladly gave it to him. But whenever I did, it would be when I was ready.

“Lilo!”

The sound of Minnie shouting had me turning away from the woman chattering in my ear. I held up a hand to block the glare of the sun while I watched her body zigzag around other bodies to get to his car.

I sighed. Or whenever life told me it was time to give it to him.

Even though I wanted to stop Minnie from seeing him, she loved him. He cared about her and was good to her. And since Sundays were for church and for going to eat at the Valentino’s for dinner, there was no use in me punishing her for something that had nothing to do with her. He let me fall, not her.

Before she got to his car, though, those intense, dark eyes met mine through a cloud of languid smoke. When it cleared, I could see them so clearly. They were hooded, like he was high, but I knew he wasn’t. He didn’t dabble in anything that could make him lose control. No, he was high off something else.

Memories. He’d been reminiscing.

About which part? The moment he lured me into his world with his charm? Or the moment he almost killed me with his decisions?

My arms wrapped around me like a hug. It was instinctual, the need to protect myself from him and the memories. Poisoned-winged butterflies flitted in my stomach, coming too close to my heart.

Maybe if I squeezed harder, they would disappear into the darkness with him.

They never did, though. They were driven and ruled by him. And we were twisted together, our blood forever linked.

He stepped out of the car, coming to meet her on the other side. She ran right into his arms, and my heart seized before it started beating overtime. I could never tell which fought harder to stop the physical reaction to him, my heart or my head, but both failed. Miserably.

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