“Yeah, I remember him. Let me guess, he wasn’t as harmless as you believed him to be,” Luca drawled.
“Apparently, not,” she breathed. “It’s been almost ten years since I left that house, and he looked me up. Pete showed up at my apartment one night a few months ago, and he pushed his way in when I told him that I couldn’t talk but would love to catch up over coffee in a few days. He didn’t like that I was telling him no, and he refused to leave.”
“Did he hurt you?” Luca asked, his anger back again.
“No, I snuck into the bathroom and called the cops. They arrested him for trespassing, but that wasn’t the last time I saw Pete. He showed up at my school, and my second graders were terrified by the man peeking into my classroom windows. I called security, and the cops showed up and took him away again. I’m worried that he’s just going to keep following me, and one of these times, things are going to escalate. He basically camps outside of my apartment, and I’m scared to even go home every evening.”
“Tell me how I can help,” he insisted.
“Can I stay with you until I can figure out what to do about him?” she asked. Sophia hated asking for such a big favor. “I know that this is a huge ask, but I’d be grateful and even find a way to pay you back. I won’t cramp your style. You won’t even know that I’m there,” she promised.
“No need to pay me back, and I’m sure that I’ll love having you around. We can go back to your place and grab your stuff now,” he offered.
“No need,” she said, “I packed my stuff and put it in my trunk this morning. I decided that if you said no, I’d find someplace else to stay because I wasn’t going back home until Pete is behind bars for good. I’m just not sure how to make that happen.”
“You leave that to me. How about if you follow me back to my place, and we can sit down and figure out our next move?” Luca asked. She wasn’t sure why his offer had her feeling those same damn butterflies as she had when he pulled up today for their meeting, but they were fluttering around her stomach,reminding her of her huge crush on Luca. Maybe staying with him was going to be more of a curse than help, but she had nowhere else to go. Sophia was just going to have to ignore those butterflies and act like an adult because she wasn’t that same seventeen-year-old girl anymore, and Luca was definitely not the boy she used to know. He had grown into one fine-ass man.
LUCA
Luca didn’t remember Peter very well. He didn’t hang out with any of the other kids in his last home, except Sophia. She never looked down her nose at him, as some of the other kids had. They were all living in the same foster home, yet the smug little assholes still saw him for who he was—a kid from the wrong side of town.
The drive back to his house felt like it took forever. He had so many questions that he wanted to ask her, but doing so in his truck wasn’t safe. If she were being stalked, he’d need to make sure to get as many details as possible. By the time he pulled into his garage, his mind was running in circles, but he needed to remember that Sophia had been through a lot already.
He pointed to the empty space next to his truck, and she pulled her beat-up old car in next to his. Sophia jumped out of her car and smiled over at him. “Looks like the boxing thing is really working out for you, Luca,” she said.
He shrugged, not wanting to boast. “I do all right,” he said. That wasn’t a lie. He did well, but he had so much further to go. IfJonesy kept booking his fights, he might get on the fast track to be the next heavyweight champ on the East Coast. Then, he planned on conquering the rest of the country and eventually, the world title. Sure, it was a long shot, but he had the drive to go as far as he possibly could.
“This place is great,” she said. “You even have a security gate at the entrance of your driveway.”
“I’m aware,” he drawled, shutting his truck door. “That’s why I thought you’d be safe here. No one gets in or out of here without me knowing about it.” He had some overzealous visitors who claimed to be fans, stopping by at all hours of the night. He could only file so many police reports before realizing that he would need to handle the problem on his own—so he did. He hired a friend’s company to install the system and show him how it all worked. Luca had to admit that he liked the idea of being closed in from the rest of the world. His home felt like his own private oasis, and that was the way he wanted to keep it.
“I will never underestimate Peter again. I did that one too many times, but I appreciate your security measures,” Sophia said. He wanted to ask her what Pete had done to her, but he didn’t want to get into all that while standing in his garage. First, he needed to show her around, and then, he planned on sitting down with Sophia and asking her all his questions.
“Let’s go in, and I’ll show you around the house. You have two rooms that you can choose from, and you’ll have your own bathroom,” he promised. That was something that they didn’t have while growing up in most foster homes. Most of the time, all the kids had to share a bathroom, and that caused a good amount of fights—usually between the teen girls who “Needed the mirror.”
“I had my own bathroom in my little apartment. It wasn’t much, but it felt like such a luxury to have my own bathroom, you know?” she asked.
“Yeah, I remember how bad it was to share a bathroom with everyone else in the house,” he admitted.
“I snuck in while you were in the shower a few times, to grab my toothbrush,” she said, her cheeks turning pink. “I’ve never told anyone that before.”
“Um, I know,” he said. “You weren’t the quietest person, Sophia. A few times, I thought about giving you a little show.” He thought about giving her more than a show, but that wasn’t something that he would admit to her. He used to fantasize that he’d step out of the shower, while she was getting her toothbrush, and push her up against the wall with his wet body, trapping her there so that he could kiss her. But he was a chicken. Luca knew that leaving the foster care system would make things harder on them both if he gave in to his basic desires. Hell, he wasn’t even sure if she ever felt that way about him. Why would she? As far as everyone was concerned, they were siblings, but he knew that what he wanted to do with Sophia wasn’t something that a brother and sister would do together.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” she squeaked.
He shrugged, “I guess I didn’t want to embarrass you. Plus, I was a walking hormone back then, and would have probably done something to embarrass myself too.” That was probably the most honest thing that he had said to her all day.
“I probably would have been embarrassed if you had caught me,” she said, her cheeks flushing again. “Heck, I’d beembarrassed now if that happened. I promise not to sneak into your bathroom.” A part of him felt disappointed that she wouldn’t be coming into his bathroom during his shower, but maybe she was right. It was for the best that they kept everything between them as friends.
He tossed his keys on his kitchen table and took the overnight bag that she brought in with her. “I’ll get the rest of your stuff after we eat.”
“I can grab it,” she assured. “I’m not helpless, Luca. I am a grown-up now.” He looked her over and nodded. She didn’t look helpless at all. And Sophia didn’t need to remind him that she was a grown-up now. She had grown up well, and he knew that Sophia wasn’t the same kid that he had left behind in that foster home.
He took a step toward her, crowding her up against the table. Luca didn’t seem able to stop himself as he reached out to her, running his thumb over her cheek. He loved the way that it instantly turned pink and heated from just his touch.
“I’ve noticed that you’ve grown up, Soph. But I would still like to help you. Let me bring in your stuff, and you just concentrate on settling in.” He could tell that she was thinking his offer over. He didn’t pull his hand away from her soft cheek. And when Sophia leaned into his touch, he nearly kissed her lips, taking what he wanted from her, but that would take things too far. Sophia deserved better than him, and he needed to remember that.
He forced himself to take a step back from her, letting his hands drop to his sides. Luca cleared his throat, needing a distraction from what he was about to do. He put his hands on Sophie, and that was the last thing that she needed. Right now, she needed him to step up and help her with her problem.
