Tonight, was a perfect example of why I didn’t date.
Why I shouldn’t date.
I was absolutely shit at it.
Jax would probably piss himself laughing when I told him how badly I’d screwed this up.
“Get it together, loser,” I told the mess of a woman staring back at me in the mirror. Luca had obviously put a great deal of thought and effort into tonight and I’d ruined it. I cried on his shoulder for God’s sake. It was no wonder he wanted to take me home. I’d made a fool of myself.
Splashing some water on my face, I dug my hand into the front of my shirt and adjusted my bra. Jaxson may have thought it looked pretty, but it wasn’t comfortable. Or practical. The wire dug into my underarm and the lace itched. Double-checking my undies were tucked in, I padded out softly to find Luca sitting on the arm of the couch, looking like every girl’s book boyfriend I’d ever read about. How he hadn’t already filled this amazing house with a wife and his own soccer team of kids was beyond me.
“Look, I can call an Uber. Saves you going back out,” I offered awkwardly.
“Did I do something wrong?” Luca blurted out.
“No. Why?”
“Well, you seem like you’re in a hurry to get away from me all of a sudden.”
Getting away from him was the absolute last thing I wanted to do. “No, not at all. It’s just…”
“Just?”
“Come on, Luca. We’re both adult enough to admit that tonight was a disaster.”
“I wouldn’t call it a disaster exactly…”
“I cried on you.”
“Yeah.”
“I insulted your home.”
“I wouldn’t call it a home, not really anyway.”
“I’m a mess. This is why I don’t date!” I huffed, folding my arms over my chest.
“Elise, come sit down.”
That was one invitation I wasn’t about to turn down. My feet were aching. Jax may have picked out a pair of flats but they were ones that spent most of their time stuffed in the back of the cupboard for a reason. I’d forgotten why until about an hour ago when they were pinching my toes.
Flopping down into the lounge, I sank amongst the cushions. I was moving in. Luca mightn’t know it and he’d probably think I was completely crazy, but this couch alone had me contemplating constructing a blanket fort and never leaving. It was wide and soft, warm and inviting, and I was now one with it.
“Elise. Elise. Come on, pretty girl. Wake up,” a whispered voice cooed in my ear as I came to.
Blinking hard, I cracked my eyes open to see a bleary-eyed Luca hovering over me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to… What time is it anyway?”
I sat up and looked around. Other than the light in the kitchen, the rest of the house was dark. “Just after three,” Luca answered, his voice thick with sleep.
“Why’d you let me sleep?” Suddenly I was wide awake. Scrambling, I started looking for my shoes, flipping cushions and tossing the blanket off. As I got myself worked up, Luca’s hand snuck out and wrapped around my wrist, halting me where I stood.
“Elise. Breathe. It’s three in the morning. We’re going into my room and going back to sleep. I’ll take you home in the morning.”
“It is morning,” I argued.
“Elise!” he scolded as he bent down and swung me up into his arms, causing my shoes to fall from my fingers and clatter on the floor. Clinging to him, afraid he’d drop me, at least that was the excuse I was sticking to, I burrowed my face against the crook of his neck, breathing in his warm scent. When he set me down, we were beside his bed, the blankets already pulled back. “Get into bed, Elise.”
“I can’t sleep in here, Luca,” I protested weakly through a yawn.
