“That was terrible, Elise!” He chuckled, darting over to get the ball.
“Hey!”
“What? It was.”
“It wasn’t that bad,” I grumbled, folding my arms over my chest. I hadn’t realised what I’d done until I saw Luca’s eyes widen.
“Don’t you teach kids how to do this?”
“No,” I replied sassily. “That’s what we bring in the professionals for. So I don’t have to.” So there. It took everything I had not to poke my tongue out at him. For some reason, being around Luca turned me into a stubborn, pig-headed eight-year-old. Not that he was much better.
I wasn’t ready for it, but before I had a chance to blink, Luca’s long fingers had threaded through my belt loops and yanked me towards him. Being the uncoordinated klutz I was, I stumbled until I ended up almost laying against him. I’m one hundred percent convinced it was part of his plan.
Reaching up, my palms rested on his chest, and I could feel the warmth and the rapid beat of his heart beneath his t-shirt. While I’d been sipping champagne and dodging questions from his very nosy, very intrusive family, Luca had ducked off and gotten changed. By the time he’d made his appearance, gone was the prim and proper outfit he made look so good, and in its place was a pair of perfectly fitting dark jeans and a tight black shirt. Arianna had snorted when he’d appeared beside me.
“You two are so freaking adorable. I can’t stand it!” she’d exclaimed, and I’d felt my cheeks burn.
“I’m stealing her,” Luca had confirmed as he tangled his fingers with mine.
“What if she doesn’t want to be stolen?” Arianna had retorted, winding her brother up.
“Elise. Would you like to stay here and talk to this lot, or would you like to come with me?” Luca had asked, releasing my hand before dropping his arms over my shoulders, hugging me to him. Feeling how warm he was and how delicious he smelt, it had been a no-brainer. He could’ve asked me to go to the moon with him and I would’ve followed along like a puppy nipping at his heels.
“We have champagne…” Isabella had taunted.
Behind me, I’d felt Luca’s muscles tense. As entertaining as it was to watch his family tease him, it really hadn’t been a hard decision. “Where are you taking me?”
Pressing a soft, quick kiss to my temple, he’d whispered, “You’ll see.”
Now here I was. Once again wrapped in Luca’s long arms—somewhere I was really starting to enjoy being—in the middle of a deserted football field. Before I had a chance to say anything, Luca let go and took off with the ball at his toes, headed straight for the goal before swinging his leg back and launching it towards the net.
I’d never considered soccer to be graceful. I’d never admit it either. But the way Luca and the ball moved as one was pure delight to watch. It didn’t exactly hurt that with every long stride those jeans pulled across his taut arse either.
“And he scores!” Luca exclaimed, arms raised high above his head as he cheered for himself.
When he made it back to my side, the childish grin covering his face was infectious. Part of me wondered how he was going to be able to walk away from the game. Obviously, out here was his happy place. I found myself worrying about what would happen when it was gone.
“Did you see that? Pure perfection.”
“See what?” I teased, playing dumb.
“I scored.”
“You scored?”
“Yep. All by myself.”
I giggled. I couldn’t help it. He sounded just like the boys in my class. So full of pride and ego it was bursting out of him. Luca might’ve been a fully grown man, but at heart I could tell there was a big kid there waiting to break free given the opportunity.
“You scored all by yourself, and you’re happy about it?”
“Absolutely!”
“Do that often?”
It took a minute, but as soon as he got what I was insinuating, my feet left the ground and I was swung around like a rag doll. “Put me down!”
“Sorry? What was that?”
