Me, too, Lil. Me, too.
At dinner that night, Lil suddenly pipes up and says, “Did you know Luca can laugh?” I give her a look that is the absolute opposite of a laugh.
“Luca doesn’t laugh,” Marco says with a shake of his head.
“Well, he does now. I heard him twice today. You did, too, right Ari?”
Ariana’s eyes go wide in mock surprise. “Is that what that was? I thought a bug flew into his mouth or something.”
And fuck if I don’t snort again, this time while taking a drink of water, making it spray everywhere. Everyone freezes in shock, then they all bust up laughing. Instead of making me feel small and unloved, like when my mom laughed at me, it makes me feel like I’m being wrapped in a warm blanket.
Which is kind of unnerving because I’m not used to it, and I have to force myself not to lash out or clench my fists. Because I know none of them mean anything negative by it. But fuck, change is hard.
I glance at Ariana; her face is lit up with joy, and I think maybe this is how I love her best: a huge grin on her face and laughter flowing from her mouth.
Chapter 17
Dangerous games
Luca
Ariana and Lil have some weird ass reading competition against each other, and apparently, they spend a lot of weekends trying to add to their totals. I expected them to go to a party or on dates or… something.
“Youareallowed to date, though, right?” I ask them after dinner as we’re playing darts in the game room. As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I realize it’s a mistake because I don’t want to hear about Ariana dating anyone, but it’s too fucking late now.
“I mean, sure. But people are either usually freaked out by everything or want to wear it like a badge. Dating a DeVille is a big deal either way. And that’s not even factoring in this whole thing.” Ariana waves her hand between her and Lil, who laughs. “Like we get it, we’re a fucking lot to deal with. We know how we are, and we’re good with it, but most people don’t get it. If we don’t find partners who are okay with our weird, clingy, platonic life-and-soul-mate shit, then what’s the point?”
Lil nods. “We’ve tried double dating a couple of times just toput it all out there from the beginning, and it sucks.” She throws her darts, and two of the three shots end up in the wall instead of the dartboard. Groaning, she stomps over and retrieves them.
Ariana picks up her darts. “One time, both guys we were on dates with started making jokes about swapping or orgies, and shit got awkward fast.” She throws her first dart, and it hits just outside the bullseye.
“It hasn’t really gone better if my date is a girl. Just like any actual relationship I’ve tried to be in.” Lil rolls her eyes. Ariana’s second and third shots cluster around the first. “You’re holding back, Ari,” Lil accuses.
“I had my eyes closed.”
“Mmmhmmm… Anyway, dating people from school hasn’t panned out for shit, so we stopped even trying.” Lil shrugs and seems largely unbothered. “And the last time I went on a date that wasn’t someone from school, the guy could not stop looking at my tits and wasn’t listening to anything I said. I started asking him random shit, like if his mom was a good lay, and he nodded and said, ‘hell yeah.’” She drops her voice down a couple of octaves.
Ariana giggles and spits out the soda she just drank. It dribbles down her chin, and I can’t stop my dirty brain from imagining it’s my cum instead. I shift a little as my dick starts to harden. How can she be sexy and adorable at the same time?
“Jesus Christ, that guy!” It takes every ounce of self-control to keep the chuckle and smirk I feel coming on at bay—until she says, “When I got there, he started staring at my tits, too, so I threw a drink in his face and told him to keep his eyes to himself, or I was going to dig them out with a fucking melon baller and make him eat them.”
Fuck, I really might be in love with this girl.
And I need a list of every asshole she and Lil have been on dates with. Fucking disrespectful jerks.
A week ago, I was dreading coming here even though I knew Icouldn’t stay home. Now, I can’t imagine not getting on that plane. Not making this change. Not meeting this girl. Now that I’ve seen what my life could be like in the sun, I don’t ever want to go back to the dark.
We’re debating what to do after Ariana beats the shit out of us at darts when Lil’s phone dings.
“Hey, Amanda wants to know if we’re up for a game night at her place tonight.”
“That depends entirely on who is there and what games are played,” Ariana says with a shrug of one shoulder.
“She says it’s just her, Katie and her boyfriend, April and her girlfriend, Lisa and her current fuckboy, then us if we go, and Luca.”
Ariana grins. “That would make for an epic game of Cards Against Humanity or What Do You Meme…”
“Well, I already told her we’d at least show up for a bit.” Lil looks at me like she’s expecting me to complain.
