“Fuck,” I grumble, reaching over to turn off the incessant beeping, and the perfect sound of our syncopated breaths fills the room in its wake.
Savannah’s eyes are still shut tight as her legs fall away from around me, and her breathing steadies. Taking advantage, I kiss her again until she softens beneath me and her nails retract.
“Cazzo, sei così bella che mi fa male,”I whisper as I kiss her chin and neck.You’re so fucking beautiful it hurts.
She chuckles. “Do you always speak in Italian to the women you sleep with?”
“Fuck no,” I snap. I roll onto my back and pull my boxer briefs over my angry, hard cock.
Later, buddy.
With pink-flushed cheeks, Savannah rolls onto her side to face me. She runs her index finger over my chest, drawing lazy circles. “Are you mad?”
“No, frustrated.” I roll to face her and grip her delicate neck in the palm of my hand. Her heart beats erratically beneath the pad of my thumb. “I need you to listen carefully,gattina.” I pause, waiting for her to agree. When she finally nods, I continue, “Stop bringing up other women in our bed. You want the full rundown, I’ll give it to you. I don’t know how many women I’ve slept with. Seems gross to count. Some were one-night stands, some not. I don’t like women touching me before, during, or after sex. I kissed one woman last year because I was drunk as fuck at a club, partying with the guys after winning the World Series, then I broke it off with her. And the only women I speak Italian with are my mother, my aunt, and sometimes my cousins because my sister is extremely intelligent but horrible at Italian. No one else. As for your sister—”
“Stop. I don’t want to know,” Savannah interjects.
But I’ve gone this far. No turning back. It’s time we addressed the elephant in the room.
“No. I need you to hear this. I was not a good guy. I made a lot of mistakes in college. I knew Charlotte had stronger feelings for me than I did for her. With the semester over and her going off to med school, I knew I couldn’t give her what she wanted, so I broke it off. Afterwards, she came to a party at the baseball team’s house, where she saw me with another girl. That same night, Charlotte met my brother-in-law, Cam. They talked, and he consoled her. I saw them leave the house and assumed they fucked. Back then I was jealous of Cam. Felt like he had everything, so I went to her dorm and said some shit I shouldn’t have. And that was the last time I saw her.”
“And that’s why you punched Cam?”
“Yes and no. You know about that?”
“Everyone in LA knows you punched Cameron Miller.”
“True.” I sigh. “I punched him for a lot of reasons. I hated him. I was jealous. I thought he was using my sister and would either hurt her or turn her against me. There’s still a lot to unpack, but I’m working on that in therapy.”
We fall silent, each of us lost in thought as we gaze into each other’s eyes.
“Okay,” she whispers. “I believe you. I won’t bring up the past again.”
“Are you going to run?” My fingers tighten around her throat, and her eyes widen at my dominant touch. The orange and yellow flecks in her pretty orbs darken with lust as she shakes her head.
Fuck, she’s perfect.
“Can’t.” Savannah wraps her fingers around the wrist holding her and squeezes. “And I don’t want to. For whatever reason, this isn’t the only hold you have on me.”
My fucking heart drops out my ass and restarts with shock at Savannah’s confession. I tug her face to mine and kiss the ever-loving fuck out of her.
Little does she know, it’s me who’s in a chokehold.
twenty-eight
Savannah
Nineteenmissedcallsandthirty-two unread messages.
All from Charlotte.
“Crap.” I knew she was going to be worried, but not to this extent.
Phone in hand, I drop onto the couch, pull the cashmere throw over my body, and replay the last ten hours.
In a most terrifying and amazing way, my life has completely flipped upside down.
I made out with Nico Romero.
