Authors: Ilsa Madden-Mills
“I think he’s afraid of losing someone, like he lost mom and
dad,” Sebastian said quietly. “It hurts when you love someone and then they
disappear. I was ten when they died, but Leo . . . it affected him the most.
Losing them both on the same day was devastating. It’s hard to recover from
that.” He looked down at the grass. “I had Leo, you know, but who did he have?
Nobody.”
I thought of my own family and how they’re never around.
“I think he’s afraid to love again,” he said.
“He seems to be doing fine at the moment,” I said, scowling
at Leo and Tiffany.
“Holy shit. Are you jealous of Tiffany?”
I whipped my head around to glare at him. “What? No, of
course not. That’s crazy talk. He’s seven years older than me.”
He shrugged. “Maybe. But, you can’t always choose who your
heart wants,” he said.
“True,” I said, remembering Drew.
“Come on, let’s go talk to Cuba,” he said, standing and
putting out a hand for me. I grasped it, and he tugged, grimacing like I was
too heavy.
“Ass,” I said, smacking him on the arm when I got up. Maybe
it was weird that we’d settled so fast into a friendship, but I wasn’t
questioning it. I needed friends.
He leered, teasing me back. “Wanna kiss it?”
We laughed together like we’d known each other for weeks
instead of just one day. We made our way across the park and over to where Cuba
was standing near the ice cream stand. On the way, one of the girls who’d been
watching them play football earlier yelled for Sebastian to come over to them.
He grinned at me sheepishly. “Think you can handle Cuba on
your own? Looks like my fans wanna talk to me,” he said, his body already
pointed in their direction, like a golden retriever who’d spotted its prey.
“I know Cuba. Go be with your groupies,” I said with a
chuckle, pushing him toward them.
He shrugged at me and sauntered over to them.
I looked back at Cuba who stood watching me, making me glad
I’d worn my Burberry cuffed shorts and matching blue shirt. Even though we’d
had a class together last year, I felt nervous about talking to him, wondering
what we’d say to each other. I knew I had a reputation as being standoffish.
But it wasn’t because I was snobby; it was because I didn’t want anyone to know
the truth about me.
I studied Cuba as I approached, realizing he could help me
mark meaningless sex off my list. Leo had let me down, but with Cuba’s
well-known promiscuous nature, I may have just hit the sex jackpot.
“Nora Blakely. The girl that went off at registration,” Cuba
stated with a big grin as I stopped in front of him.
I grinned. “Hollywood Hudson. The guy who tried to cheat off
me in Euro history last year.”
He guffawed. “Shit, you saw me? I tried to be sneaky.”
“Kinda hard to miss when a six-foot-two lineman is looking
over your shoulder, trying to peek at your answers. You’re lucky I didn’t
report you,” I joked.
He chuckled. “You’re not gonna give me a lecture are you? If
you are, let’s go find you a whip first. I like a girl in charge.”
“Uh . . . uh, why don’t you just buy me an ice cream
instead, and we’ll skip the lecture bit,” I mumbled out, faltering. Shit. I
sucked at flirting. I needed some vodka.
“Alright, what flavor do you want?” he said, handing me his
football so he could pull out his wallet.
“Chocolate is my favorite,” I said, purposely running my
eyes over his brown skin. He had a golden tan from the sun, but I decided there
was also definite Latino in his family background, too. His mother had died
last year, but I seemed to remember she was Brazilian?
He paused and raised his brows. “Is that so?”
“Today it is,” I said, smiling up at him. “What’s yours?”
He laughed, his eyes gleaming at me. “It’s gonna sound dumb
if I say vanilla, so I won’t, but truthfully—I like all kinds of ice cream,
sweetheart. It’s my favorite dessert,” he said, giving me a lingering look with
his warm, almost yellowish eyes. I got transfixed for a moment at the unusual
color, fascinated about the genetics behind it. Where had he gotten that rare
hue? As he turned to go get the ice cream, I made a mental note to drag out my
Biology 101 book when I got home and brush up on my genetics. Yes. Science
interested me.
A few minutes later, he came back with a waffle cone that
had two heaps of chocolate on top. It looked amazing and delicious, and I
practically tackled him for it.
I couldn’t hide my glee when I took the first wonderful
bite, my lips sinking into the cold creaminess. “Oh, Cuba, so good. Thank you,”
I moaned, as my tongue wrapped around the yummy cone.
He fidgeted, his hands gripping the football he’d taken back
a little tighter. “That good, huh?”
“Uh-huh, you have no idea. Mother never allows sweets in the
house. She’s too scared she’ll gain a pound . . . or I will,” I said in between
licks. I looked up from the cone. “Here,” I said, holding it up to him, wanting
to share this glorious thing, “take some of mine. Best thing ever, I promise.”
He leaned down and licked the ice cream, never taking his
strange eyes off me, making me shiver. “Yeah,” he said, “it’s good, but I’d
rather watch you eat it.”
Well.
I mean, were all guys this easy? Leo hadn’t been.
He’d cut me off quick.
And at the thought of him, my eyes wandered back over to
where he stood with Tiffany. They were sitting at a picnic table now, and
Tiffany’s back was to me while Leo faced me. Even though we were several feet
away from him, I felt the weight of his stare. Those blue eyes of his had
zeroed right in on me, and he might say he didn’t want me, but his actions
hinted otherwise. He’d been hard for me in the bathroom; he’d tried to sniff me
in the bed; he’d held my hand all night. But maybe it was just wishful thinking
on my part. He already had someone.
“Are you going to Emma Eason’s party this weekend?” Cuba
asked me, getting my attention.
“Emma doesn’t like me much, but you can count on me being
there. I’ve got some catching up to do when it comes to partying.”
“I’d like to be around when you catch up,” he teased,
stepping a little closer to me. He stroked his thumb across my cheek, wiping
away some of the ice cream I’d gotten on my face. He sucked it off his fingers.
Slowly. My eyes got big.
I stood there blankly, not able to think of a single thing
to say. Me. The word girl. A conversational idiot. This flirting while sober
thing was hard.
“I think I have you figured out. You’re not real subtle are
you?” I finally said.
He laughed. “Nope. Besides, it saves time, doesn’t it? If I
like a girl, I let her know. And you, I like.”
“Uh-huh. I bet you say that to all the girls.”
“You know, I tried to talk to you some last year, but you
never seemed interested,” he said, watching me eat the ice cream. “I said hi to
you once in class, and you looked right through me, like I was invisible.”
I bit my lip. “Cuba, I’m sorry. I don’t remember that.
Sometimes I get in a zone thinking about all the things I have to get done.
Ignoring you was never on purpose.” I said, telling him a half-truth. Oh, I’d
been in a zone alright. One where I’d had to constantly concentrate on holding
myself together.
He grinned. “Good. I hope we have a class together this
year.”
I nodded absently, my attention switching to Leo as he stood
and hugged Tiffany, and after a few moments she walked off, ending their date.
As soon as she was out of sight, Leo headed our way.
Leo strolled over to us with the fluid grace of a man who
knew he was the epitome of a confident male, assured in his virility and sexual
prowess. And even though my blood raced with the anticipation of being close to
him again, I still fumed over Tiffany.
Why did he affect me like this?
“Date leave?” I asked him.
He ignored my question and cut his eyes at Cuba, like he
didn’t like him.
“Who has a running date in the park anyway?” I said, goading
him, wanting to push his buttons.
“Grown-ups,” he replied instantly, making me want to squish
my cone in his face, but no way was I parting with my precious.
“You’re just not that in to her if you can’t put forth the
effort it takes for a real date. Seriously, all you did was run around in the
heat, sweat like a pig, and buy her some water,” I retorted, not able to stop
the flow of smart-ass remarks with him. I mean, this wasn’t like me at all.
He threw back his head and laughed uproariously, and I stood
hypnotized by this Leo, seeing his sexy lips curve up and his sparkling eyes
shine with amusement. Even if the joke was at my expense, it didn’t bother me,
because it had been worth it to see him like that, so carefree and happy. And I
also sensed he wasn’t the kind of guy to laugh at someone to be mean. He’d
taken up for Teddy in a heartbeat, telling me real quick Teddy was valuable to
the band. And so, even though I wanted to be mad, I couldn’t stop myself from
joining in and laughing with him.
Somehow, I remembered my manners. “Cuba, this is Leo Tate.
He’s Sebastian’s older brother and guardian. Leo, this is Cuba, a football
player and student at BA.”
Leo’s back went ramrod straight as he approached Cuba to
shake hands, easing up to him as stealthily as a tiger on the prowl. Standing
across from each other, I could see that Leo was about three inches taller than
Cuba, which put Leo around the six foot five mark. No wonder he drove the
Escalade; it was the only car big enough for him.
As I watched, they acknowledged each other in some
ritualistic badass caveman style, with glaring eyes and grunts, mostly from
Leo’s end. Tension crackled in the air as Leo’s eyes bounced back and forth
from me to Cuba, and I wondered what the hell he was thinking with that hard
look on his face. And the way he was staring at Cuba made me think he was
jealous, but that wasn’t true. He’d just been with Tiffany, “the girl he was
seeing.” Why would he be mad because I was hanging out with Cuba? I huffed and
was gearing up to tell him he could just turn himself right back around and
walk back the way—
He turned to me, and his eyes seemed to search every inch of
my body, making me feel hot. “Did you get a tattoo today?” he asked.
“No, but I made an appointment,” I said, taking a lick of my
forgotten ice cream, wondering if I’d get the same reaction from Leo that I’d
gotten from Cuba. “Got a nipple piercing instead.”
Leo’s entire stance stiffened, and his eyes flicked from my
mouth to my breasts, where they stayed, and heaven help me, I couldn’t resist,
so I reached for the hem of my top. “Wanna see?” I teased.
“Hell, yeah,” Cuba muttered out while Leo stood there with a
clenched jaw. I knew that reaction; I’d seen it when I’d taken my clothes off
in front of him. Either he was angry or horny, or maybe both at the same time.
I hadn’t decided.
“No?” I arched a brow, staring hard at Leo, my breathing
getting faster. “You’d like it. I didn’t do the norm and get the ring or
barbell. I got these little angel wings that you screw onto the side. It’s
right here,” I said, taking my finger and tracing it around my breast where the
piercing lay underneath my shirt. I remembered touching my breast for him the
night before; I wondered if he was thinking about it, too.
His nose flared wide, and his eyes jerked back to my chest,
and I
knew
he could see the imprint of the piercing because I’d seen
Shayla’s, and she’d been wearing a bra. I arched a bit forward so he could see
better.
Cuba whistled, his wide grin making me chuckle. He was a lot
like Sebastian, handsome with a tinge of arrogance, but instead of seeming
conceited about their good fortune in the looks department, both of them
managed to not take themselves too seriously, and it worked big time, making
them even hotter.
And Leo, he stared at me and then at Cuba, his mouth a thin
line, like he wanted to throttle us both. We were spared what would have
happened next when Sebastian walked back over to us.
He must have caught the tail end of our conversation. “Hey,
don’t forget about me. I wanna see this piercing,” he said, grinning at me and
then cutting his eyes at Leo, like he wanted to gauge his reaction to what he’d
said. I paused, wondering what that look had meant.
“I was kidding about flashing my boobs in the park,” I
laughed. “But, I’ll show you later,” I said to Sebastian.
Leo let out an exasperated breath and ran both hands through
his hair, his fingers twitching as he let them fall.
I ignored him and turned to say something to Cuba when Leo
grabbed my elbow. “I need to talk to you. Now,” he said, steering me away from
Cuba and Sebastian. Dumbfounded, I let him. Once we got out of earshot, I came
to my senses and jerked away. “Stop dragging me around. What is so important
that you couldn’t say it in front of them?” I said heatedly, looking back at
Cuba and Sebastian, both of them watching. Cuba appeared unconcerned, but
Sebastian seemed to have a smile on his face.
He shook his head, his face serious with his brows pulled
down. “Nora, you think I don’t know Cuba already, but I do. He comes over to
the gym some, and Sebastian talks about him a lot. He’s dated lots of girls
this summer, all at the same time and then dumps them. When I said you needed a
healthy relationship, he is
not
who I meant.”
I scoffed. “Maybe I don’t want healthy. Maybe I just want to
hook up. Ever think of that?”
“I saw your fucking list, Nora. I know what you’re planning
to do. And I don’t want you to make a mistake. You think you want to be bad,
but I think that maybe whatever happened to you was what was
bad
.
Not you.”
My mouth opened in shock. “You read my private journal? How
could you, Leo? That was personal.”
“Because you ruined my car. Because it’s obvious you’re a
girl who’s crying out for help,” he said.