Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 102607 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 513(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102607 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 513(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
I swirl my straw through the glowing mess of our drink, pretending to think. “Mmm… definitely not. You know how he is.”
“I do know.” Luca slides our drink in his direction and takes another sip. “Beginning of every season, like clockwork, we get the ‘keep your dick away from my sister’ speech.”
I blink. “What?”
Luca smirks, setting the drink back between us. “Oh yeah. Your brother fucking loves that speech. ‘I see any of you sniffing around her, and I’ll personally rearrange your face.’”
I groan, burying my face in my hands. “I hate him.”
“Nah,” Luca says, nudging my knee under the bar. “You love him. He’s just being a classic overprotective big brother.”
I drop my hands, glaring. “There’s protective—and then there’s psychotic. Do you think I need my brother protecting me from the big, bad hockey players?”
“No.” He chuckles, something flickers in his expression. “I think he’s just looking out for you. Doesn’t mean you need him to…” He lifts a shoulder. “Can’t really say I blame him.”
Luca is not laughing at my brother’s expense or trying to worm his way around Gio’s rules.
He’s acknowledging them.
And I don’t know why that makes something warm settle low in my stomach, but it does.
I clear my throat, suddenly needing something to do with my hands. I reach for our drink, swirling the straw before taking a sip, forcing myself to focus on the ridiculous giraffe-themed cup instead of the way Luca is watching me.
The second stretches too long, tension humming between us like a live wire, until, mercifully, Ranger Mike reappears, setting the dino nuggets on the bar top, along with cutlery.
“Still doing okay over here? Drink still treating you right?”
I nod. “Absolutely. The Giraffe Guzzle is everything I dreamed it would be.”
Luca snorts, snagging a nugget from the plate and dunking it in ranch. I grab my own, dragging it through an absurd amount of ketchup before popping it into my mouth.
Luca eyes my sauce-to-nugget ratio with open judgment. “You okay there? Want a little nugget with your ketchup?”
“So good.” I chew pointedly, licking a drop from my thumb.
“This is the dumbest date I’ve ever been on.” He says it so seriously, so matter-of-fact, that I almost choke on my nugget.
“Excuse me?” I place a hand over my chest, feigning deep offense. “You begged me to be here.”
He raises an eyebrow, dipping his next nugget in ranch. “Weird. I don’t recall begging...”
I smirk, tilting my head. “Do the words one hour, one drink ring a bell?”
Luca shakes his head, feigning confusion. “Nope.”
I roll my eyes. “Gee. How convenient.”
He grins. Then—without missing a beat—leans in slightly, resting his forearms on the bar. “What happens if we go over time?”
…and just like that, my heart stumbles…
Not the way his eyes stay locked on mine, steady and aware. Not the fact that, for the first time all night, the teasing feels like it’s walking a dangerously thin line into something else entirely.
I reach for our drink, needing something to do, but Luca doesn’t look away.
“Depends,” I say, keeping my tone light. “Are you hoping for extra time with me?”
Luca taps his fingers against the glass, considering. “I wouldn’t be opposed to it.”
Obviously he wouldn’t.
He’s the one who wanted this date in the first place.
A warmth that has nothing to do with the neon glow of our drink spreads through my chest and everything to do with the way he’s watching me, his fingers absently tracing the condensation on our glass.
I swallow nervously, taking one of the dino nuggets and plopping it into the ketchup, biting off half of it to avoid his intense stare.
"You wouldn’t be opposed to it," I echo, letting them settle between us. "Not exactly a glowing declaration of enthusiasm."
Luca huffs out a quiet laugh, shaking his head. "Would you prefer if I got down on one knee right now and begged for another date?"
I arch a brow, popping the reminder of the nugget into my mouth. "I mean—it would be entertaining to see you down on your knees.”
I did not intend for that to sound the way it sounded. I can see he takes it as such, smirking as he leans toward me. I catch the faint scent of his cologne—clean, warm, woodsy.
"I’ll keep that in mind for next time."
Next time.
Luca is easygoing, charming in that quiet, self-assured way, but I know better than to assume those two words mean anything.
Still, when his fingers brush against mine as he reaches for another nugget, I don’t pull away.
"You’re assuming there will be a next time," I boast, tilting my head.
His gaze flickers to our hands. Then back to my face.
"I am." Luca leans back slightly, dragging his fingers along the rim of our glass. "Call me Mister Optimistic."
I should shut this down. I should remind him that my brother would kill him if he knew we were here, sitting across from each other like this, hands nearly touching, conversation dipping into something dangerously close to flirtation.