Page 48 of Love or Leave

It was as if a parasite had entered her brain and took over, rewiring synapses so she could no longer think of Antonio as her brother's friend. In her mind, he'd morphed into a super hot dude she wanted to bang, and she had no clue how to exorcise the demon.

Or worse, if she even wanted to.

Just then, the limo bus appeared down the street, breaking her thoughts as it came closer and rolled to a stop in front of her.

Warm air blasted from it as the back door opened. Cara bent down and passed the tray of coffees to the first person she saw. Max.

"Thanks, Cara," Willow said as she pulled cups from the tray and distributed them.

"No problem," she said.

Cara ducked inside and settled on an empty section of the seat next to the door. Antonio sat opposite her, all the way on the other side of the bus, next to Ethan.

She smiled at him. "Morning," she said.

He smiled back and opened his mouth like he was going to reply but glanced at Max and thought better of it.

It was almost amusing how uncomfortable he was at interacting with her when everyone else was around. She wanted to make things less weird, but the moment she looked at him, all she could think about was getting closer.

She took him in, her eyes landing on the sliver of his neck showing from under his dark hoodie. She wondered what his stubble would feel like against her cheek.

Or what his hands would feel like sliding up the back of her shirt.

Or what his face would look like when he—

No!She shook her head and looked away. But her resolve only lasted a second before she glanced back up at him. He was scrolling through his phone, his head bent in concentration, when she got an idea.

An awful idea—a wonderful, awful idea.

Cara tipped her chin down with a grinchy smile as she glanced around the bus, finding everyone half asleep and leaning on each other, except for Antonio. He was wide awake, lounging on the seat with an ankle crossed over his knee.

She hesitated for a split second before giving a “why the hell not” shrug and pulled out her phone. After a few clicks, she hit send, then watched Antonio and waited.

A second later, his head snapped up to hers and he smiled, then he looked back down and started typing.

Her smile was now taking over her face as she waited to see what he would say to her invitation to play Scrabble with her. She looked around—no one was paying any attention to her—so she didn't bother to hide her elation.

What was it about sneaking around right in front of their friends that was so… fun? She suppressed an excited squeal as she felt her phone buzz with a new message and opened it.

Antonio: It's too early to be taken to task by you.

She hid a laugh.

Cara:You don't look that tired.

In fact, he looked delicious. Downright cuddleable. She wanted her face on his chest. She wanted to kiss along his jaw and down his neck.

Antonio: I'm used to functioning with little sleep.

She lifted one eyebrow at him when his eyes found hers, then started typing again.

Cara: Then you have no excuse.

He huffed a small laugh, then hit a button. Cara got a notification on the game screen that he'd accepted the challenge.

She couldn't contain her glee. And it only multiplied when her first set of letters popped up on her screen and she knew exactly what word to play.

She played her word and hit enter, then waited. Antonio's reaction didn't disappoint. He dropped the phone away from his face and stared at her across the bus as she tried not to laugh.

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