Page 44 of Shiver

“Goodnight, Mara,” she says, her voice now bright and cheerful as she hangs up without any extra fuss. She got what she wanted, and regrettably, that means I need to figure out what the hell I’m going to do about it.

I silence my phone, not wanting any other reasons to lose my mind tonight, before heading into the studio feeling like I’ve been hit with a ton of bricks.

Chapter thirty-nine

Luca

Just when I’m starting to think she won’t make it, Samara comes storming into the studio as Christian and Cassandra are going over what we’ll be learning tonight.

I watch as she sets her things down and stomps over to my side. “You good?” I ask her, keeping my voice down, not wanting to interrupt or draw attention to her shit mood.

“I’m fine,” she says, her voice strained as she speaks through gritted teeth.Clearly, she isnotfine. Unease settles in my gut, and my mouth dries.

“Let’s get to it then!” Cassandra says excitedly, everyone breaking off into pairs. Last weekend, we swapped partners the whole night to help familiarize Kat with dancing with someone other than Ale, but tonight, we’re back to our pairs from the first week.

I try to place my hands around Samara, but she shrugs me off. “I thought we were past this.” I groan, and my shoulders sag.

“If you have something to say, just say it, Luca,” she tells me, annoyance lacing her words as she blows out a breath in an exaggerated huff.

I’m taken aback by this because recently I’d thought our banter wasmostlykind of playful, but tonight she’s out for blood, and I can’t imagine why it would be mine.

I try to brush it off, but for the next twenty minutes, she continues to move my hands, stiffening each time they settle on her, and she steps out of my grasp constantly. It wears on me because as much as I’m aware that she isn’t my biggest fan, I’d started to believe she was warming up to me.

But based on the way she’s acting right now, I’ve seriously misjudged our interactions the last few weeks.

I let this go on for a few more minutes until I catch Kat looking at us with concern etched all over her face. She and Ale are whispering to each other, their eyes periodically looking over at us, and it not only embarrasses me, but it pisses me off.

“Alright, that’s enough,” I tell Samara, wrapping my arm around her waist and tugging her all the way against my body. Before she can make an even bigger scene and shove me off her, I bring my lips down to her ear. “I don’t know what’s going on, but we’re about to talk about it because you can hate meall you want, but what you’re not going to do is ruin any part of this wedding for my brother and future sister-in-law.” My voice is clipped, and I don’t leave any room for argument.

She goes rigid against me, and when I pull away, I expect to see fire in her eyes, but instead, those big, gorgeous brown eyes of hers are glossy and filled with what I can only imagine is regret.

And suddenly,so am I.

I don’t get a chance to apologize. She pulls out of my grasp, nearly sprinting to the back of the studio. I follow after her, finding her standing in a smaller, empty room.

Her arms are wrapped tightly around her torso as I approach her slowly. “Samara,pleasetell me what’s going on. If you don’t want to come to the wedding, just tell me that. Honestly, Kat really won’t mind, and if she did, we can just blame it on me.” I try to reassure her, grasping at straws as I attempt to figure out what is happening.

“It’s not about the wedding,” she says, shaking that beautiful head of shiny curls.

“Then what’s wrong? Because silly me,” I say sarcastically, “Iactuallythought you might be starting to have some fun.” I’m frustrated at how vague she’s being.

I didn’t grow up around people who kept things in. Sure, Gianni has always been kind of quiet, but as well as he thinks he hides shit, we all see the wheels spinning and can figure out what’s on his mind without him having to say anything. And as for the rest of my family, you can’t get any of us to shut the hell up if you wanted to, so I’m just not used to this kind of passive-aggressive behavior. Iwanther to tell me what’s on her mind because, unfortunately for me and every woman I’ve ever dated,I’m not a mind reader.

She lets out a little sigh before finally turning to look at me. “I just got off the phone with my mom,” she tells me.

“Okay…?” I say, dragging out the “O” sound. I’m possiblymoreconfused now. “Is she alright?” I ask, and bile churns in my gut as anxiety washes over me.

She waves a hand around, rolling her eyes. “Yeah,she’sfine. I, on the other hand, am not. She keeps hounding me about going on this family vacation, and in a moment of weakness, I not onlyaccidentallyagreed to go, but I also lied about something that’s going to blow up in my face rather quickly.” She presses her fingers into her temples, squeezing her eyes tightly shut.

“Princess, I’ve gotta be honest here,” I tell her, gripping the back of my neck. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, so I’m going to need you to spell it out for me.”

Standing with her back against the wall, she drops her head back, looking up at the ceiling as she blows out a long breath. “I avoid these family vacations because I’m the only one who’s single. All of my cousins and my sister are happily married with tons of children, and I’m the only one who’s not. I prioritize my career, and according to my family, there’s somethingwrongwith that.” She shakes her head, filling her lungs before continuing to explain. “So when we go on these vacations, I’m always the designated babysitter while all of the couples go out on dates and enjoy their child-free time. It’s the way it’s always been, and I’m tired of it. If I’m going to go on vacation, I want it tofeellike a vacation. I don’t want to act like everyone’s au pair. Besides that, it only acts as a reminder that I don’t have the family I’d imagined for myself by this age. I don’t exactly have one foot in the grave, but I’ve always been a planner, and little Samara definitely had plans of being married with children by now.”

She drops her chin to her chest, sliding down the wall, dragging her hands over her face as she shakes her head into them. I take a seat in front of her, fighting the urge to take her hands in mine to stop her from covering that gorgeous face of hers.

“So you said yes to this vacation, but what did you lie about?” I ask, trying to clarify because I amstillconfused.

“Well…” She pauses, hesitating. “I may have blown up on her a little and asked what made this specific vacation such a big deal, and it turns out that she’s trying to set me up with one of her friend’s sons.”

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