Page 45 of Shiver

Well, if my interest wasn’t already piqued, it sure is now.And why the hell does the thought of Samara with another person bother me so much?

I straighten, my brow raised as she looks up at me. “Go on,” I urge her.

“I may have…” She clears her throat. For the first time since I’ve met her, she’s acting kind of… shy. “It’s possible that I told her I’ve been seeing someone.” She looks down at her feet quickly, refusing to make eye contact with me. “And agreed to bring him too,” she says, her body nearly melting into the floor.

I try; I swear, I try really fucking hard not to let the laughter bubbling in my chest slip free at how dramatic she’s being. But unfortunately for her, I fail miserably. She reaches over, smacking me on the shoulder, but for the first time tonight, she cracks a small smile, and laughter starts to pour out of her.

“What the fuck am I going to do?” she asks, the question clearly rhetorical.

I chuckle at that, and an idea that I’m bound to regret later pops into my head.When will you learn, Luca?You can’t fixeverythingforeveryoneall the time.

I don’t heed my own warning before answering her though. “Simple. I’ll be your fake boyfriend. On one condition,” I say as her eyes snap back up to mine. “It’s gotta be somewhere sunny because I need a tan.” I wink at her.

Chapter forty

Samara

“You’ve lost your mind,” I tell him, shaking my head. “Absolutely not,” I add, trying to convince myself more than Luca.

“Why not? No offense, but you already lied. There’s no coming back from that.” He chuckles, not helping ease the guilt roaring inside me. “What’s the big deal? We go on a little vacation, you get to enjoy your time away for once, get a massage or whatever you want to do, and then we say we broke up a little after we get back. Problem solved,” he says, and he nearly has me convinced.

I shake my head. “You have Gia, and you’re probably busy. It just wouldn’t make sense.” I try to convince us both, but the thought of getting away for a long weekend and not having to deal with my family’s scrutiny over my lacking love lifeisappealing.

“Fine, when and where is it?” he asks, crossing his arms over his broad chest.Goddamn Gloria and her ability to produce such gorgeous children.

I scoff. “August twenty-eighth to the thirty-first in the Dominican Republic.”

He hums. “Sounds great. My hockey season doesn’t officially start until October, so I’ll just hit up the gym at the hotel, and I’ll leave Gia with Cici. She’s been working up to time alone with her, so by then, she should be able to handle a weekend with her, and my family is nearby in case she needs anything.” He says this with such finality that I nearly believe I’ve somehow agreed to yet another horrendous idea tonight.

“Luca, no.” I move to stand, but he grabs my hands, pulling me down. I lose my balance and fall into his lap. “Oh!” I gasp at the contact, trying to shift off his lap, but he only draws me in closer, wrapping his arms around my waist.

“Come on, Samara. Just let me help you. I owe you one for being my date to Kat’s wedding and for helping me keep my kid,” he pleads.

“Firstly, youpaidme to help you gain custody of Gia, and I’m pretty sure you did most of my work for me. And just to be clear, I’m not doing you any favors. I’m your date because of Kat,notyou,” I remind him.

This time, he rollshiseyes atme. “Stop being so difficult, princess.” His words are soft, and that’s likely the only reason my hackles don’t immediately go up.

If I’m being honest with myself, thiswouldsolve a lot of my family issues. For now anyway. And it would be nice to have a vacation for once, which is why the next word slips past my lips. “Fine.”

His dark brows shoot up his forehead. “Really?” he asks, clearly shocked.

“Yep, now let me up,” I tell him, grappling to stand. My fingers dig into his shoulders, but he grips my hips and pulls me up with him before I can push myself up and off him.

He places a hand at the base of my spine, leading me out of the small room, but I step out of his grasp before pushing past the curtains hung in the doorframe.I liked having his hand on me a bit too much, so it’s better to cut that out now.

Chapter forty-one

Luca

As we exit the room, I see the wide eyes of my family all huddled in the hallway, realizing they’ve been caught eavesdropping. Even our instructors, Cassandra and Christian, have joined them. They each shift their gazes, turning away from us.

Dante rubs at the back of his neck, looking up at the ceiling as ifthat’sgoing to convince anyone he wasn’t listening with the rest of them.

“You guys really are the nosiest people on the planet.” I chuckle, walking past Kas as he whispers to me with a laugh.

“You aresofucked, my friend,” he says, patting my shoulder.

As I look over at Samara, pushing her way back into the larger studio space with her curls framing her face, I realizehe isn’t wrong.

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