Page 86 of Bitter When He Begs

The audacity of him, I swear to God. “You asshole.”

He grins, reaching out, actually trying to grab my face, and I swat his hands away, stepping back like I need to physically remove myself from his gravitational pull.

“Luca.”

“Sage.”

I take a deep breath. “Why the fuck did you make us Insta-official?”

“Because you’re my boyfriend?”

His answer makes me pinch the bridge of my nose. “You could’ve warned me.”

Luca shrugs, completely unapologetic. “Didn’t think I had to.”

I gape at him.This fucking—

“You didn’t think youhadto?”

He tilts his head, watching me and looking confused. “Why?” he murmurs, voice softer now, laced with something I can’t quite place. “Did you not want people to know?”

I shut my mouth, my face heating and my brain fighting for a response, but nothing comes out.

Because that’s not it.

I just… I don’t know! I wasn’t ready for this. I wasn’t expecting him to want people to know—to not hesitate in putting it out there like it was nothing, like it was easy.

Like it wasn’t fucking terrifying.

Luca watches me, his smirk softening, his hand lifting slightly before dropping back down. “I didn’t see why I had to hide my boyfriend.”

“You made us Instagram official,” I state again.

“Yeah, because you’re mine.”

My face burns, my pulse races, and I can’t believe this is my life right now. Luca notices, because of course he does, and his grin deepens. I point at him, glaring hard. “You cannot just—sayshit like that.”

Luca cocks an eyebrow. “Why not?”

I groan, shoving my hands through my hair. “Because—because I’m not used to this! I’m not used to this kind of attention, Luca! You may not notice the people staring because it’s like background music to you now, but this wasn’t my life before you!”

His expression changes then. The easy smirk fades, replaced with something more serious. He steps in closer, less teasing now, more focused.

“I didn’t post it to make you uncomfortable, Sage. I posted it because you looked happy,” he sighs, running a hand through his hair and glancing away just briefly before locking eyes with me again. “I didn’t think it would blow up like that. I just… I liked the photo. You looked good, and I wanted to keep it. I didn’t realize it’d feel like this for you.”

I bite the inside of my cheek, frustrated with everything. With myself. With the fact that a part of me did like the post. With the way I saved it to my own gallery like an idiot. With how soft my chest felt when I saw the word Sunshine written under my face.

But I’m spiraling anyway.

“I just… I don’t know how to be that person,” I admit. “The one everyone looks at. The one everyone suddenly knows because of who he’s with. I’m not built for that.”

Luca exhales slowly, then he cups the back of my neck, his thumb brushing against the edge of my jaw in a way that makes me want to lean into it and punch him at the same time.

“You don’t have to be anything but mine,” he murmurs, low enough that no one else hears. “But if it’s too much… I’ll tone it down.”

I blink. “You will?”

“Yeah,” he says without hesitation. “I won’t post anything else. I won’t crowd you on campus. I’ll stop the PDA if that’s what you need.”

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