Page 40 of Hail Marry
“I’m sorry!” I hiss, burying my face in his chest because I have no idea what else to do. “He made me do it!”
I have no idea what to expect from Luca. This is uncharted territory, and I’m too scared to meet his eyes.
Luca’s mouth comes up against my ear, and there’s a moment of silence. “Sure he did,” he whispers.
I pull back to look at him, and he’s smiling. I laugh, full of nervous jitters and a big helping of relief that he’s not mad at me.
“Yes!” Jasper says, clicking away. “That’s the stuff!”
“I thought he was trying to come on to you,” Luca says like he didn’t even hear Jasper.
“Nope,” I say. “Just asking me to grab your butt so you’d loosen up a little.”
Jasper walks over to us with a huge smile. “Well done, Victoria. We’ve got some great material thanks to that little move you pulled.” He glances at the sky. “We’ve got limited light to work with, so I think we should get you changed and head to the next location.”
We return to the car and grab our next outfits: a flowy coral sundress for me and khaki-colored linen pants with a white button-up for Luca.
We slip into the restrooms in the lobby of the office building to change outfits, then put the old ones back in the car. Jasper wants us barefoot for these beach shots, so I put my strappy heels back on for the walk there, while Luca sports a pair of sandals from his trunk.
Jasper runs ahead of us once we’ve crossed the street and made it to the sandy sidewalk. “Hold hands and walk this way,” he calls to us.
Luca grabs my hand, and I do my best to act like heels and soft, deep sand are compatible.
“Go ahead and take off those heels,” Jasper says in an offensive statement about my success.
“I’m okay,” I say, keeping a smile pasted on my face as the camera continues to click.
“You’re walking weird,” Luca says in a low voice.
“Yeah?” I keep my weight on the balls of my feet. “Well, I’d rather walk weird than get hepatitis from an old needle like last time I came to this beach.”
“You got hepatitis?” he asks.
“Yes! I mean, no. I stepped on an old needle, though, and had to get a tetanus shot.”
“Luca.” Jasper’s gaze locks on Luca, then he nods.
Luca scoops me into his arms and starts walking while Jasper clicks away like a paparazzo.
“I’m totally capable of walking,” I say, wrapping my arms around Luca’s neck for stability. Though, he seems to have things well under control, like he’s carrying a baby rather than a full-grown woman.
“The circumstances of how we met beg to differ,” he says.
I suppress a smile because I kind of love when Luca hits back. “You’re a mean boy, you know that?”
His eyes meet mine, and there’s a hint of mischief in them before he directs them ahead again. “Mean would be letting you keep walking the way you were while a camera immortalizes each moment.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Isodon’t feel bad about pinching your butt anymore.”
“Like you everdid,” he says, deadpan.
We reach the area near the water where the sand becomes firmer, and Luca sets me down. I reach down and undo the straps of my heels.
“Not afraid of hepatitis anymore?” Luca asks.
“I’ve weighed the risks of it against the verbal abuse you subjected me to,” I say. But really, it’s the soft sand I’m afraid of. Packed down sand that’s constantly being swept over by waves poses far less danger.
Jasper has us do more walking, with some shots of us holding hands, some with me on Luca’s back—no easy feat in a dress—and some dancing. The effects of the derriere squeeze are long gone, however, and Luca’s stiffness is returning.
