CHAPTER 24

“All Of The Girls You Loved Before” – Taylor Swift

MY HEART FLUTTERS WHEN THE first thing I notice as my eyes open the next morning is Luca’s face resting on my chest and his fingers clasped onto my t-shirt. Even after driving Enrique back to the resort and staying with him until he fell asleep, Luca still couldn’t sleep when he came back to the apartment. It wasn’t until I ran my fingers through his hair for about half an hour that his eyes shut close as he drifted off.

As I carefully get up to go use the restroom, I feel his grip tighten around my shirt, my body immediately growing awake from the movement.

I didn’t quite know what to say last night. To be honest, I still don’t know what to say. So I thought the best way to help was to just be there for him.

“You okay?” I ask after Luca blinks awake.

We stare at each other for a few long seconds, remembering the events of last night before he exhales deeply .

“I’m worried about him,” Luca admits.

I nod. “What can I do?”

He strokes my cheek gently with his thumb and gives me a half-smile. “Nothing. I’ll call him later to check in.”

“Okay,” I say.

He pulls me into his chest and presses a kiss into my hair. “I’m really sorry that last night ended like that. I know how important everything was for you.” I feel him exhale. “It was important for me as well.”

Any lingering disappointment from the evening dissipates after hearing that my feelings were also on his mind.

“Luca, don’t even worry about it. I understand.”

I quickly forget about it altogether when he starts placing a trail of kisses along my neck.

“Still…,” he says as my giggles abruptly switch to breathy moans when his lips graze against my ear. “I’d like to make it up to you.”

My voice barely translates into a whisper. “I wouldn’t be opposed to that.”

“How free are you this afternoon?” He smirks into my neck.

_________

And while Luca didn’t need to make up anything to me, he still managed to brighten up the entire morning. After suggesting to bring some fresh fruit to the beach, we share a variety of some of the tastiest melon and berries I’ve probably ever had.

“You know early mornings are really growing on me,” I tell him.

“It’s 11 am.” He snorts before taking a bite of his watermelon slice .

“For me that’s early.” A grin forms across my lips when I notice how relaxed he looks again. “Really though,” I explain. “Like yesterday I know I was groggy when I woke up, but after I got ready it wasn’t that bad. I’m really starting to like waking up earlier now.”

“I’m glad you see the beauty of an early morning now,” Luca says playfully. “The hardest part is just getting out of bed.”

“I guess the one time you were right,” I tease.

“If by that you mean the one time you’ll admit that I’m right, then sure.” When I snort, he adds, “Although I don’t really mind being wrong sometimes for you.”

I lean in to kiss him softly. “Your lips taste like watermelon.”

“Really?” He glances at my lips amusedly. “That’s funny because all I can taste is you since last night.”

I almost drop my fork with the way he looks at me as he ensures I see exactly how he bites down onto the next piece of his watermelon. Grazing his teeth onto the fruit slowly. Before dragging his tongue teasingly over it.

For my own sanity, I really need to stop looking at his mouth. I’m still shocked at how that was a highlight of my night when his lips were probably on my clit for barely even a minute.

Even when we’re back at his suite, I try but fail to politely watch as he packs his things before he has to check out of the resort shortly. I know I said I wouldn’t look at his lips, but my plan is desperately failing.

Maybe it’s the fact that this is the first time I’ve been around a guy who I’ve seen completely naked, but I can’t not visualize him without clothes now. And he’s not helping dwindle my distracted state. Not when a few of his golden strands dangle as he tilts down while meticulously folding one of his shirts. All I want to do is mess up his hair. But then my attention quickly moves to the muscles extending across his hands, already feeling a bit dizzy. “How do you expect me to do anything with you looking at me like that?” Luca asks.

“Maybe that’s the point.” I lick my lips. “You could be doing much more important things right now.”

He puts the fabric down. And then my heart starts to pitter-patter when he walks toward me. Craving his hands on me again, he grips onto my hips, his lips barely brushing over mine, teasing me with the most arrogant glare. “You sure you want to start this?”

“Try me,” I tease with my lips.

The flicker in his eyes must match the excitement in mine when he pushes his lips into mine in a way that he hasn’t done before. Although I don’t have much of a reference to make, I would strongly bet that it isn’t common for just kissing to feel this way.

Placing his hand on the back of my head, Luca pins me up against the wall effortlessly, yet so abruptly without moving his lips from mine. Not even for a second. The strength behind his movement juxtaposed by the thoughtful way he made sure to protect me sends an even deeper rush of pleasure down my body.

My breath grows shakier when I feel his fingers roam underneath my yellow sundress and up my stomach. Just as agonizingly slowly traveling down to my waistline. But he doesn’t move his hand.

And when he stops, my pulse screams.

His lips luckily continue as he slips them between mine with so much urgency, and yet his tongue barely brushes against me. I moan, needing more contact. And he notices the desperate shift in my sighs when he pushes his tongue just that much closer to reaching the tip of mine, making me whimper even more than a second ago. Just when I’m getting satisfied at the pace, he pulls his lips off mine so smoothly. Before I even have a chance to pull him in again, he hooks my bottom lip between his, making sure I feel each second of the sensation before he slowly releases me from his lips. Then he does the cruelest thing.

He tilts his head and places the most innocent kiss on my lips, leans in as if he’s going to continue but then pulls himself away. And completely this time.

I stare at him, now with daggers in my eyes.

Luca looks way too composed, his smug glare confirming this was intentional.

He kisses my cheek. “Let me get my things so we can go.”

Still practically panting when he returns, I say, “If you’re trying to sexually frustrate me, then your plan worked.”

He meets my eyes with a cocky smirk as he walks toward the suite’s front door. “Still a lot on your mind?”

My heartbeat starts to pick up again.

That son of a bitch.

Surprisingly, I wasn’t overthinking about any of the things that seemed terrifying before meeting him. All my mind was focused on a second ago is how badly I want to feel him. And all of him.

If anyone knows how much I overthink, it’s Luca. Pausing our kiss feels more than just teasing. It’s taking what I communicated with him about and doing everything he can to help me overcome something that was never his responsibility to fix.

And suddenly my chest’s feeling warmer than moments ago.

_________

My adrenaline rush stays with me as we’re driving along the coast to the point where I almost miss when Luca mentions, “I’m just going to drop the fruit off for my mom on our way. ”

At least this distracts me from the pressing thoughts from just moments ago. I also wondered why he got a few extra bowls of fruit earlier.

“You got them for her?” I ask. “That’s so sweet of you.”

“She loves fresh mango from that place, and they don’t always have it,” he explains. “We’re pretty close by anyway.”

There he goes trying to downplay his kindness as usual. But it’s then when I realize what his suggestion actually entails. “Does that mean I’m going to meet your mom?” I ask.

A shyness appears in his eyes, as if he wasn’t really thinking about it yet. “Do you want to? I think she’s home.”

Not surprised by his reaction since this seems more like it was a coincidence rather than something he planned on doing this early on, I casually reply, “Yeah, that would be nice. But only if you want me to.”

“Yeah, of course. I’m sure she’ll be happy to meet you,” he says with a warm grin.

My heart flutters at the thought that maybe he’s already talked to her about me. There I go getting my hopes up too high.

After a few seconds pass, I look out the window and take in the view of the coastline. My mind drifts again to last night. I feel bad for Enrique. I feel even worse that we may have shared some common ground yet didn’t commiserate on those experiences with each other. “Have you talked to Enrique?” I ask cautiously. For a second I wonder if I shouldn’t have even brought it up when Luca’s chest tightens the way it did last night.

“I called him before we left,” he replies. “But he couldn’t talk for too long since he had a meeting to go to. He was feeling better and didn’t really remember what happened.” Luca sighs, while a sadness I only saw from before we got together reappears in his eyes. “He keeps a lot of things inside. It’s hard sometimes to know exactly what’s going on with him.”

I brush my fingers across his neck, caressing his skin softly and wanting so desperately to make him smile again. “He’s lucky to have a friend like you,” I say. “And I’m here for both of you if you need me.”

When the slightest grin appears on his lips, a warmth fills my cheeks as he holds onto my hand with his hand that’s not holding onto the steering wheel.

Once we arrive at his mom’s house, I clock how charming it is, quickly noticing where Luca gets some of his creative influence from.

The walls are simple, painted a soothing shade of mocha, that’s contrasted by the many paintings scattered around the walls. I then spot a few vases filled with a variety of fresh flowers when a woman that has a similar shade of eye color as Luca lights up the room from the hallway.

Before she has a chance to greet us, Luca moves forward and kisses her on the cheeks as he says, “Mom, this is Jasmine.”

The nerves suddenly fill me. Wanting to make my best first impression, I go in for a hug at the same time she does. “It’s so nice to meet you,” I say. “Your home is very beautiful.”

She kisses my cheeks before studying my face in a way that looks like she’s trying to match a description that she’s been given from someone else. Could that someone else be Luca? I’m going to bet my chances so.

“Oh you’re more beautiful,” she says. “I’m happy I could finally meet you. I’m Alba. Would you like some tea?” I really start to notice not only the physical similarities between them but even more so the vibrancy of their personalities as she adds, “I was just on my way to have lunch with a friend so I’m sorry if I’m in a little bit of a hurry.” She motions for us to sit at the coffee table by the kitchen as she warms up her kettle. “I think I have a few cookies here somewhere.”

While Alba rummages through a few cabinets, I insist, “Don’t worry about it. I wouldn’t want you to miss your plans.”

“Oh no, I have a few minutes to chat,” she offers with a warm smile before placing what looks to be a pot of Chamomile tea onto the table.

She takes a sip and then glances toward me. “I hear you live in Dove Cove? We really miss it there.”

I quickly sit up at the mention of my hometown. “Yes I do. My parents live there as well. Do you have a favorite spot?”

“Probably by the marina.” Her eyes light up. “I loved going to the restaurants and shops there.”

I smile. “I actually live right next to the marina. I think that’s my favorite part too. My best friend and I recently had lunch there on The Fourth of July, and it’s funny since later that same day I ran into Luca’s friend Enrique.”

Shit. Maybe it wasn’t the wisest decision to bring up the best friend of the guy I’m now dating who I’ve also kissed before. When will I learn to stop putting my foot in my mouth? I fear, probably never .

“Yes, I heard.” Alba smiles. “It must have been nice to see each other after all these years.”

“Yeah. It was really unexpected, that’s for sure.” I laugh this whole conversation off awkwardly and then try to shift the focus back to Luca. “Not as unexpected as how Luca and I met though.”

Before I can further elaborate on our first encounter, she confirms everything I’ve been wondering about. “He told me. If anything is unexpected, it was Luca telling me how he met someone. You must have made quite the impression. And now I can see why.”

I think the way my lips are curved right now is enough of a response for her as she smiles down at her mug knowingly. Although my expression couldn’t even begin to emulate the shock that fills me after hearing her words.

At least my mind’s functioning enough to compliment her vases as I motion toward them. “Your flowers are so lovely.”

Alba’s eyes somehow glimmer even brighter. “Thank you. They’re from my garden. I’ve been waiting all summer for the peonies to bloom, and they finally did,” she shares as she fondly turns toward her backyard.

“Really? Wow. Well they’re gorgeous. They also compliment the paintings so well,” I add.

Luca continues to quietly look at both of us in amusement as he takes sips of his tea, while his mom tells me, “Thank you for noticing those. My late husband actually painted most of these. Although my favorite is still this one that Luca made me when he was five. Here, let me show it to you,” she says before disappearing into the living room.

Luca places his hands onto his forehead, chuckling. “Why did I agree to this?” He continues to shake his head as I bite down on my smile, when his mom returns back with a small painting.

She carefully sets it down in front of us while I glance at the piece, wondering what I’m even looking at. “Are those sea turtles?” I ask.

Luca scoffs. “Not this again…”

“Isn’t it so cute?” Alba marvels at her son’s artwork, most likely not even hearing what I asked before she goes back to the kitchen to fill up the kettle .

“They were supposed to be goats,” Luca finally answers my question.

I cover my mouth, trying my best to suppress my laughter before looking at him with pursed lips. “You know? I kinda see it now.”

He rolls his eyes. “Yeah. I’m sure you do.”

“What are those stringy things in the air?”

“Broccoli.”

My laughter seeps through a little this time. “For the goats?”

“Yes,” he confirms. “For the goats.”

“Why are they in the air like that? Were they falling from the sky?” I ask, failing not to smile.

“They’re not in the air,” he corrects. “They were meant to be on the grass but in the background.”

“Do goats even eat broccoli?”

He shrugs obliviously. “I have no fucking clue.”

I can’t hold it in any longer. I’m full on laughing now.

After setting the piece back down onto the table, I face toward him. “You know…” My fingers trace the edges of his grey blue shirt as I fix the collar. “This is so much better than your first painting that I saw in the gallery.”

Luca tilts his head up with a smirk. “Are you hitting on me in front of my mom?”

Before I can even respond, Alba walks back near the table. “I think I better get going now.” She kisses Luca’s cheeks before kissing mine as well. “It was very nice meeting you Jasmine. Feel free to stay as long as you’d like.”

“Thank you so much. It was lovely meeting you as well,” I say as Luca and I walk with her to the door.

As soon as she leaves, I turn around and try my best to stay nonchalant. “Tell me…” Luca almost roll his eyes as I flutter my lashes. “Exactly how many times did you talk to your mom about me?”

“Too many to keep count,” he teases as he starts playing with the ends of my sundress.

Trying to avoid looking down at his hands, I struggle to maintain my posture. “So what did you tell her?”

“The usual.” He raises his brows at me. “How I was on the brink of insanity being around you so much.”

I bite down on my smile. “And what did she say?”

“She accused me of liking you which I don’t really see how she’d deduce.”

“Ah, okay,” I play along. “Because you don’t?” I narrow my eyes at him teasingly as I move in a bit closer.

“I really…” I shudder when the warmth of his touch enters the bottom of my dress. Then his voice gets deeper. “Really…” His fingers travel up my legs and past my inner thighs before he finally whispers, “Really don’t .” I didn’t even realize my eyes fell closed until I open them back up, only to see his smug grin as he removes his hand.

“Okay. I think you more than proved your point already,” I almost growl.

“I think we’re both perfectly capable of waiting another hour or two. Don’t you think?” Before I have a chance to flip him off, he adds, “Besides, I’m pretty sure Sofia’s coming home soon.”

This distracts me, although my pulse is definitely still pulsing . “Sofia lives here?” I ask.

“Yup,” he confirms.

“That’s so nice,” I say. “I lived with my parents up until last year as well.”

Learning that Enrique and Sofia both still live with their families makes me realize how this is probably a lot more common than I previously recognized it to be. It’s comforting to know there are people out there who resonate with your experiences.

“I lived here until I was 23 also,” Luca shares, “until I got my own apartment.”

“I don’t think I’ve told you this yet, but I really love your apartment, Luca. It just feels so cozy.”

“Thanks,” he says so simply, yet I sense the joy written in his eyes at my compliment.

“So what time are we leaving again?” I ask, pointing at my imaginary watch.

He laughs softly. “In a few minutes. My mom also wanted me to check and see why the air conditioning isn’t working.”

I look down at my wrist again. “I’m timing you.”

“Now it all makes sense,” he says.

“What?” I ask, curious.

“How your timing is always off. You don’t have the most reliable watch.”

I roll my eyes. “Go, and hurry up.”

He raises a brow at me. “Someone’s a little impatient …”

“Words have a funny way of coming back to haunt you,” I tease.

“Shit. That actually scared me a bit. And turned me on a little too.” He bites down on his bottom lip as he walks away, leaving me flustered.

Hoping time will move faster, I make my way to the patio to look at his mom’s garden.

Not that this is a particularly large backyard, but the vast assortment of flowers makes it seem like there is a whole field out here. These plants wouldn’t typically look nice together, yet somehow they all look perfect in their current arrangement, especially with the way the sun is reflecting over them today. Lost in the haze of greenery, Luca catches me from my daydream. “I’m not sure if you could tell, but my mom likes flowers,” he says so endearingly.

My eyes widen. “This honestly would make the perfect Pinterest board.”

“She’ll be thrilled to hear that.” He smiles.

“It’s true though,” I say. “How does she find the time to maintain all of this? It’s honestly super impressive.”

“Gardening is probably her favorite hobby,” Luca reveals. “My dad used to plant her one flower every summer. Before that, she loved having a garden, but after that, it was something that she looked forward to doing all the time.”

A sadness fills me as I’m reminded of how his family moved back to Spain when his dad passed away. “It must have been hard for her to move then.”

“Oh yeah,” he says with some heaviness. “I think that’s the biggest thing that she missed when we moved back. Since at that point she took care of it for over two decades.”

“Well this is a beautiful garden,” I offer with a slight smile.

Luca almost chuckles. “I think she really went overboard when we got back since she missed it. But it filled some void in a way so we were just grateful that she had that to hold onto.”

My eyes sting a bit when I look back at the blooming flowers. “I can’t imagine how she must have felt. Not only losing a loved one, but also her husband.”

Luca caresses my shoulder, the sunshine from his skin instantly warming my body. “It wasn’t easy for any of us. Especially her. But she’s also the strongest person I’ve ever known.”

My smile meets his before he gazes out over the garden. It looks like something catches his eye suddenly as he walks to the far corner of the backyard .

“I knew we had some,” Luca says eagerly as he turns back and approaches me with some tiny white flowers. He places one in the side of my hair. When my brows furrow, he glances into my eyes so charmingly. “A jasmine for Jasmine,” he declares in the most outrageous and playful voice that I start laughing.

“Why are the most romantic things in your head also the absolute cheesiest when they actually happen to you?” I admit.

He takes a step back obnoxiously. “Woah. What are you trying to say?”

“Okay. It was a little romantic if maybe you changed your entire sentence to something else ,” I tease.

He looks into my eyes longer than usual, and that’s all it takes for the butterflies, the warmth, the desire to have him come rushing back. And so of course I notice when he glances at my hair and then back into my eyes alluringly. “What?” I ask with anticipation. I really am losing my patience by the second like he alluded to earlier.

“I just noticed how the center of a jasmine flower has some yellow to it. I never saw that before,” he reveals with wonder. “I think I noticed it since yellow is so pretty on you,” he adds as he glances down at my dress while my heart jumps against my chest.

“Really?” I ask with flushed cheeks.

“Yeah. I think yellow is your color,” he says.

My brows furrow amusedly. “Literally no one has ever told me that. I know it’s generalizing it a bit, but it’s also not even anybody’s favorite color.”

“I know what you mean,” Luca says, “but I couldn’t disagree with it more. Yellow is actually one of my favorite tones to paint with. It can be one of the most subtle ways to incorporate color into a piece since it blends nicely with neutrals but also works well as a standalone too. ”

I bite down on my lip, finding him even more attractive when he talks about his interests. “I love when you talk art to me.”

“So you want to go now.” He scoffs knowingly.

“I mean, we can stay here and keep talking about flowers if you want?” I glance around the garden facetiously.

He pulls me in slightly. “I don’t know. My mind is fixated on a more complex flower at the moment.”

I could be wrong, but I don’t think he’s referring to actual flowers anymore.