Chapter 11

11

LUCA

The jig is up.

At least, that’s how it feels when I drop Victoria off at her place after the photoshoot. I’m under no illusion that, particularly in the first half of the evening, I sold “us.” If those photos get out as the promo for our marriage, people will see through them right away.

The second half of the shoot was better—it certainly felt different, but who knows if that’ll translate to the photos. At the end of the day, Victoria and I were still two near-strangers being forced into a photoshoot meant for newlyweds.

I feel terrible about how badly I did in the first half. It wasn’t until she told me I was making her look like an undesirable fool to her ex that I realized how stupid I was being. That’s when things shifted for me.

I went from worrying she was uncomfortable—I’ve realized she’s good at masking that—to being determined Ryan would see the pictures of us and want to punch himself in the face for being such an idiot.

I’m in classes the next morning, then we’ve got a team scrimmage in the afternoon. Most of the guys head home afterward, but I stick around and work on my drills. I did pretty well at Pro Day a few weeks back, but my 40-yard-dash is a continuing weak spot, and I’m determined to shave as much time off as I can.

When I feel like stopping, I picture Ryan laughing at me—I have no idea what he looks like, but I’m imagining a smug guy in a tailored suit—and I keep going. I will get faster. It would be really lame if I went through all this work to get drafted only to sit on the bench or get put on the reserve list because I’m not quick enough.

The following evening, I’m just out of the shower when an email comes in from Zach. It’s addressed to both Victoria and me.

Zach

These are absolutely killer shots, guys! Way to go. I’ve already sent some of the best ones to Preston. Since they were the last piece of the puzzle we were waiting on, he went ahead and sent them in with the paperwork. He said you can feel free to send him more photos as you take them, and he’ll keep those in the event he gets a request for more evidence. Again, great work!

Beneath the message is a gallery link, which I tap on.

A webpage opens, and it loads with dozens of pictures from the other day.

I tap on the first one.

It’s an out-of-body experience, seeing Victoria and me like that: cheek to cheek, looking into the camera, with the sun and the city of L.A. behind us. It’s a shot I wouldn’t be surprised to see in Vogue or on a designer ad. Frankly, it’s hot. Or she is, at least.

I scroll through the next ones, waiting to see the awkward moments I know for a fact filled the evening. But they never come. There are laughing shots—the moment after I told Victoria I didn’t believe Jasper made her squeeze my butt—and serious ones. As I flip through, a strange feeling takes hold in my chest.

I pause on one picture and stare at it for ages. Victoria’s hands are on my chest, and my hand cradles her face. Our eyes are closed, and there can’t be more than a millimeter or two between our lips.

It gets my heart beating. Fast.

I can remember being in that moment, the things I felt, and how I came this close to kissing her despite Jasper’s instructions that we stop just before our lips touched. I got so caught up that our lips actually did brush briefly.

Which is when I pulled away. I’ve never been great at keeping the physical and the emotional separate, which is why I avoid both. It’s also why I’m known by some on my team as The Nun. I don’t do hookups. I can handle the teasing from my teammates better than I can handle the emotional turmoil of getting attached to people who won’t stick around.

I flip through the rest of the images, then open up a text to Victoria, curious what she thinks of them.

Luca

Did you get Zach’s email?

Victoria

Jasper is a magician. We look HOT!

By the way, we really should nail down our story better. I can only stay cryptic for so long with my family.

Luca

Okay, let’s talk details tomorrow. I get the impression Zach has figured it out for us, though.

I wait for a response, but it never comes, so I start making a late dinner with tortillas and the leftover ground beef I made the other night.

I’ve just sat down to enjoy the fruits of my labors when my phone starts ringing. It’s Victoria.

I set down my burrito and answer. “Hey.”

“Hey, babe,” comes the response in a high-pitched tone.

My brow furrows. “Hi…”

“Are you almost home?”

Mouth open, I stay quiet for a couple seconds. “I am home.”

“Okay, hurry, though, because I miss you.” A man’s voice sounds in the background, but I can’t hear what it says. “Okay, yes, Austin. Because I miss you and because my brother and his wife surprised us with a visit. You’ve been saying how excited you are to meet them, and here’s your chance!”

I sit up straighter, starting to understand the situation. “Your brother’s really there?”

“Yep! He and Mia are dying to meet you, so be quick.” Her voice is upbeat, but there’s an underlying tension there that’s impossible to miss.

Muffled in the background comes a “Hey, Luca!”

“Oh,” Victoria says, “and don’t forget to pick up tomato sauce on your way home.”

My confusion is multiplying by the second, but I’m not about to get anything helpful out of her while her brother’s right there. “Okay…”

“See you soon, babe. Love you too! Okay, bye.”

The line clicks off, but I keep the phone to my ear, trying to process the blitz I just experienced.

The text tone sounds, and I pull my phone away from my ear and look at the screen.

Victoria

SOS! Please get here quickly!

I shoot to my feet, and the chair falls backward, clattering to the floor. I jog toward the front door, grab my keys from the entry table, and head to my car, my mind spinning. I replay the conversation in my head, dissecting it phrase by phrase for any clues of what exactly I’m getting into.

Meeting her brother and sister-in-law, apparently. I’m so not prepared for this.

I’m most of the way to her house when I remember her saying not to forget the tomato sauce. Does she really want me to get some, or was that just part of the domestically-blissful-wife-calling-her-husband act?

Better safe than sorry.

I flip a U-turn and make the world’s fastest grocery trip to pick up three different types of tomato sauce, then drive the last few minutes to her house. Sure enough, there’s a car I don’t recognize parked out front.

I blow out a breath. It’s normal to be nervous to meet a woman’s family, but usually, you’re meeting them as a boyfriend, not as a husband. A husband who’s only known his wife for eight days.

I’m walking into a minefield here. But Victoria’s already in it, so…in I go.

I get to the front door and lift my hand to knock, only to pause just in time. Husbands don’t knock.

Feeling like a common burglar, I turn the knob and open the front door. Victoria and two other people are standing in the kitchen. I recognize the man. Most people around my age would.

How did I not realize Victoria Sheppard’s brother was Austin Sheppard, the popstar? And why did she not mention it?

Probably because a lot of things haven’t come up yet in our short time knowing each other.

“There you are, babe!” Victoria comes out from behind the counter and runs toward me in yoga pants and bare feet with red toenails. She throws her arms around my shoulders, then pulls my mouth to hers.

My body wants to go into shock mode, but my brain is vaguely aware that we have an audience, so it takes me a second, but I kiss her back. I expect a short peck, but she lingers long enough that I start to feel the stirrings of the same things I felt at our photoshoot.

After a few seconds with our lips locked, I’m convinced I’ll open my eyes to Austin’s fist flying at my face for kissing his sister like this in front of him.

Finally, Victoria pulls away.

Austin’s fist is nowhere in sight.

Victoria smiles at me, with the faintest help me encoded in her pretty eyes. “How was your day?”

“Uh, good,” I say. “How was yours?”

“Good. Except for missing you.” She goes up on her toes and kisses me again.

Dang. That’s probably how I should’ve answered.

She looks at the two cans and one glass jar in my hand and smiles. “You remembered! Thank you, hun.” She grabs them, then sets them down before threading her fingers through mine and pulling me toward the kitchen.

I’m living in an alternate universe. But it’s one I helped create. I feel like I got out of a Jumanji board game, and now I’m getting stuck in monsoons and stampedes.

My gaze meets Austin’s. The man is staring me down, and I can’t blame him. His fist may not be punching me, but his thoughts are.

“Luca,” Victoria says, “meet my brother, Austin, and his wife, Mia.”

Mia’s closer, so I put out my hand to shake hers. She’s got a familiar face, and I vaguely remember seeing something about Austin Sheppard marrying another musician. She’s a pretty brunette, and she’s smiling at me, but she’s definitely doing her own evaluation.

I put out my hand to shake Austin’s, but he’s got his arms crossed, and they stay that way.

“Austin,” Victoria says in an annoyed voice, while Mia elbows him.

“Sorry, Luca,” Victoria says. “My brother thinks so highly of himself that he can just show up without any notice and then stare people down.”

“Oh,” Austin says, his brows going up in mock incredulity. “Are we not doing surprises in this family? ‘Cause, see, after your surprise wedding text, I was under the impression that anything was fair game.”

“Very funny,” Victoria says dryly, but the man has a point.

He turns his gaze to me again. “Do you know who I am?”

Victoria scoffs and shakes her head.

“Yeah,” I say.

“Do you like my music?”

Victoria’s wide, intent eyes fix on mine, begging me to say yes and tell him he’s my favorite artist.

But I’m not a good liar, and my abilities are already being taxed to the maximum at the moment.

“Um, no. Not really.”

Victoria shuts her eyes in chagrin, and Austin stares at me. The room is fraught with tense silence as I wait for…I don’t even know what.

Then Austin’s hand shoots out, waiting for me to shake it. “I like an honest man, which is why I’ll return your honesty with my own: that pass you dropped against the Bruins in the third quarter this season was inexcusable.”

“Austin!” Mia says, horrified.

Victoria cringes and mouths the word sorry to me.

I suppress a smile and take his hand. “Completely inexcusable.”

Austin nods. “You had an amazing senior season, though. How’s the draft looking?”

“Wish I knew. Only time will tell.”

“So, are you guys staying for dinner?” Victoria asks.

“No,” Mia says right as Austin says “Yeah.” He shrugs at the look his wife gives him. “I gotta get to know my brother-in-law.”

“Lovely,” Victoria says. “Then get ready to help with the cooking.”

To his credit, Austin rolls up his sleeves and starts working on the salad with Mia while Victoria and I work on the pasta and sauce.

When we sit down twenty minutes later, the awkwardness from my arrival seems to have dissipated for the most part.

“So, Luca,” Austin says, serving himself salad, “you know I gotta ask…what’s with eloping with my sister?”

“Let the man enjoy his dinner,” Mia says, shooting me an apologetic look.

“It’s okay,” I say. “It’s a fair question.” And one I have no satisfying answer to. I’d like to just tell him the truth and get it over with, but Victoria’s toe nudging my shoe is an undeniable warning. “I don’t know that the answer will make much sense to anyone else.” Very true so far.

But I’ve got to sell this, or I’m putting Victoria in a really tough position. I’ll just try to keep as close to the truth as possible.

“It’s funny,” I say. “I wasn’t looking for love when I met Victoria. And I’ve never been very interested in getting married. Just trying to keep my head down and play good football.”

Austin nods his understanding like this is the most reasonable thing in the world.

“But when I met Victoria, it was…” I look at her next to me. Her expression is a mixture of curiosity and nerves, like she’s afraid I’m about to blow things any second. That makes two of us. “It was intense.” Again, all true so far, which makes me feel like less of a scumbag. But this is where I lose the thread. How do I tell this man why I married his sister without bothering to meet the most important people in her life first?

“You know how it was with Ryan,” Victoria cuts in.

“What do you mean?” Austin asks.

Victoria scoffs. “You guys were constantly asking when he was gonna propose. Everyone was offering their opinion, which made me defensive of him to the point that I couldn’t see what was happening in front of my own face with Kimberly and him.”

“Fair enough,” Austin says. “So, you guys just didn’t want people interfering?”

We nod.

“We wanted to do things on our terms and in our time,” Victoria says.

“Totally understandable,” Mia says, stabbing her pasta with her fork.

“You call her Victoria,” Austin says, looking at me with a little crease in his brow before his gaze shifts to his sister. “You hate being called that.”

My gaze whips to Victoria. She doesn’t like being called that?

“Hat ed ,” she says. “As in, in the past.”

Austin chuckles. “Hey, I’m just trying to wrap my brain around all of this, you know?”

I do know. My own brain is in knots.

He continues. “One minute, you’re adamant you’ll be single for the rest of your life, and the next minute, you’re married to someone I’ve never met and you’re going by Victoria.”

“Not all of us fall in love on stage in front of thousands of fans, Aus,” she replies, winking at Mia.

She’s right. And some of us—namely, two of us in the room—haven’t fallen in love at all, on stage or in secret. Some of us are apparently calling their wives a name they hate.

“Fair enough,” Austin says. “So, does this mean you’ll be moving wherever he gets drafted? That’s coming right up.”

I glance at Victoria. I have no idea how to answer these questions. This is her family—it’s her territory, and only she knows the ins and outs.

“We’re waiting to see what happens,” she says. “I’ve got my job here, obviously?—”

“Yeah, but you don’t even like it,” Austin argues. “I’d think you’d jump at the opportunity to move somewhere new and leave that place.”

Victoria doesn’t seem to know how to respond to this. I’m really wishing we’d hammered out the details of our story before now.

“You know how things go in the League,” I say. “I don’t want her to quit her job only for me to end up on injured reserve or even cut.”

“Which won’t happen,” Victoria says firmly. “But we’re still figuring things out.”

Austin nods. “Does that mean you’ll be away from each other during training season?”

“Probably,” Victoria says, looking at me with a grimace.

“That’ll be so tough,” Mia says sympathetically. “I can’t imagine being newlyweds and being separated for the first months of marriage.”

“For sure,” Victoria replies. “But we’ll figure it out. That’s what you do when you love each other, right?” She grabs my hand, which has a fork in it and red sauce dripping down, and she looks at me with a smile. I nod, ignoring the two drips that fall on my pants.

The thing is, I believe her. Not the whole love part, of course, but that we’ll figure this out.

A while later, Austin and Mia gather up their things to head out, and Victoria and I walk them to the door.

Mia gives me a hug. “Welcome to the family, Luca,” she says in my ear before pulling back with a smile. “Don’t let my husband fool you. The Sheppards are the best.”

Austin puts out his hand, and I shake it. “I came prepared to dislike you, Luca. Don’t get me wrong—I’ll be keeping careful tabs on you to make sure you’re taking care of my sister—but…so far, so good.”

“Your protective big brother act is adorable,” Victoria says, pulling him in for a hug. “Especially seeing as you’ve spent your life being the one I needed protecting from.” She steps beside me again and grabs my hand. “But the tables have turned. My husband could take you down in two seconds flat.”

Austin does a childish taunting face, then reaches over and gives his sister a noogie. Then he grabs Mia’s hand and pulls her toward the car, sending a wave over his shoulder before opening the passenger door for his wife.

We wave at them as they drive off, and the second they turn the corner on the street, we let out simultaneous breaths of relief.

Victoria looks up at me, her eyes wide. “I am so incredibly, unbelievably, extraordinarily sorry.”

I cock a brow. “Are you, though?”

“Yes,” she says firmly. “I should’ve known one of my siblings would pull something like this. They’re the worst.”

“Your sister-in-law disagrees,” I reply.

“She’s wrong.” She shoots a look at me from the corner of her eye. “Okay, fine. She’s not wrong. My family is the best. But they’re also the worst.” Her hand squeezes mine, which is the moment both of us realize we’re still holding hands.

We let go simultaneously.

“Maybe you should just tell them the truth,” I say. “It’d reduce your stress. A lot. And mine.”

She shakes her head. “I thought about it. Believe me. I did. I even planned on it. I just wanted to mess with them, you know? But…the more I think about it, the more I feel like telling them might make things harder.”

I raise my brows. “Harder than that?” I jerk my thumb back at the house.

“Yes,” she says. “I know my family, Luca, and they’re great at a lot of things. Keeping secrets is not one of those. I may change my mind tomorrow, but for now, I think this is the best approach.”

“Okay,” I say, not totally convinced.

“If you wanna tell your family, that’s totally fine, of course.”

“I don’t have a family.”

Her brows shoot up. “Like, no family at all?”

“Nope. If we’re looking at more nights like tonight, though, we should talk through our story.”

“Yes,” she says firmly, turning back toward the house. “It’s a small miracle we made it through tonight alive.”

It kind of feels like we’re running on small miracles.