Chapter 28

Luca

A n emergency room, five stitches, and a voyage onto a roof to collect a passport-filled sock later, I was packed and ready to go … almost. Remorse over hurting a friend weighed heavily on my conscious, but the fear of being knocked out cold by a five-foot-nothing blonde holding a knife had adrenaline balancing that out . “Evie. I know you don’t want to talk to me right now.”

“Or look, or see, or breathe the same air as …” she finished.

“Yep. All that. But I need to ask a favor.” The large, almost machete-sized weapon she was about to annihilate a hapless watermelon with was dropped as she stared at me in disbelief.

“You’re fucking kidding me, aren’t you? You want to ask me a favor after what you’ve done?”

“I have no right. I know that. But yes. Yes, I do.”

Chills tickled the length of my spine as she snort-laughed and reclaimed her blade. “I’m all ears.” With a giant swing, she raised it over her head, her smile spreading as it slammed it down, slicing the whole watermelon in half in one go, no doubt while imagining it was my head.

“It’s my phone … I think it fell from my pocket when I was fighting with Luke. I just need to check that she’s okay, Evie. I promise that is all I will do. I swear. I just need to know before I leave.”

“Why do you even care?” she asked, again raising the blade then bringing it down with a thunk.

“Why do I care if she’s okay?”

“Yeah. I don’t get it. You’re this hot, rich hockey dude who’s about to fly home to his mansion and legions of fans. Why do you care if some Aussie chick who’s brought nothing but misery to everyone she knows, is okay or not?”

The ease and rightness of my response surprised even me. “Because, yes, she’s done bad things, but she is not bad. I know all her secrets. I see what I see what lies beneath and I …” , “

Evie’s breath caught, her brows knotting as she froze. “And I?”

“And I …” I think I love her . “I care about her.”

“You don’t.” It was said emphatically with an equally assured head shake. “You can’t. Even knowing what I think I know now, I know she’s un-care-about-able.”

“What?” It took a second for my brain to decipher, “No, she’s not and yes, I do . When I saw Luke touching her, I wanted to kill him, Eves. And I can’t stop thinking about her. She’s here,” I said, tapping my temple, “All the time and she has been from that first night in Sydney. I don’t know why. I know I hardly know her … but I know.”

Evie remained quiet for several beats. It was highly concerning. “But you’re leaving.”

My stomach dropped like it was hearing the news for the first time. “I am.” I swallowed. “And that’s why I need to make sure she’s okay. That and I need to say goodbye.”

In my mind, one of two–maybe three–things were going to happen. I was going to meet my bloody end. Evie was going to tell me to fuck off and wait outside for an Uber to haul my ass away. Or she was going to give me her phone.

“Don’t let her manipulate you, Luca.” She said, her lip twitching. “I know she’s had some bad shit happen, but I also know what she’s capable of.” With that, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. “Just remember you deserve better than Polly Hart.”

I wasn’t about to look a very beautiful, angry gift horse in the mouth, so with a raised eyebrow and a nod of thanks, I took the phone and backed away.

The only number I remembered by heart, that I would recall till the day I died, was dialed as I held my breath. “Evie? Is that you?” Polly’s broken voice whispered. God, she sounded awful. Genuinely awful.

“No. Pol. It’s me. Luca. I can’t find my phone… again, and Evie let me use hers to make sure you were okay.”

“Evie let you use her phone?”

“She did, yeah.”

“And she knew you were calling me?” The innocent disbelief in Polly’s voice had a rasping chuckle rattle from deep within my chest. “She did. She’s not happy. But she did.”

“Huh. Wonders never cease.”

“Are you okay?” we said in tandem. “No,” we both replied, again in perfect unison. Apart from an octave or two, the difference? My words reeked of desperation, Polly’s resignation. Even though, I could still hear the smile in her voice. “I’ve got all day. You go first.”

The speech I rehearsed as I walked from the kitchen, through the lounge, and out onto the sweeping veranda that overlooked the beach—our beach—vacated my brain, forcing me to ad-lib. Not a strong point for a guy who’d suffered as many concussions as me. “Our flight home was … delayed, but we have another leaving in a couple of hours. I just wanted to make sure you were okay before—”

“Before you become the next thing I lose? Don’t worry, cowboy. I knew I’d lost you the second I saw you.”

That did not sound good. And it didn’t feel good, either. Actually, it felt like shit. Like someone kicked me right in the nuts with a skate-clad foot. “What do you mean? Who did you lose?”

“Oh, you know, just my mum, my dad, my childhood home, my freedom. The usual.”

My fist, clenched at my side, tapped my thighs. “Why would you—?”

“Luca, I wasn’t by myself at the market,” she sobbed. “My parents and Elias … they were there. They saw what happened. They beat me home, and they didn’t know I was there, and they fought, and Mum pretty much wished me dead, so I got in my car and drove, but I was crying so hard I couldn’t see and…”

Fuck. “Polly, did you have an accident? Where are you?”

“No, I didn’t have an accident. I pulled over before I hit the motorway, and now I’m sitting on the side of the road like a loser crying over shit I lost all over again.”

Before I realized what I was doing, I was taking two stairs at a time, falling over myself to get to Nate’s truck, sitting in the driveway. I had to go. I had to find her.

“Tell me where you are?”

“What? Why?”

“Because I’m coming to get you.”

“What?” she repeated, her pitch rising. “No, you’re not. Your flight. You just said—”

“I know what I said, but I don’t care. Where are you?”

Broken cries, heavy breathing, and little sniffs were the only signs that Polly was still on the phone. That and traffic noise. A lot of traffic noise. “Polly, answer me. Where are you?”

Still nothing. I stopped for a second and thought about what she’d said. “ so I pulled over before I hit the motorway, and now I’m sitting on the side of the road like a loser.” I figured she was probably heading back to Sydney, and I knew the way to get there from her place. If she’d pulled over just before the motorway, I could catch her and be by her side in just a few minutes. Where I belonged.

“I’m coming, Polly. Please don’t leave. Just wait. I’m coming.” I tossed the phone onto the lawn, then yelled, “Evie, I have to go. Tell the boys I will meet them at the airport!” Thanking Nate for never listening to his wife and always leaving the keys in the ignition, I jumped in the truck, started her up, and took off in a cloud of dust.

On the road out of Byron Bay, there were two terrifying roundabouts you passed hitting the motorway. One was not too far from Austen farm, and the other was ten or so kilometers away. Luckily for me, and for the clutch I was pretty sure I had destroyed, a little yellow Corolla was resting in the long grass beside the first roundabout. Polly’s cute face popped out of the window as I skidded to a halt behind her, and she was out of the car and running towards me. Even while doing the same, I had no idea what I was about to say. I just knew I needed to be there for her, and that she needed me, too.

God, she looked so beautiful, a real-life fantasy with loose tendrils of her hair floating behind her, then sweeping forward, sticking on her lips and she came to a sudden halt just short of me. I wanted her so bad, my fingers, my bones, ached to touch and hold and love this incredible woman who believed herself so cold and cruel, while possessing so many qualities their exact opposite. “Luca!” It was a guttural cry, equal parts annoyance and relief. “What are you doing here? You’re going to miss your flight—”

“I don’t care.” Taking her flushed face into my hands, I traced the light dusting of freckles along her cheekbones with my thumbs and decided I would never let her go again. Couldn’t. I didn’t just want Polly. I needed Polly. Because I loved Polly. And not like I thought I loved Clara. That was a longing to belong. To have what I thought I should. This was like breathing. Like waking tomorrow or not. The thought of leaving, of never seeing her again tore a hole in my heart I knew would never heal. “Come to the States,” I begged, cutting off the protest I knew was coming off with a kiss. When she melted into me, I kissed down and nuzzled into breathing her the scent I never wanted to be without. “Stay with me. Marry me.”

She froze in my arms, wilted. Sobbed. “Luca, I can’t. We hardly know each other and look at me. I’m a mess.”

Praying it wasn’t the final time, I released my hold, letting her tight, trembling little body slide down my own. When she found her footing on the loose gravel, I reclaimed her face in my hands, wiping her tears with my thumb. “You’re not a mess, you’re perfect. Unapologetically you—“

“That’s not a good thing, Trust me.”

“No, Pol, it is.” I said, kissing her forehead. “It’s amazing. I’ve never been strong enough to be you.... Like you. I mean.” Polly sobbed out a chuckle as my ramble continued.” I was never brave enough to be me… who I was. Who I really was, just who I thought I should be. You though, you make me feel more me than I’ve ever been. There’s something between us and its more than sex. I know it and you know it, and the minute you put that jersey on you became mine. This would just make it official.”

“Luca.”

“No, wait. Please just …. If that’s too much rainbow and sunshine for you to accept, look at it this way: I have an image to repair and so do you. This will get the team off my back, your mom off yours and get you away from Elias the smiling jerk. Plus, we can have an awesome time together while doing it. In six months, if you’re miserable, you can just come home. No biggie.” Not one fiber, cell, or atom in my body believed that. If Polly came home with me, she would stay with me, because we were meant to be.

“No biggie?” she scoffed, kicking my shoe. “You’re bloody crazy.”

“Crazy for you.”

“Oh my god.” Biting her lip to stifle a smile, she rolled her eyes and shook her head dismissively. “And you’re corny too.”

“I am. But I’m serious. This is up to you, Pol. It’s important for you to feel in control and make your own decisions. I never want you to do anything that doesn’t make your heart beat with joy. Not when you’re with me.”

“Luca,” It was almost a whine.

“I’m taking that as a yes.” Ducking down I pressed my mouth to hers. She tasted of salt and gum and everything I wanted. When she bit my lip and tugged, I was tempted to throw her in the bed of the truck and show her exactly how serious I was. But we had a flight to catch. “Is all your stuff in the car?”

“Yep, well, everything I had with me at Mum’s.”

“And your visa is still current?”

“Yeah, but I can’t … Wait. You remember I have a visa?”

“Of course I do. I remember everything you tell me.”

For some reason, that made Polly cry even harder, and I didn’t like it. Not at all. But then she kissed me and licked my neck and kissed me some more while grinding against me, and that I did like. When she pulled away, panting with swollen lips and mussed hair, I knew I had won her over. Almost.

“I can’t just drop everything, jump on some plane, and fly to the States,” she whispered as she rested her forehead against my chest. “Can I?”

“You can and you will, Princess. Besides, it’s not just some plane. It’s Qantas first class, baby.”

After waving goodbye to her beloved little hatchback, Polly climbed behind the driver’s seat of Nate’s truck, kissed me till I forgot my name, and took off in a cloud of dust. Her extreme road rage and impressive-as-fuck stick-driving ability made near impossible to concentrate, but as we drove, our plan was hatched.

The first issue: getting her to the States. Unsurprisingly, bumping Teddy, Asher, and I to first class and adding an extra seat for Polly was not a problem. Funny how a hundred- and twenty-thousand-dollar upgrade can guarantee results. After landing in Sydney, we would have a five-hour wait before the flight to Dallas. Polly would use that time to go to her apartment, grab her passport, visa documents, and whatever else she needed for the trip. Lingerie perhaps.