✧

I'm not sure when my Saturday nights turned to sitting in and watching lame TV, probably because I have no interest in going out and pretending I'm still in my twenties. When Luca's name flashed on my phone, I felt a wave of satisfaction climb over me.

He wanted to hear my voice. I want to see his face.

That's why I said him I'd go and collect him because he kept mentioning how hungry he is for a cheeseburger. His waffling is adorable and I don't think I've ever heard him so relaxed. It's a good look on him. I like this Luca.

I like all versions of Luca but hearing the carefree tone in his voice, I'm pleased to know he's let his hair down and enjoyed his friends' company. He's needed fun for a while now and with him being tied down to the cafe, it's relieving to hear him have a good time.

Luca drops me a message with the address and I leave home a few minutes later. The thought of him going home whilst he's drunk sparks a protective side in me that I can't control. Of course I want to see him but I also want him to get home safely. The thought of something happening to him... that fear hits me square in the chest.

When I pull up outside the apartment building, I duck my head down to look at the entrance. I grab my phone and quickly shoot Luca a message to tell him that I'm outside. It takes a couple minutes for a figure to stand at the door and open it. It's pitch black outside but the street lamps cast a luminous light across his face.

He's smiling. I smile straight after.

Luca proceeds to walk down the stairs, he sways slightly and before I know it, he's caught his foot behind his leg and tumbled down the last few steps. He hits the floor with a thud, bracing himself on his palms.

I jump out of the car at lightning speed and rush over to him. To my surprise, he's laughing. Actually cackling like a witch. I bend down towards him. "Jesus," I hiss through my teeth. "Are you okay?"

He glances up at me with those blue eyes, he's chuckling quietly now. "I'm a lot more drunk than I thought," he slurs his words.

Thank fuck he didn't go home by himself.

"Are you alright?" I demand. "Are you hurt?"

Luca shakes his head, that smile still on his lips. "I'm fine. Hungry."

I breathe through my nose sharply and shake my head. "How could I forget," I flash him a soft smile. "Come on," I say, tugging him upwards. "Let's go get you that cheeseburger. Sober you up."

My hand latches onto his arm and I pull him to his feet. He sways again but grips onto me to stabilise himself. I walk us to the curb where I open the passenger door and he moves past me, his body dangerously close to mine. He pauses before he slips into the seat, those eyes looking at me again.

"You smell nice," he murmurs before sitting down. "Like Prada or Gucci."

I shut the door after him, making sure all limbs are in the car first. As soon as I loop around to the other side and sit beside him, he's beaming at me. "Thanks for coming to get me," he says, eyes bloodshot.

"Put your seatbelt on," I say as I start the engine.

Luca nods and twists round to grab the belt before he retreats quickly and hisses. "Owwww."

"What?" I snap my head towards him as he twists his palms upwards. The skin on both is scraped off and both red and bleeding. God, they look sore. Grit and dirt covers the wounds and I wince at the sight of them. "Shit, Luca. You said you weren't hurt."

I grip onto his fingers gently and pull them towards me so I can inspect them better. "I-I didn't notice until now."

Then his hands begin to tremble. "Let me take you home and clean them up."

He whimpers. "But food."

"We'll get food after," I say as I place his hands safely back in his lap. I lean over and grab his seatbelt before slotting it into the holder for him. Then I pull away from the curb and head to my house.

Luca is staring at me. "But I wanted to go to that twenty-four hour diner. They do the best dirty cheesy fries and I've been thinking about them all night. And that cheeseburger of course. Mmmmm, it's so delicious."

"Then we can order it to my house."

"They don't do delivery." I glance at him out of the corner of my eye. "Please?"

When I hear Luca's stomach grumble loudly, I sigh. "How do you expect to eat them with wounded hands?"

He shrugs. "I'll suffer."

Like hell he will.

"Please?" He says again, so soft that I barely heard it.

My jaw clenches together. "Fine."

Luca's eyes light up and then he claps his hands together once before wincing. Even my palms twitch at the action and I shake my head. "Careful," I warn him.

"Sorry," his face flushes but now he's grinning at me. "I'm so excited."

The journey to the diner takes no less than five minutes. Luca keeps forgetting his palms are bleeding every thirty seconds but he's still smiling and I can't deprive the man of food because his stomach sounds like it's about to eat itself.

I pop open the door and walk around to Luca's side, I help him out before he hurts himself again. The diner is empty, not a soul in sight. I hold the door open for Luca as he stumbles in, his eyes might be tired but they're bright.

The waitress behind the counter greets us as Luca slides into a booth. I approach her. "Could you grab me your first aid kit, a cup of water and some tissue please?" I ask.

She blinks a few times. "Of course, everything okay?"

I hum. "A minor accident."

When I glance back at Luca he's holding the menu between his fingers, flicking his eyes across the list of food. He hums in delight and then nods to himself. I shake my head and smile.

I leave him for a second to wash my hands before I find the waitress walking towards me with all the things I asked for. "Thank you," I tell her gratefully.

As I sit down opposite Luca, he barely notices my appearance. He's beyond starving, he's ravenous. The waitress comes over and takes his order. I have no idea how that much food is going to fit inside him but I'm eager to find out.

I order a decaf coffee and she smiles and leaves us alone. Luca sighs and leans back in the chair. "Give me your hands," I say as I begin to lay a bunch of napkins on the table.

"Why?"

"Because I'm going to clean them up before they get infected."

"Oh," he moves forward. "It's okay. They're okay."

I flash him a stern look. "Give. Me. Your. Hands."

Luca's throat clenches at the authority in my voice. He doesn't make me tell him again, he twists his palms upwards and moves them closer to the table. I grip his wrists and rest his knuckles down against the napkins.

Then I take some of the tissue and I dip it into the water before gently removing the dirt that has lodged itself against his raw flesh. He hisses and I stop. My eyes flick up to meet his, those lips parting gently.

"I know it's going to hurt but you'll be in more pain if you don't let me clean them," I say calmly.

He nods after a few moments and I remove all the grit and stop the bleeding. I rummage through the first aid kit to find some antiseptic wipes to clean around both of the grazes and the skin. After I discard the wipe I dry both hands with the fresh tissue and find the best sized plasters.

Palms are awkward to patch up but I do my best to make it work.

When I glance up Luca is staring at me in awe. His expression has fallen and those damn lips are still parted. "What?" I ask softly.

He's been watching me this entire time. Not my handy work, my face.

"You're just pretty," he blurts. "And helpful. And kind."

The corner of my lip twitches. "Thank you," I laugh quietly. Luca finally looks down to his patched up hands and he sighs. "That feel okay?"

He nods. "Much. Thank you."

"Good," I say.

For some reason I can't seem to let go of his wrists, his hands. Any of it. I don't want to hurt him but I wish to hold his hand. Instead I take his fingers and I pull them towards my face before I leave a kiss against the centre of his palm.

I purposely do it in a light manner. Luca releases a tiny breath, those cheeks lighting up like a furnace. After a few moments he pulls his hands back and I discard of all the tissues and wipes before returning the first aid kit and thanking the waitress.

Soon his meal arrives and I'm incredibly surprised when I discover Luca has six or more stomachs because the food literally disappears. He offers me some but I decline, sipping on my coffee instead.

My eyes watch him as he moans when the cheesy chips hit his tongue and he chews.

Remember when I said easily pleased? I'm not ashamed to say I want to please him like this forever because seeing that face of pure joy and satisfaction, it reminds me that not everything in this world has to revolve around deeply materialistic things.

When the plates are cleared and he leans back, rubbing his stomach. "How was that?"

"Delicious," he exhales. "I feel like an elephant right now."

I draw out my wallet and leave a few notes on the table. "Come on, let's get you home."

Luca blinks at the money. "Oh, I can pay for that."

My head shakes. "Pleasure is mine, Luca."

We stand up to leave and I hear Luca thank me as we say goodbye to the waitress. I allow him to walk first as we approach my car. He loiters for a second before turning around to face me. "When you say get home..." he trails off. "Whose home?"

I drag my tongue across my lip as I step closer to him, he cranks his neck to look at me. I clasp my hand around his jaw and I bring my head down to his. "Mine," I whisper before pecking his lips.

He stares back at me when I pull away. Shock covers his face but it's soon replaced with a smile. I feel his body relax. There is no way I'm dropping him home after tonight. I selfishly want him to myself and I have a feeling that he wants that too.

Soon we arrive back at my house. I ask Luca about his night and he tells me all about it but going off into tangents from excited drunkness. I'm glad that he gives himself time to hang out with his friends. He's young, he needs to be experiencing that lifestyle in his twenties. Not being married to the cafe.

I get him upstairs in the spare room and I study his face as he frowns. "Are you putting me away here?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are you making me sleep in the spare room?"

My eyebrows raise. "I want you to be comfortable."

An emotion I can't read whizzes past Luca's eyes. He nods. "Right. Sure. I should have seen this coming." He slurs.

I watch him for a moment as he waltzes over to the spare bed. He takes off his jacket and places it down on the duvet, his shoulders drooping. I chew on my lip and take a silent sigh.

"Do you want to sleep in my bed with me?" I ask.

Luca pauses and then glances over his shoulder at me. "Not if you're not comfortable."

"You're drunk, Luca," I comment.

"And?" He shrugs, finally turning around to face me. "It doesn't stop the fact that I fancy you. That I haven't stopped thinking about you since the day I met you."

His confession blows me out of the water. Instead of saying anything more, I hold out my hand for him to take. He stares at it for a moment, flicking his gaze to mine. "Come," I gesture my head to the opposite side of the hall.

Luca places his hand in mine and I pull him away from the spare room and directly towards my bedroom. I shut the door behind me, his eyes flicking across my bed, my drawers, the art hanging on the walls.

"Let's get ready for bed." I say as I start to take off my jumper, along with my t-shirt.

I feel a pair of eyes on my bare chest as I walk towards the chair in the corner of my room before I drape them over the back. A presence is felt beside me and I glance down to find Luca brushing his fingers across my abdomen.

For a moment I freeze because the sensation is heavenly. The look in Luca's eye tells me exactly what he wants. When he presses a kiss to my collarbone, I close my eyes for a brief second.

Drunk Luca is clearly much more confident.

"Luca," I murmur.

"What?"

I take his hands away from my body and he gives me these puppy dog eyes of sadness. "You're drunk," I repeat. "And I'm not going to take advantage of you like that. I sure as hell won't be doing anything with you when you might not remember it in the morning."

His eyes widen. "You think I wouldn't remember?" He slurs again. "Even if I had memory loss, I'd still remember. I could never forget being with you."

My lips form a smile but I shake my head. I step closer to him, backing him into the wall. His breathing hitches and I hear him suck down a sudden inhale as he stares up at me in shock. I press my hand to the wall above him and lean down. "Trust me, Luca. When I fuck you, you're going to want to be in a sane state of mind. Because when I do," I whisper and lean my lips against the shell of his ear. I'm sure Luca moans. "I'll leave you trembling with memories to last a lifetime."

A whimper falls from him, eyes almost watering. "Why are you doing this to me? You take off your jumper and make me feel all of these things. You're such a tease."

I tilt his chin. "Yeah," I rasp. "I guess I am."

As I pull away from the wall, I remove my trousers and watch Luca do the same. He doesn't take off his t-shirt, he keeps it on but I don't say anything. I pull back the covers and let Luca slide in before I turn off the light.

Once I'm inside my bed, I feel Luca shuffle closer to me and I wrap my arms around him. He sighs with contentment and it makes my heart pound. "Goodnight," I whisper to him but he's already asleep with his cheek pressed firmly to my chest.

✧

Read the rest of the book, bonus chapters and the first 50 chapters of the third book in the series over on Patreon and Ream!

www.reamstories.com/savannaroseauthor
www.patreon.com/dreammcatcher
Link is also in my bio!

Author's Note

OOOFFFF Declan really making Luca flutter🤭

heheh you're not ready for the next chapter🥵😅

What did you guys think?👉🏼

I LOVE how caring Declan is. The way he patched up his hands and took him back to his home. UGh. I'm in love.

Don't forget to vote and comment! it makes my day ✨

Love Savanna x

Insta: savannaroseauthor
Patreon: dreammcatcher
Ream: savannaroseauthor
Tik Tok: savannaroseauthor