December is my favourite month of the year.

I was born during this month. There's Christmas and New Year's. And we get to have a two-week vacation from school. Also, the weather is amazing in Miami during this month, it's not as hot and humid as in the summer and it rarely rains. Plus the tourist numbers are lower in the winter, so it's not crowdy when we go out to eat or to party. Plus, the beaches get significantly less crowded.

As I'm going through my box filled with earring, my eyes catch the new ring on my finger.

Luca's promise ring that he gave me is the best gift I can ever think of. I remember how after he put it on my finger; we went back to the campus parking lot. He wouldn't tell me where we were going, but I knew as soon as we reached the hotel. It's the same one that he took me to now over two months ago.

Sara had helped him pack my bag and since my birthday was on Friday, we got to spend the weekend in one of the penthouses that the hotel has. Apparently, Luca had come here a week prior to make sure the room was ready for us. There was food stacked and a mattress on the floor with bedding and everything.

When we arrived there, he spent a long time caressing and loving on my body. We would switch between soft and hard sex.

It was perfect.

Today, December fifteenth, is Luca's cousin's birthday. The club owner, also known as man-bun.

He makes it into an early Christmas party every year, according to Luca. And since my birthday was two weeks before, he told me they are going to celebrate me as well.

A knock sounds at my foot and Sara comes in and leans on the doorframe.

"You look like a lovesick puppy." She smiles.

"He's so perfect." I groan. How can someone literally be perfect?

I walk to my bed and sit on it, tying the strings of my boots. Sara steps further into my room.

She looks off.

"Hey, everything okay?"

"Yeah," She nods and smiles. Pretending that everything is fine.

"So, are you spending Christmas this year with the in-laws?" She asks with a hint of amusement to her voice. I laugh and stand up to check my purse, see if I have everything I need in it.

"I don't know, actually. Maybe Christmas Eve?" I shrug. I still have to coordinate that with Luca. He said his family goes big on Christmas.

"Alex is flying to Detroit to his family." She says and I nod.

"Does that mean you'll spend it with your parents?"

She lets out a breath. "No. They apparently booked a little getaway for the entire Christmas break." I frown. What the hell!

It's not the first time this has happened, but it still angers me every time.

"Then you'll come with me to my mom's." Or Luca's. Either way she's not spending it alone.

She immediately shakes her head. "No, it's okay. I don't want to impose."

I scoff. "Impose? Are you kidding me? You're my sister. You know you're more than welcome."

Sara has been the sister I never had. She's been my best friend since high school and has spent more holidays with us than I can remember.

Her parents are not really the typical loving parents one would expect.

My mom basically forced her to come to our house one time, when she knew she was home alone. It was the fourth of July and her parents had a conference or something like that. We had a little party going on and ever since, she's been a part of my family. She's like a second daughter to my mom.

I look at her when she still hasn't answered. I notice that she's dressed up. Wearing a cute skirt and a blue blouse, making her eyes pop even more.

"You have plans?" I gesture to her outfit.

"Had. Alex's coach wanted to meet with him." She shrugs like it's no big deal.

It is a big deal, actually.

Alex has never cancelled on a date with his girlfriend. Not even for practise. So something must be going on between the two of them.

But I don't ask. I know she'll just wave me off, tell me everything is fine.

She'll talk to me when she's ready.

"Perfect, then. You can tag along." I check myself one last time in the mirror. My red silk dress fitting to my body and the square neckline accentuate my décolletage area.

"To where, exactly?" She sounds hesitant.

"Lusso. It's the owner's birthday."

She doesn't follow me when I walk out of my room into the living room.

"Sara, what were you planning on doing right now?"

"Nothing much. Watch a movie maybe?"

I clap. "Okay then. Let's go." I tip my head to the door.

At that moment, our doorbell rings. When I open the door, Luca is standing there looking ready to go to a Vogue photoshoot.

His white turtle neck, and plaid pants look immaculate on his muscular body. His long curls are messy on top of his head.

"Hey, there." His eyes sweep across my body, then he leans in and gives me a kiss.

"Sara is coming too." I tell him. He looks behind me and smiles at her.

"Awesome."

Luca filled the car ride to the club with all kinds of Christmas songs. Saying we need to get into the right mood.

When we enter the club, even before everyone comes into view, I hear loud voices.

"This is not where it's supposed to go." Nicole's exasperated voice echoes around.

"Yes, it does. See! There's one here, so this one will go here." Her brother, Mateo, says.

We walk further and take the first steps down the big stairs that lead to the dance floor. I see Nicole throwing her hands in the air and mumbling something under her breath, then she walks away from him, leaving him standing alone.

Mateo is decorating a gigantic Christmas tree that's standing near the bar. Where the opening to the hallway is, and next to the elevator.

When we take the last step, Nicole sees us and comes to us to greet us. The rest follow.

I introduce Sara to everyone. Then we take a seat on the couches that are forming a rectangle in the middle of the dance floor.

"Why were you two just bickering?" I ask and look between the siblings.

"Because Cole is annoying me, that's why." Nicole scoffs and flips him the bird.

There's a ding sound and the elevator doors open up. Antonio comes sauntering out, typing on his phone. When he lifts his head, they instantly find Luca and I. Then they move to Sara, who's in a conversation with Leo. I don't miss the way his eyes rake her body, lingering on her long, bare legs.

When he's closer, I stand up and give him a quick hug. It's his birthday and I'm in the Christmas spirit, that's why I give him a hug.

"Happy birthday!"

"Thank you." He looks down at me with a smirk.

"So, how old you now?" I ask.

"How old do you think?"

I pretend to think about it. I know he and Nicole are around the same age, couple months difference between them. But I don't know who's older.

"You look close to forty." He doesn't. But I'm messing with him.

He rolls his eyes. "Twenty three." He puts his phone in his back pocket. "And happy belated birthday to you too, by the way."

"Thank you."

Luca gives him the tap-on-the-back-hug and sits back down after wishing him a happy birthday.

Antonio glances at Sara, who is now also standing up. I motion in her direction, "this is my best friend, Sara." Then I gesture to Antonio's long body. "Sara, this is Antonio, the owner of this club and Luca's cousin."

He extends his hand, and she takes it. "Nice to meet you." His eyes glint and his smirk deepens.

After we've had some wine and food. Mat puts on a Christmas playlist and starts singing along. Then he takes Carina's hand and pulls her to the dance floor and they start dancing together.

"How long have they been dating?" I ask Luca. His hand tightens a little on my thigh while he's looking at them with a soft smile on his lips.

"They've been together for as long as I can remember."

I watch them dancing. They look so in love. Their eyes stay on each other the entire time, all the while they smiling and laughing.

I turn and face Luca, but I find his eyes are already on me. "We keep teasing him about when he'll propose." He lets out a chuckle. "But he just says that he wants every stage of their relationship to be long. Whatever that means."

Glancing at the couple for a second, then I tell Luca, "I think I get what he means." He quirks an eyebrow, wanting me to elaborate. "It's just that he wants to live in every stage of them together to the fullest. And every stage is different. Say they get engaged tomorrow, this means they'll have to start getting ready for the wedding. And their engagement stage will be shorter than they'd like."

"They can have a long engagement if they want."

"I guess. But family and friends will expect them to marry as soon as possible, right?" He nods after a moment. "The engagement stage differs from the boyfriend-girlfriend stage, and it will be a lot different than the married stage."

"Yeah, but they love each other and want to be together, so why prolong the inevitable?"

"When he proposes, their relationship will become more powerful, in my opinion. They'll learn new things about each other, even though they've known each other forever." He nods for me to continue, intrigued in my view about the matter. "Same thing goes for when they get married. They'll have more responsibilities together. And that can sometimes lead to pressure and maybe problems."

He furrows his and glances at the still dancing couple.

"I don't think that will happen with them, though."

"I hope not." He mutters.

I see Leo taking Nicole's hand and leading her next to Mateo and Carina. A slower song is now playing.

The sound of glass hitting the table pulls my attention to Antonio. He puts his empty whiskey glass on the table and stands up, coming from the opposite direction of where Luca, Sara and I are sitting. He begins walking in our direction, his eyes moving between the three of us but lingering on Sara the most.

Then the ringtone that I recognize is Sara's starts ringing. She pulls out her phone from her purse and checks who's calling.

"It's Alex." She tells me, then walks up to the stairs for more privacy.

While I'm moving my face to glance back at the dancing people, I see Antonio rooted in his place. In the short distance, I see him roll his eyes to himself, then he grabs the bottle filled with ember liquid and fills another glass, then heads back to where he was sitting.

"Come, let's dance." Luca's voice pulls my attention away from Antonio and to him. He's holding his hand out to me. I smile and take it.

When we reach the middle of the makeshift dancefloor, he twirls me around then wraps his arms firmly around me when I come back to his chest again.

Our foreheads rest together, and we sway to the soft sound of the music.

The sound of his family's laughter and banter fades away until all I'm hearing is our breathing mixing together.

"I love you." He whispers, then his lips touch mine in the sweetest kiss ever.

"I love you, too."

"I can't wait until we finish school and can start the rest of my life with you." I pull back a little and give him a quizzable look. "Our next stage of our relationship."

And it clicks. What I was just saying about Mat and Carina.

Our relationship is going to look a lot different when we graduate. Maybe I'll get a job offer and we'll have to do long distance for a while. Or maybe one of us will follow the other wherever they go. Maybe—hopefully—we'll both stay in Miami.

I have no idea what the future has in store for us.

It could be all sunny and rainbows.

Or a storm can hit us.

But what I do know is that I'll be trying my damned hardest to fight off whatever we encounter.

Because Luca is the love of my life and I want to spend the rest of my life with him.

And this is just the start of our story.

~~~

A/N:
Only the epilogue is left !!! 😭😁