Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 102607 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 513(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102607 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 513(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
Did he flirt with me at that team dinner last year? He was definitely staring at me during the ESPY awards, but perhaps that was a coincidence?
No. Surely not.
Right?
I press a hand to my chest, trying to calm the sudden thudding of my heart, this new revelation sending my mind into a tail spin.
My phone pings again, pulling me out of my spiral.
Luca: Still there? Or did I scare you off?
Me: Scared? Please. It takes more than that to scare me.
The dots pop up immediately, and I swear my heart skips a beat.
Luca: Good. Coz I’ve got plenty more to say…
Oh, God.
I glance at Gio the dog, who’s now staring at me with those big, judgmental eyes. “What do I do?” I whisper, holding the phone up for guidance. “Little dude, help!”
Me: More to say? Do go on.
Sorry. I had to ask.
I’m a thirsty bitch, what can I say…
This is bad. Dangerous. Completely reckless.
But damn if it isn’t fun.
Luca: I have 8 words for you, Nova.
He makes me wait, not giving them to me.
Me: What 8 words?
I am holding my breath.
Luca: I want you, if only for one night.
1
nova
One week later…
Ihave three rules when it comes to dating:
Never waste time with a man if you know it’s not going to work. Cut them off before date 3.
Never date Gio’s teammates.
Never break the first two rules.
But …
It’s not dating if I never actually meet up with Luca, right?
What we’re doing is a fun, low-stakes ego boost, wrapped in late-night banter and lighthearted sass.
This flirtation is harmless flirting and nothing more.
At least, that’s what I’ve been telling myself.
Keep Luca on the app, don’t agree to see him in person—no harm, no foul.
Luca only knows me as Gio’s twin sister; cocky, cool, distant. Aloof, at times, because the last thing I want is to be hurt by a man, especially one close to my brother.
I’ve got this under control.
Seriously though… Would my brother notice if I went out with him once or twice? Probably not. He is so far up his own ass right now he hasn’t checked in on me at all this week.
Gio and Austin have a newborn baby girl, Vivi, named after our mother—who passed away when we were teenagers—along with our dad.
The thought sobers me several seconds.
I want to be happy. That’s the only thing Gio wants for me, right?
You’re not serious about Luca Babineaux, the little voice in my head reminds me. You’re bored.
“Oh shut up,” I mutter to myself. “You’re not bored, you’re…selective.”
My last date—which lasted all of ten minutes—does not help tip the scales toward a date with Luca. The guy—Cam? Clark? No, Calvin—seemed normal enough over text, but the second I walked into the bar, I discovered he was four shots deep before I’d arrived.
He spent a solid five minutes rambling about his ex’s “psycho tendencies”, the government’s secret mind control experiments, and my personal favorite—how he thought he could fight a bear and win if he was “properly warmed up.”
Which, apparently, required another shot.
Bye, Calvin.
I stare at Luca’s message, my finger hovering over the keyboard.
Luca: One drink. One hour.
What would be the harm? “Because bad decisions start with good intentions.”
And let’s be honest—this would be a disaster waiting to happen because:
Uh, for starters, Gio would kill me. Full-on, big brother meltdown. And if he somehow managed to get over it? The team wouldn’t. Locker room gossip spreads fast, and I have no desire to become anyone’s pregame joke.
Worse? Luca is exactly my type.
Why is that problematic? Because my type never works out! I fall for the good-looking, cocky ones. They make me feel special right up until they dump me and move on to their next conquest.
Besides his position on the Houston Baddies (and what he’s presenting on the dating app) I know virtually nothing about him.
I don’t know if he leaves his dishes in the sink—or if he’s the type to use “your” instead of “you’re.” I don’t know if he listens when women talk or if he’s secretly the kind of guy who thinks therapy is for people who “need to toughen up.”
I also don’t know if he’s emotionally available or if he’s saying the right things in his dating bio because he knows exactly what women want to hear.
I refuse to be a cliché.
I will not be that girl: the one who gets tangled up with her brother’s hot, charming teammate, ignores every single red flag, and then has to deal with the slow-motion train wreck when it inevitably crashes and burns.
That won’t be me.
Nope. Absolutely not.
If Luca and I were ever to become a thing… it would ruin everything.
Not just for me.
It would be awkward for Gio—painfully, irreparably awkward.
He’s not just my brother, he’s also Luca’s captain. The locker room is practically Gio’s second home, and dating me would make Luca a walking conflict of interest. Right?