Flood, page 39
“She's not doing anything later, in fact….”
“Actually, Willow and I have to look at a rental property. We already set up the meeting today, but, uh, why don't.…”
“Why don't you join us tomorrow on our yacht?”
His laugh explodes like a firecracker ricocheting here and there. “Yeah, baby. Sure! Listen, Ramon, baby! Over here. It’s Luca, man! His hair still is fried from that run by across his team last November.” Applegate calls out as if he is on the football field himself and he needs to raise his voice octaves higher for the team to hear him over the roaring crowd. Geeze, he’s theatrical.
The pressure is off of me and I steal a sideways glance at Stella. “What on earth is happening?” I whisper.
Okay, now everyone is staring at our table. Even people not at the restaurant. Those bystanders and pedestrians. Not annoyingly staring; more like, I think these people may be famous staring. At this point, we are entertainment.
“So what’s happening is, Ramon’s walking over here right now. I’m not sure where his fiancé super model went to. Which side note, real fast, PS, did you hear about their sex tape that some perv took of them when they didn’t even know? They were having like the hottest sex out on a sofa at like 3am on the top of some bar. But like, you know how the city is. High rises are everywhere. They didn’t think anyone was awake at 3am, but they were wroooong.”
“What?”
“Bro!” Ramon’s arrival interrupts the juicy 411.
“Hey, man.”
The two football stars embrace.
“Luca! The man, the legend. Imagine the odds seeing you like this out here?”
“You're quite the man, the legend yourself, man. I've been keeping up with your stats. You're doing amazing! You had one of the best, if not the best debut quarterback rookie seasons I’ve seen since.…”
“Well since you, big man, that's who.”
Laughter comes from the table and there I sit, in the middle of America’s elite, wining and dining at an extravagant place, spending God knows how much money from someone else’s bank account. This has never been my scene.
“Do you want to know something else super crazy?” Stella whispers in my ear.
“They used to be stepsiblings. Is that not the fucking craziest thing you've ever heard?”
My cheeks flush red and I nearly spit out my champagne.
“Willow, are you okay?”
“That's some story.”
“There’s my gorgeous fiancé.” He kisses the apparent former used to be stepsister on the cheek.
“Hi y’all! I’m Cat!”
The gorgeous beauty extends her hand out. She isn't at all the typical model I expected. She is super friendly and down to earth.
“Nice to meet you, Cat.” I smile politely. Stella shakes her hand as well.
“Hey, why don’t you two join us tomorrow out on the yacht? The more the merrier,” Luca offers.
“Baby, wanna go?”
“Of course, babe! We’re in Capri! Yachting is so Capri!”
“Truthfully, bro. That would be so sweet. I am still saving my money. I’m not a super star like you. You never know what can happen in the league, you know? So if it’s your yacht, heck yeah. I know it will be sick.”
There I sit, watching the banter of it all. Is this really my life right now?
“Okay, well great, man. Here, let me give you my number and I’ll text you the information about the details later tonight.”
“Thanks, man. That’s great!”
Applegate lowers his Louis Vuitton sunglasses again and eyes me one last time.
“See you tomorrow, Willow, baby. I can’t wait to see that fine ass of yours in a bikini. Woo!”
“Excuse my rowdy friend, Willow,” Ramon apologizes with a grin on his face.
“What you see is what you get with Applegate. Don’t you forget it!”
“I don’t plan on it,” Stella flirts back.
“Okay, baby. You two be good now.”
“Bye, y’all! Nice to meet you. Thanks for the invite!” Cat calls out.
Ramon waves bye and drapes his arm around his fiancé once more.
I take a sip of my champagne and exhale, not realizing I had been holding my breath. But I was.
I definitely was.
Real estate property? What in the world is he talking about? He’s just not wanting me to go near Applegate.
* * *
LUCA
* * *
"Bro, why the cock block? Stella needs to get laid. I mean that would've been a pretty hot lay if you know what I mean."
"It's not a cock block, Stella. I do need her input on a property in a bit. While you carefully put together our waking to slumber itinerary, I set up something for myself that I want to look into.
“I'm looking at it later today and knowing you and your champagne consumption on vacation and summer pool day, beach days, well, normally any day, you’re tipsy drunk after your brunch lunches with your girlfriends. By the time we look at the property, you will already be out in a nap. I know you."
She quietly taps her fingers along the tablecloth, clears her throat, and tosses her hair dramatically on the side. "Yeah, well, just don't be late to your massage appointments. Should've invited them over to dinner!"
"Stella, maybe you should ask Applegate out,” Willow asks.
“It fucking sucks being the sister of the greatest quarterback in the league. All the guys are scared to date me because of him.” She slumps.
I want to tell her the truth that there is a rumor going around about how much she enjoys money and how she can clear bank accounts out faster than a Russian hacker.
“That’s why I’m going to audition for…that’s why I’m…ugh, never mind. You wouldn’t understand.” She shakes her head dramatically. “You know what?” Stella scoots the chair back dramatically, causing a scene. "Maybe I will ask Applegate out. Capri fucking diem."
And like that, she disappears, following the football entourage. I sigh. That temper of hers is something else. Went from zero to one hundred for no reason.
I can feel Willow’s stare on my face.
“She just loves to blame me. Fucking unbelievable.”
“She's just under a lot of stress, you know? From quitting her mixology job after one day. I don't know if you know this but your dad's cutting her off after the summer. You know, it's hard for women to find themselves today in this world that’s so fast-paced and gives so many different ideas of what a woman should do, be, or act like. It's a dichotomy. It's hard.”
All I can do is stare at her. Yes, she looks sexy as hell in her white linen crop top and white flowy skirt. She looks like an Italian goddess that I want to bang already so fucking bad.
But I’m in awe, actually, of her insight and philosophical side. I’m actually really looking at her. Like really giving her my attention, wondering what great insight she’ll reveal next.
I normally don't care for that mumbo-jumbo shit, but she is actually sort of right. I can see where she’s coming from and how that must feel for Stella.
“Not trying to make excuses for her but try not having a mother. I consider myself lucky that I took my grief of the mystery of my mother’s death and channeled that into my passion. It's our passion that saves us and drives us in life. It gives us a meaning and a purpose to wake up each day. I couldn't imagine not having a passion. It propels us forward. Gives us a reason to live. That's why a lot of relationships fail, because they're looking for another person to fill them and give them a purpose. We all have a purpose and she's trying to find it. I just hope she finds it before she thinks a guy will fulfill her. Or that baby she jokes about.”
“Speaking of passion, were you dreaming about me helping save you from a burning house or what?”
I instantly blush, simultaneously turned on. I lift my chin high, though.
“Tell me something. Were you cock blocking me as your sister suggests, with Applegate?
Chapter 9
WILLOW
* * *
They call this place the blue lagoon.
I lean back in my plush lounge chair, clustered in the back of the yacht with the girls, and stare happily at the diamonds that float over the sea.
My teeth bite down on my straw and I slurp at my chilly sangria, feeling like I don’t have a single care in the world. This is exactly what the doctor ordered, for sure.
“You know, I can't believe I've never been here, that aaaaaaall the while in the midst of my whole Earthly existence, way out here in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, there would be this majestic island called Capri with colors of blue I never even knew existed. Blue, but you can’t even call it blue, because look at it. It’s like aqua on 3D. Are we wearing 3D glasses or what? Look at that water!” I sigh and stare happily at the dazzling colors that dress the sparkling sea.
“And you, my dear friend, are in zone tipsy-drunk. Here, have some more.” Cat’s cheerful words sing out like rays of sunshine to my ears as she refills my wide plastic glass all the way to the top.
I shrug. Why the hell not. I’m in paradise.
“Thanks.” I smile at her.
She smiles back. “Sure, doll.” And prances back in her cheeky thong back to her lounge.
I lean back into the down comforter lounge; luxury is something I never really cared for, but laying like this in a lounge chair that probably cost more than my Macbook Air, staring out at the sea like this, on a private yacht with a private chef…suddenly, the extra spending of money doesn’t seem like such a crime when my soul feels so nurtured.
“Seriously, I just want to soak up all this blue! This place! I'm serious, I just want to swim in it,” I confess and sit up, feeling the cool waters calling my heated skin.
“You're either drunk or high,” Cat teases me, as she retires her hair bun.
“Speaking of Mary Jane, Willow. Cat and Ramon here's little famous video was inspired by the very thing. You know, the video.” She makes extra winking gestures.
“Oh!” I cover my mouth, remembering Stella’s sex tape reference yesterday.
“Yeah, the video,” Cat joins in with her added humor. She seems totally not embarrassed one bit.
“Oh my god, you're blushing,” Stella teases Cat. “Was it as hot as the video made all us viewers?”
“Orgasms last forever,” she admits with great pride and nostalgia.
Damn.
Orgasms that last forever.
My naughty dream of Luca between my legs and his perfect tongue licking me just right, right there, makes me all restless. A rush of desire covers my body and I sit up and set my sangria down on the side table.
I need water, now.
Damn, it’s hot out here! And in here. I don’t need these naughty unnecessary thoughts running through my mind. Luca’s right over there, for goodness sake. And he looks smoking hot. Ripped hot in his white swim trunks with blue trim at the bottom. His man bun and perfect Ray-Ban glasses. His perfect chiseled chest and abs. Shit.
“All right ladies, the blue is calling my name,” I yell.
Heads turn on all sections of the yacht before my full body submerges in the water. I can feel his eyes watching me.
“There you go, Willow! Be fucking free! You relax, you fucking bitch!” Stella drunkenly cheers. Oh, she is getting out of hand, but what other way is Stella to be? She is being classic Stella.
“We're coming in, too! But I am not getting my blowout messed up, and I'm supposed to film later. Here!”
A floating device to lay on is tossed out to me, landing a few feet away from me.
“Film?" I ask.
“Yeah, it's the reason I brought us out here so fast. It's to audition for—" she snaps her mouth shut and bends down like she dropped an earring.
For what?
I swim under the water, letting the refreshing water silence my lustful thoughts from head to toe and take my time making it to my float.
I lay myself back and close my eyes.
Splashes of Cat making her descent into the water fill my ears as I shut my eyes in absolute bliss mode.
“I am not jumping in! I’m taking this ladder, and then the safety boat. I want to go out later and this hair should not be ruined by salt water no matter how fancy or elite it is,” Stella cries out like a princess. To whom? I’m not sure. I laugh inside and roll my head side to side in laughter.
“Here babe, here's some sangria. It's for a show but we aren't to talk about it yet. No one has the contracts yet.”
My eyes open to Cat’s perfect face hanging out on my float. Her hair is tossed up in a perfect messy bun.
“Oh, I think I'm good, pretty tipsy.”
“Honey, take it with me to share this raft together?”
“Miss high maintenance of the year refuses to get anything from her shoulders up wet,” she yells out.
We both laugh at that gospel truth.
I close my eyes again, feeling the relaxation of the waves carrying me to the epitome of bliss. I feel one with the sea, as strange as that sounds.
"You know he looks at you in that way," Cat whispers in such a soft tone, almost softer than the lapping waves against the float, but I heard her. I just want to hear her say it again.
"Huh?"
"I don't have much time before she comes over here, but I wanted you to know, I know the look of a man and desire and honey, Luca wants you.”
Fire burns in my belly, shooting down my arms and legs, coinciding with knowing chills.
I lower my sunglasses and look at her.
"What?" I lightly scoff. "Okay, I think you're the one that should be cut off from sangria," I tease.
“Willow, I promise. Look, I want to tell you something. Ramon and I used to be stepsiblings too. When something’s there, it's there. Don't fight it. You never want to live life with regrets."
Chapter 10
WILLOW
* * *
I stand barefoot on the cobblestone brick, grateful for the magic of the day. I haven't felt this relaxed in years. Something about the sea makes me feel like anything is possible.
Italian acoustic music plays in the surround sound speakers. I found a station to play on the outside entertainment center.
I’m alone finally.
The party has ended and now I’m finally alone for the first time since we’ve landed here, aside from falling asleep from drop dead traveling fatigue.
He looks at you in that way, you know?
Cat’s words replay in my mind.
My chest burns with the tormenting thoughts. My nipples harden from chill and from desire of that dream I had and that I had been found out.
I replay the entire day on the yacht and every stare my way from Luca. Every protective cock block as Stella so drunkenly coined the day before at lunch. But it was true, and I noticed it on the yacht every time Applegate tried to make an advance to me, he blocked it. Diverted the attention.
God, he looked so good in those white swimming trunks that hung so low over his perfect etched muscles. I didn’t even know a man could have muscles so close… so close to where things belong to a more intimate view.
I still can’t get him out of my mind. I can’t believe I saw him full frontal naked. Just like that.
It was so much and it all happened so fast.
But out on the yacht behind my sunglasses, I could hide my stares as I admired his body. His Italian skin makes his tan so bronze, like a god. Those abs. That face! How he looks with sunglasses and that man bun! His cheekbones are even more pronounced when his famous locks are pulled high like that, giving number one attention to his incredible eyes. But I really studied him. After all, I never really knew him growing up with the age difference and everything. I watched the way he talked to others, to Cat, to his sister. Yes, Stella has exhibited a more spoiled side than I ever remember, but the way he protects her, the way he’s there for her, is something very… endearing.
The way he humbly lifted up the new rookie, Ramon. The way he navigated his way around Applegate’s incredibly crazy antics. He was the perfect guy. I wanted to find the god complex in him like I saw nearly ten years ago at that first game, but I didn’t see it. I—
I feel a presence behind me.
My heart pounds in my throat. I know it's him. I can smell his cologne.
Afraid of turning around to see him disappear, I stand frozen. Curious. Anxious. Frightened I can't have what I want. Could he and would he finally set me free?
"Tell me that you feel it too, Willow."
Wind blows through my hair like I’m a free, wild woman. It's as if it's a precursor or hint to be brave. Desire, bone crushing, muscle melting crazy passion catches up and accelerates my heart beat, sending thousands of nerves on high alert in every place that longs to be touched, kissed, explored by his hands, tongue, and him.
I'm without words; my desire has consumed me. Heat flushes my cheeks and I ache so badly deep within.
“Do you ever think if we were just two strangers walking in Capri, that you may be open to kissing me, if not more? ‘Cause damn it, Willow, tell me you feel what's going on between us? The unspoken chemistry we share.”
“Luca….”
I spin around and he’s inches from me.
He’s wearing a thin white buttoned shirt. I want to rip it open and scatter the buttons everywhere. I'm nearly trembling being this close to him. His tanned skin makes his eyes pop insanely green like the turquoise sea, and the gas light makes his eyes glow, almost with sparkle.
He wears a look I have never seen before but it's blunt enough to tell me what he wants. My eyes scan down to his beige pants made of the thin fabric that Italians wear.
Thin.
It’s the best invention ever; he's hard. I can tell.
For me.
“She's with Applegate, Stella.”
"What are you talking about? If not more? We've already crossed that line. That ship has sailed."
"But it hasn't. It didn't. I never even touched you that night aside from helping you not fall down. The undressing part was all you. Like I said, you wanted me."
