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My girl smacked a kiss against my cheek before getting out. “Good night. I love you.”
I caught her hand when she would have run off and pulled her back. Leaning down, I touched my lips to hers in a soft kiss. “I love you too. I’ll call you in the morning, and we can spend the day together.”
Her eyes brightened. “Be safe on the drive home. Text me when you get there.”
She started to walk away again, but I couldn’t stand the idea of her being away from me even for a few hours to sleep. But when I would have picked her up and put her back in the vehicle, the front door opened and Axton Cage stepped out onto the porch.
“Ladies,” he called out to the girls. “You have thirty seconds before you are officially late for curfew.”
“We’re home,” Shaw sassed as she stomped up the walkway.
“But not in the house,” her father said calmly. “When I say come home by a certain time, I mean in the house, Bradshaw.”
I heard Shaw groan at the use of her full first name. We all knew how much she hated it, but she didn’t bitch at her dad like she would have us if we dared call her by it. Instead, she climbed the steps of the porch. “I’m telling Mom you’re being mean.”
“How am I being mean?” Axton asked, his tone still calm. “By calling you by your name? FYI, baby girl, your mom was the one who named you. If I’m being so mean by using it, you should take that up with her.”
“I have to go,” Violet said with a sad smile.
I let her hand go, promising myself I would see her again in only a matter of hours. “Love you.”
“Ten, nine, eight,” Axton counted down, and Vi squealed in distress as she took off running.
“I love you too. Bye,” she called as she rushed onto the porch and into the house.
As she disappeared inside, Axton laughed. “Thanks for getting them home safely, boys. Now get your asses back to Malibu.”
“Night, Uncle Ax,” Jagger said as he got back into the SUV, and Lyric moved into the front passenger seat. “Night, Shaw!” he called louder.
She stuck her head out of the door. “Night, Jags!”
I just stood there, hoping Violet would reappear so I could have one last look. Instead, my phone buzzed with a text. When I looked at the screen, it was to a picture of her blowing me a kiss, which was just as good.
“See you later, Uncle Ax,” I told him as I walked around to the driver’s door.
“Be careful on the road.”
I glanced up at the house just in time to see Violet standing at one of the windows. She waved, and I felt my heart contract.
Just a few hours, I promised myself as I drove away. Then I’d be beside her again.
Chapter 15
Violet
I was on my way downstairs when my phone rang. Smiling when I saw it was Luca, I answered. “Good morning.”
“I talked to my sister last night,” Luca said in a quiet voice, as if he were trying to keep others from hearing him.
Heat instantly filled my cheeks, beca
use I instinctively knew exactly what he’d talked to Lucy about. We hadn’t discussed what I’d told him on the beach two Fridays before, and I’d had mixed feelings about that. I’d wanted him to find a way to help me, but at the same time, I was so embarrassed about it too.
“I…” Pausing at the bottom of the stairs, I leaned against the rail. At my delay, Oscar came running out of the kitchen and barked unhappily at me, wanting attention. “What did she say?”
“I can’t really talk about it right now, but I was hoping we could meet up after school today? Friday was my last game, so there’s no football practice to worry about.”
His team had lost the third round of the championship because his quarterback had thrown not one but three interceptions, two of which the other team had scored with. It had been a huge letdown for Luca since this was his last year of high school football, but he hadn’t seemed all that heartbroken over it when we’d all gone to dinner together afterward.
