Chapter Three
SERENITY
Perched in the passenger seat of his black and red Bugatti, I fold my arms tightly across my chest and fix my eyes on the parking lot.
He pulls the seatbelt across my body, and I inhale him. Not on purpose. He’s just so close. I should’ve been more prepared and held my breath. He smells so delectable. The musk, vanilla, and jasmine waft up my nose, causing me to press my thighs together.
It feels like he’s taking longer to buckle me in on purpose. He knows what he’s doing to me.
“If you can’t manage to buckle my seatbelt, I’ll do it.”
I hear it click, and his large hand lands on my soft hip. I’m not a stick figure like so many on the cheer team. Noré and I are the only girls who have meat on our bones.
Nico seems to like that about me. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t insist on putting his hands on my body.
“I’ve got you, Serenity.”
He stares at me for a beat.
“Can we go?” I ask.
A smile curls his lips. “You can’t run away from me.”
He closes my door and walks around the hood of the car.
I roll my eyes. What pushed him to make his move? It wasn’t like the guy hadn’t stared at me since I arrived at Mercy Prep High School. He kept our conversations light. Sometimes we discussed heavy topics. However, he never flirted. Just stared.
“When did you get your driver’s license?” he asks.
His question brings me back from my thoughts.
I notice he’s merging into traffic.
“The day after my sixteenth birthday in December.”
“I know when your birthday is. I noticed you driving it to school in October.”
“My bodyguards rode with me until I got my driver’s license.”
He nods.
I change the subject. “You know we aren’t a thing. I let you put on your little show for I assume Lorna. She stared at you like she wanted to kill you after that kiss you laid on me. That was to make her jealous, right?”
Why was Nico using me to make her jealous? Did he ask her to be his girlfriend, and she turned him down?
He damn sure didn’t ask me. He told me I was…his. My stomach flutters at the thought of belonging to Nico Pitucco.
You’re not his, Serenity.
His laughter feels the car. “No, I wasn’t trying to make her jealous. I noticed her after the kiss. We were never a couple and wouldn’t be. We messed around, that’s all.”
“Why force your way into my life now?” I ask staring at his side profile.
The angular jaw begs for my fingers to touch it. I blink rapidly, pushing down the strong feelings I have for him.
“Guys were moving in on my territory,” he replies.
My mouth drops open. “I’m not land, Nico.”
