Page 87 of One Breath After Another

Luca thought she deserved to know. “You look beautiful, by the way. Who picked the dress?”

Penny beamed even through the pink blush that colored her cheeks and rushed down the exposed part of her chest. She didn’t meet his gaze when she replied, “Me, but Roz convinced me to wear it when I second-guessed it today.”

Ah.

Good going, Roz.

He didn’t say that out loud.

Barely.

“The shoes kind of hurt,” she added.

Both of them looked down at the pointed toe, blue heels.

“Shame, they make your legs look fantastic.”

Fuck.

Penny’s head lifted slowly, her gaze finally finding his, but he did his best to stare down the hall and pretend like that thought hadn’t slipped out of his mouth. His incredibly stupid mouth. Such was his luck, Penny hadn’t missed it anyway.

“Luca—”

“It shouldn’t be me,” he muttered, his stare snapping back to hold hers strong while he spoke. “You shouldn’t break your teeth in on me while you figure out what you want with men or sex ... whatever, even if I could handle it. I said I was gonna be your friend, Penny. A safe place, right? And I’m not sure I can be that if there isn’t a line.”

There.

He said it.

The truth was out there.

“Okay,” she whispered.

He couldn’t even pretend like he was incapable of seeing the line of water in her bright eyes. She did her very best to keep them from falling when she blinked them away, though.

“And I’m sorry,” he added, clearing the thickness from his throat.

Penny’s brow lifted when she asked, “For what?”

“I’m a shitty friend, anyway. I didn’t get you anything for your birthday.”

He was still running like a madman for Naz and trying to keep up with college, after all. He was lucky that he even made it to this goddamn party on time. Accomplishing anything in his life currently felt like a feat. When would that change?

“You’re my best friend, actually,” Penny replied, smiling softly with painted pink lips. “My first real friend. And I think that’s a good enough present for all my birthdays, Luca.”

“Maybe.”

But even still ...

“How about a kiss, then?” she asked, her grin turning almost demure. Like she knew exactly what she asked for, but her shyness couldn’t help but make an appearance when she pressed her lips together and stared at the floor instead of him. “I never had a real first kiss. Could I have one of those for a birthday present? I think that would be sufficient, don’t—”

Luca should have said no. A big part of him screamed to do just that, too. If he were a better man, the kind of man he tried to be, then he would have refused. He was also her friend even if that meant a lot of things—and shit ... she did have the nerve to ask him.

He also didn’t want to say no.

Before Penny had even finished what she was saying, Luca stepped in closer to her. His hands found her waist when her head tipped back, so she could stare up at him. Without warning, he dropped his mouth down, lips locking over top of hers for a soft, stroking kiss that despite not going deeper, still managed to set flames alight in his chest. Even his heart raced against the flames.

Crazy.