by Piper Rayne
“Yeah, I guess since they were little. Cristian more so than Luca and Mauro.” Maddie could win a Jeopardy category on the Bianco Family at this point. “Mauro said Cris even wanted to try pro at some point, but his parents didn’t have the money to keep him in since it’s so expensive.” She elbows me. “But you probably know this. I heard he’s been training with you. What’s going on?”
Lauren sips her beer and bangs on the glass at the other team practicing. “Twenty dollars to anyone who slams number fifty-four into the glass!”
The team stares at her like she’s delusional. Which when it comes to Luca she kind of is.
I grab the bottom of her sweater and pull her down to sit in her seat. “Let’s behave ourselves.”
“Come on Van, I know you’re not the kiss and tell type. We’re not asking for specifics, but we’re your friends.” Maddie can load on the guilt like no other. “I told you about Mau—”
“It’s nothing. You guys were right. He’s a nice guy.”
“And?” Lauren leans closer. “They had dinner last night. I came home to an empty fridge and Van washing dishes.”
“Hold up.” Maddie puts her hand in the air. “Vanessa was washing dishes?” She proceeds to put her wrist on my forehead. “Are you okay? What did you do with our friend?”
My friends laugh and I take her arm off my head.
“What was I supposed to do?” I ask.
“Leave them in the sink like you usually do?” Lauren says with sarcasm. “I have to say, the plate he left for me was mighty tasty. A hot police officer who plays hockey and competes in Spartan races and cooks? Come on Van, you got like the quadrulefecta.”
“The what?” I ask.
“Whatever’s like a trifecta but when you have four things,” she explains.
“I don’t think there is such a word,” I say and steal a quick glance across the ice at Cristian.
“The man can do no wrong. He’s perfect,” Lauren continues on.
“Then you date him.”
Lauren swallows down another sip of beer. “I’d never be willing to be a Bianco family member. Why would I sign myself up for the hell of being Luca Bianco’s sister-in-law? It’s bad enough with Maddie being engaged to Mauro now.”
I roll my eyes. She’s so blind.
“I think he’s too perfect, you know?” I speak my own insecurities of dating Cristian. “But I will admit he’s hot and how nice he is only makes him more attractive.”
Maddie smiles wide, biting her lip. Right now she’s picturing us married to brothers, co sisters-in-law. I know my best friend.
“Pretty soon we’ll be swapping Italian recipes,” Maddie says.
See. Told you.
“Speaking of Italian recipes, how’s their mom?” Lauren asks, crossing her legs and disregarding the guys now that they’re starting to play.
I thought she’d be pounding the glass screaming the entire game. It might have something to do with the fact that Luca is on the other side of the glass and is pretending he doesn’t know Lauren is right here. Those two might as well strip down and fuck under the spotlight because it’s clear to anyone around them how much they want one another.
“She has to wear a heart monitor for thirty days.” Maddie cringes.
As Mauro skates by she jumps up and cheers. He does some trick with his hockey stick that probably has a name, but I wouldn’t know it, and the buzzer goes off. Everyone on our side cheers.
“He scored!” Maddie coos.
Mauro comes to the glass and winks before skating away. Cue the sappy music now as she falls back to her seat.
“What are you guys talking about?”
Maddie and Lauren share a look and then direct their attention to me.
“She passed out Monday night. It has to do with her heart, but they’re having her wear a monitor for thirty days to figure out exactly what’s going on. She passed the angiogram so there’s no blockage. They think it’s electronic. Talk about a rock. Cristian has been there for his mom the entire time. We all stayed at the hospital that night, but Cristian stayed up and then went to work the next day.”
I sink down in my chair, mindlessly watching a game I don’t understand. This entire week…all the stuff we’ve learned about one another and he never said a word. All the shit I’ve told him about not driving, my mom, and he didn’t say anything about his mom being sick.
And here comes that feeling that I despise again. That one that makes me think I’m good for one thing. A nice accessory on his arm and a quick fuck in his bed.
Just when I start to believe that he was telling the truth about wanting to get to know each other better, I find out he’s just like every other guy who’s come before him.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Cristian
As lame as it sounds, winning a recreation hockey league game fucking rocks. Especially when the girl you’ve been chasing bears witness. I mean I get that I’m not some Blackhawk making millions like I dreamed about at fourteen, but we schooled the other team tonight.
“We’re going to celebrate, B2, bring the blonde.” Mark pats me on the back as he exits the locker room, freshly showered. Using his ridiculous nickname of B for Bianco and whatever birth order we’re in. Half the time he gets it wrong.
The ice rink we play at is a hockey house in the upper northside so yes, we have showers and a kick-ass locker room. No, we don't have names in front of our lockers and no one is placing freshly laundered jerseys in them for us, but it’s top notch for a league like ours. Then again, it’s the north side of the city. Everything is bigger and better up here. Especially the attitudes.
“I’ll be there.” I don’t commit Vanessa to coming because I don’t know what’s going on in her head. That woman is hot and cold. The few times I could spare a look at the stands in her direction she didn’t smile. Instead, she sat there looking bored. After last night, I thought we were on our way somewhere. Where? I have no idea, but not back to her strong-arming me away from her…again.
“How’s Mama?” Mauro asks since he worked last night.
“She’s good. Dad won’t let her do anything which caused an argument,” I say, shoving the last of my equipment inside my hockey bag. “She said that if she doesn’t get her heart rate up, they’ll never find out what’s wrong with her. You missed a good one. They spoke Italian I’ve never heard before.”
Mauro chuckles and my brothers and I leave the locker room, Luca immediately cozying up to some of the groupies who are always around when our team plays. The entire team is made up of first responders, so between everyone’s schedules and shift changes, not everyone is able to make it to each game. It also means we have a shit-ton of players. These girls hang out for anyone of us that’s single, but self-absorbed Luca believes they only come to his games.
Mauro slaps him on the shoulder, attempting to pull him along with us. Luca teeters but doesn’t follow.
“We’re heading to Brew Crew. Let’s go,” I say.
“I’ll meet you there.” His attention shifts to a woman wearing a short skirt. It’s cold as shit in here so even though the view is nice—hey, I might want Vanessa, but I’m not blind—I’ve never paid any of them any attention.
“Don’t worry about Ma on Saturday. Maddie and I are going to head over there. I know you have the race with Vanessa so take the day to yourself. Especially since you work Sunday.”
I push open the door to outside and let Mauro slip out before I let go. “Thanks for the offer, but I’ll probably be available right after the race though. I thought I was making some headway, but I don’t know now.”
“Why?”
The girls come into sight as we walk through the parking lot, but they don’t spot us yet. Jericho has Lauren cornered against her Fiat. At least I know she can handle herself with him. Vanessa and Maddie are talking, and it looks serious from the expressions on their faces. Not at all like they’re just casually waiting around for their boyfriends. I guess that’d just be Maddi
e anyway. Vanessa and I are unclassified.
“You got lucky. Maddie’s like an open book. I need to crack a code to get Vanessa to open. Just when I have three of the four numbers correct, she spins all the numbers on the lock again.”
Mauro laughs. My life is in a permanent spin cycle these days and he’s on the delicate cycle.
“Can’t say I didn’t warn you, but if anyone can crack the code, it’s you, brother.” He slaps me on the back which propels us right in front of the girls.
Maddie jumps at him. “Good game hotshot.”
There are those dreamy eyes I was talking about.
“Hey, Vanessa.” We gravitate toward one another and step off to the side a bit.
“Great game,” she says.
“Thanks.” I smile, not able to read her mood yet.
“I’m sorry about your mom,” she whispers.
I look at her in shock, unable to speak.
“You could’ve told me. I would’ve understood if you couldn’t train me.” There’s an edge to her voice.
I grab her hand. “We’ll meet you there,” I tell the rest of the gang.
“But I came with Lauren.” Vanessa fights me as I’m dragging her away.
“Lauren, I have Vanessa,” I call out to Lauren, though I’m sure she’s figured that much out.
“Cool, I’ll head over with this gorgeous woman,” Jericho announces.
Once we’re secure in the car and I’ve dumped all my shit in the trunk, I don’t turn on the ignition.
“I thought we were going out for a drink?”
“I told you I don’t play games,” I say.
“Yeah, I know…”
“Then why are you acting so defensive because I didn’t tell you about my Ma?”
Her gaze veers out the window which is now only a dark parking lot with a scattering of cars and a line of dense forest next to it. Gotta love the burbs.
“Listen I get it. It’s none of my business, but I told you stuff. Personal things I’ve never shared with anyone. And as stupid as it sounds, I felt…forget it.” She shakes her head and moves her hand to the door handle.
I lock the doors.
“You’re going to keep me hostage?” Her head swivels in my direction.
“Yes, because we’re going to clear this up right now.”
Her stern gaze meets mine and with the only light from the parking light shining through the windshield, I can’t see them clearly, but I don’t need to. I’ve seen those eyes more than once with her and they don’t scare me now because under her hard exterior is treasure. Treasure I want to plunder and adore and cherish.
“There’s nothing to clear up.”
“The reason I didn’t tell you is because I didn’t want a pity date.” If I don’t lay it out, she’ll go round and round with me and we’ll get farther away from where we started instead of closer.
“What?”
“I thought that if you knew about Ma, you would’ve gone out with me as a pity date and then paid a waiter to spill a drink on you again. Or some other equally ridiculous excuse.”
The anger vanishes from her blue eyes. “Do you think I would do that?”
“I wasn’t sure, but I didn’t want to chance it. I was going to tell you at some point, it’s just when it comes to you, I’m a little self-conscious.”
“Self-conscious?”
I tuck a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear, staring into her eyes and cupping her cheek. “I really like you Vanessa and the more I find out about you, the more intense that feeling becomes. I’m trying not to scare you, but I want this to work.”
Her eyes cast down. Not a good sign.
“You’re so confusing… er… I’m so confused. You want something I can’t give you.”
I drop my hand and grip the steering wheel. “Put your seatbelt on, we’ll just go to the bar.” I turn the keys in the ignition.
“Wait.”
I can barely hear her voice over the car radio so I lower the volume. “It’s fine Vanessa, but I’m still keeping you to the date on Saturday.”
“No.”
“Fine.” I throw the car in park. “Have it your way. But you should know that I would’ve treated you like no other man would. We would’ve been like Maddie and Mauro and you never would have doubted my love.”
“Better,” she says.
“What?” I whip my head to look at her only to find a grin spreading wide across her lips.
She unbuckles her seatbelt and climbs over the console and onto my lap.
“What are you doing?” I ask. This woman is giving me whiplash.
“You’re right. You are a great catch and we’ll be better than Maddie and Mauro.” She presses her lips to mine in a hard, chaste kiss. “I like you Cristian. I thought maybe you were using me for sex because you didn’t want to tell me about your mom.”
“We’re not even having sex, Vanessa.”
She waves me off. “I know, and I realize how stupid that sounds, but like I warned you…I have issues. But you’ve been a solid force at my side since we met and I want to be that for you with your mom.” She kisses me again, although way too briefly.
I press the button on the side of my seat to slide it as far back as it goes.
“I want you.” She kisses me again, this time lingering longer and sliding her tongue in my mouth. “And it feels like you want me too?” She grinds her ass down into my huge erection that might bust my zipper if she keeps doing that.
“I always want you, but the next time I have you, it won’t be in my car. I plan on feasting on you for days.”
“Can we make out?” she asks like I’m not a member of the male species. I’d be a moron not to take her up on her offer, especially with her tits pressed to my chest.
“Let’s just clear this up quick.” My hands run along her sides and her hands play with my still damp hair.
She rolls her eyes playfully. “Always wanting to talk.”
“You need to understand that you have one hundred percent of me.”
The smile falls from her face.
“I don’t say that to scare you. I just want you to know. There’s nothing to question from my side so you can get that out of your head right now. You’re not just a pretty face to me.”
“Thanks.” She buries her head into the crook of my neck which I think might be in order to hide her reaction to my words.
“You’re an amazing ass to me, too.”
She laughs and smacks me in the stomach. I hold her tighter, not wanting to ever let her slip from my grasp.
One day she’ll be able to believe the words I speak. One day I’ll look her in the eye and tell her how amazing she is, and she won’t hide from me because she’ll know I feel those words deep down inside.
“I’m completely yours, Vanessa Flanagan.”
Her head lifts and her forehead falls to mine. Keeping her eyes closed her two hands hold my face in them.
“Don’t say anything else,” she whispers.
I shift her hips so her center grinds along my length.
“Just kiss me,” I tell her.
And she does exactly that.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Vanessa
When I was six, my mom bought me a Belle dress. I wore that dress everywhere. As soon as school was out, I would change out of my Catholic school girl uniform and into the princess dress. I’d set up tea parties and play the soundtrack anytime I was in my room. My favorite song was “Something There.” I would even lower my voice to sing the man parts.
One day my parents joined me for the tea party. My mom and I had baked her famous pumpkin spice cake with cream cheese frosting that afternoon and she prepared actual tea for us. My dad looked like the giant he is at my kid’s table, sipping out of a small teacup and trying to eat daintily with a plastic fork.
My mom laughed as crumbs fell to the table. “You’re my beast.” She looked at him lovingly and caressed his cheek. I didn’t understand the meaning then
, but that night I asked her why she would call Daddy a beast.
“Oh, Van,” she began, tucking in my sheets under my body. “One day you’ll understand when you’re older. Men and boys pretend to be tough, but many times it’s just an act. When they fall in love that’s when you see the real man. That’s when you know whether you really have a beauty or a beast on your hands.”
“But?”
She kissed my forehead. “One day it will all make sense. Your daddy’s not really a beast. I saw his true self even through his tough exterior. Now, get some sleep.”
* * *
The fact that that memory picks now to run through my brain scares me. Am I the beast or is Cristian?
I wish my mom were still here to talk to. I’d tell her about Cristian with his kind words and gentle touches. The way he lives his life with his heart outside of his body—open for all to see, or hurt. It’s admirable and impressive and it terrifies me. How long will he let me play these games and keep him at arm’s length? How long until he says you’re so not worth this effort?
“Jesus Vanessa.” He’s breathless as he kisses my neck. “You have no idea how badly I want you right now.”
See what I mean? He hides nothing.
My fingers tighten in his dark strands, not wanting his head to move away. Not that he seems in any rush to.
“When we finally do it, be prepared for multiple rounds,” I say, a little breathless.
His hands cup my breasts and his thumbs find my nipples, the cami not doing a great job of hiding how erect they are through my lace bra.
“You’re trying to kill me, right? Like give me a heart attack?”
I laugh, and he pulls open my duster sweater, so it slips off my shoulders and pulls down the top of my cami and the front of my bra, exposing my breasts to him.
“I’ve missed these, but thankfully they visit me in my dreams.” He talks directly to my breasts and a laugh vibrates in my chest until he takes my breast into his hot, wet mouth, his tongue swirling around my nipple.
