All Chapters of Can I ride you, Luca?....Craving my best friend’s brother: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Emma's POV The morning light was a cruel, unforgiving blade. It sliced through the gap in my curtains, landing directly across my eyes and forcing the world into focus. I groaned, my body feeling heavy and tender, a dull ache in my hips serving as a vivid receipt of every round Luca and I had gone through in the dark.I rolled over, the silk sheets sliding against my bare skin, and found myself staring at the source of my undoing. Luca was still fast asleep, splayed out across the pillows with a reckless, masculine grace. The early sun caught the golden undertones of his skin and the sharp, aristocratic line of his jaw. Even in sleep, he looked ridiculously handsome—dangerous, but beautiful. For a split second, looking at his calm face, I forgot about the girls at the party. I forgot about the boathouse. I just saw the boy who had once promised to be my bodyguard.Then, the shrill scream of my ringtone shattered the silence.I jolted upright, my heart leaping into my throat. I fumble

Emma's POV The air between Tyler and me was thick enough to choke on. He was looking at me with those earnest, puppy-dog eyes, waiting for an answer that would change the trajectory of our entire relationship. I stood on the precipice of a choice—the safe, stable path with the boy who brought flowers, or the jagged, high-stakes cliff I climbed every time I looked at Luca.My mouth opened, the "No" already forming on my tongue, when the dark street was suddenly flooded with white light. A car rounded the corner with a roar, its high beams blinding us as it screeched to a halt directly in front of Tyler’s sedan, boxing him in.Tyler jumped, his hands dropping from my waist. "What the hell?"The driver’s side door flew open before the engine had even fully cut out. Hannah marched into the light like a woman on a mission from God, her face set in a mask of righteous fury. From the passenger side, Mia scrambled out, her hands raised in a "don't blame me" gesture."Hannah, wait! Just talk

Emma's POV The Monday morning sky was a dull, bruised gray, mirroring the heavy feeling in my chest. I had barely slept, my phone serving as a cold, rectangular reminder of Luca’s silence. When Hannah pulled up to the curb to whisk me away to our early lecture, I had to plaster on a fake smile just to get through the greetings."You look like you’ve seen a ghost," Hannah noted as she shifted gears, heading toward the humanities building."Just a long night of studying," I lied, the words tasting like copper.The lecture was a blur of slides and monotonous notes. As soon as the professor dismissed us, I felt a strange magnetic pull toward the athletic wing of the campus. As we crossed the quad, I saw him—a tall, broad-shouldered figure in a dark hoodie, walking with his head down."I’ll meet you at the cafe, Han. I think I dropped my thumb drive back in the hall," I said, not waiting for her response.I sprinted across the grass, cutting off his path just as he reached the corner of t

Emma's POV The silence that followed the departure of the hockey team was deafening, broken only by the frantic, shallow rhythm of our breathing. My heart was a trapped bird fluttering against my ribs, and my skin felt hypersensitive to the cooling sweat and the humid air of the dark restroom.Luca didn't move for a long time. He kept his forehead pressed against the wood of the door, his weight pinning me there, a silent anchor in the chaos. The vibrations of the team’s laughter still seemed to hum in the tiles."We have to go," I whispered, my voice barely a thread. "Luca, if they come back, or if the janitor starts his rounds..."He finally pulled back, the darkness hiding the expression on his face, though the intensity in his eyes was still palpable. He reached out, his hand grazing my cheek one last time before he bent down to retrieve his clothes. We dressed in frantic, fumbling silence. Every rustle of fabric felt like a gunshot in the quiet room.Luca cracked the door open j

Emma's POV The silver sedan hummed as it hit the open highway, the campus skyline shrinking into a cluster of grey dots in the rearview mirror. For the first few miles, the silence in the car was thick, charged with the lingering adrenaline of the near-miss with Tyler. Luca drove with one hand on the wheel, the other resting heavily on my thigh, his thumb tracing slow, deliberate circles that made it impossible for me to settle.He reached over and tapped the touchscreen on the dashboard. A low, bass-heavy R&B track began to throb through the high-end speakers, the lyrics explicit and the rhythm a slow, grinding beat."Like the music, Emma?" Luca asked, a dark smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. He shot me a sidelong glance, his eyes hooded. "It’s a preview. I’ve been thinking about this drive all week. About having you trapped in this seat where you can’t run away from me.""I’m not running," I whispered, shifting in the seat as the vibration of the car and the music started t