Loving Violet

by Terri Anne Browning

  Opening the back door, I got snarls from both the Cage siblings. “What the fuck, Luca?” Shaw snapped at me. “What the hell did you do to her? She came out, begging us to take her home, crying so hard I could barely understand her.”

  I didn’t have time to explain to her, and even if I did, I wouldn’t have. She didn’t matter. Only Violet. Only ever Vi.

  Reaching in, I unbuckled her seat belt and then lifted my girl into my arms. I didn’t have time to see her face as I tossed her over my shoulder and made a run for it to my SUV before anyone tried to stop me. But I heard her sobs, and my knees went weak at the sound. Her fists pounded on my back as I carried her, the only thing keeping me upright was the certainty that I couldn’t drop her.

  “Put me down!” she raged. “Luca, you asshole. Put. Me. Down!” She started kicking her legs, and I tightened my arms around the back of her knees to lock her in place.

  My keys were in my gym bag, but I didn’t need to get them out as I unlocked the door with my thumb and placed her in the front passenger seat. Once she was in place, I secured her with the seat belt, and only then did I look at her face.

  I hated the sight of those beautiful purple eyes filled with tears. They gutted me. She should only ever smile, and I couldn’t stand that I was the cause of her pain. I cupped her face in both of my hands, wiping away her tears with my thumbs as I swallowed the lump in my throat. “She jumped me,” I explained. “She came out of nowhere and took me by surprise.”

  “You outweigh her by at least a hundred and fifty pounds, Luca,” she snipped. “Are you honestly going to tell me you couldn’t manage a girl that size who supposedly attacked you with her lips?”

  “Not supposedly, Vi. It’s the truth. Ask your dad, he saw everything. Come on, babe. Don’t be mad at me. I didn’t do anything wrong.” I leaned in, kissing her forehead, but she shoved me back.

  “She stole it,” Violet sobbed, burying her face in her hands.

  I pulled her hands away from her face, my heart pounding. “Stole what, baby?”

  “Your first kiss!” she yelled, but it was the utter heartbreak on her beautiful face that nearly had me falling at her feet. “It was supposed to be mine, and she stole it. And you let her.”

  “No,” I denied vehemently. “That doesn’t count.”

  “She had her tongue in your mouth—of course, it counts.” She tried to shove me back again, but I refused to move. She was not leaving me while she was pissed. “Let me go, Luca. I’m done talking to you. You just did the one thing I never thought you were actually capable of doing. You hurt me, and I can’t even breathe right now.”

  “No, no,” I whispered, holding on to her hands like she was the only thing anchoring me to this world. “Baby, I’m sorry. I… I don’t…” I didn’t know how to fix this. I could see how much pain she was in, and it only made me hurt too.

  “You let her kiss you,” she cried, and her heartbreak was my own. “You let her put her lips on you and—”

  I couldn’t take it a second longer. I was in absolute agony, and the only thing I could think of to stop it was to kiss her.

  My lips caught hers, cutting off her words, and I finally got my first real taste of Violet. She tasted sweet and pure, like every good thing in the universe rolled into one small package. It was heaven and hell, and I nearly sobbed at how fucking perfect it was.

  She went still for a moment, and I was scared she was going to push me away. Instead, she clenched her fingers in my shirt and pulled me closer. She moaned, and I felt the vibration of that small sound all the way to my bones. Fuck, I’d never been so hard in my life, and I tangled my hands in her hair, deepening the kiss until I had no choice but to come up for air.

  When I lifted my head, we were both breathing heavily, and I pressed my forehead to hers. “I’m sorry,” I murmured again. “I’m so damn sorry. Please forgive me.”

  “I…” She let out a small, content sigh. “What were we talking about?”

  I lifted my head to look down at her. Her eyes were glazed with desire, and her mouth was swollen and red. I touched her plump bottom lip, aching to kiss her again, but I knew if I did, I wouldn’t be able to stop. Fuck, I was surprised I’d been able to the first time.

  “I love you. I only want you. Believe that, if nothing else. You are my future, my life, my everything. Don’t let some dumb bitch come between us.” I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Please, babe.”

  “O-okay,” she breathed, hugging me against her. “But don’t let her or anyone else kiss you again.”

  “I swear. My lips, my body, all of me belongs to only you.”

  “The magic of first love is our ignorance that it can never end.”

  ~ Benjamin Disraeli

  Chapter 6

  Luca

  “Dude, this birthday royally sucks,” Lyric grumbled as he slammed his locker shut and glared at me. “We’re eighteen today, and no one even seems to care. Mom and Dad didn’t even wake us up with a cake and singing ‘Happy Birthday’ like they always do. There were no birthday pancakes, and when I called Lucy earlier, she didn’t even wish me happy birthday.”

  I was barely paying him any attention as I stared at my phone, mentally demanding a text from Violet to show up. Every year since she’d first gotten a cell phone, she’d texted me at exactly midnight on my birthday so she could be the first one to wish me happy birthday. Before she’d been given a phone, she would sneak the cordless landline phone into her bed and call me.

  But there had been no text at midnight, and now it was noon, and still nothing. It was like she forgot.

  “Everyone forgot our birthday,” Lyric whined. “You would think they would all be relieved we made it to adulthood without getting arrested or anyone pregnant.”

  I grunted, continuing to give myself a headache as I willed a message to appear.

  Lyric had been looking forward to us turning eighteen, but I’d been dreading it. Eighteen meant I was legal, but Violet wasn’t. If I slipped up and touched her in every way I ached to now, I would be breaking so damn many laws. Normally, I wouldn’t even hesitate to break the rules, but not when it came to my girl. I wasn’t going to do anything to fuck us up—or give her dad a reason to not let me see her.

  When my phone suddenly rang, I thought my head was going to explode, but when I saw the name on the screen, I bit back a curse. “Hey, Mia,” I muttered as I answered.

  “Happy birthday!” she said cheerfully.

  “Yeah, thanks.”

  “Uh oh. Someone is grumpy. What’s wrong, little cousin? Didn’t get what you wanted for your birthday?”

  As she spoke, Lyric’s phone went off, and he picked it up. “Nev!”

  “Happy birthday!” I heard our cousin yell at the top of her lungs. But she and Mia must have both been home and not in class since I heard it echo through my phone.

  “At least someone remembered,” Lyric said loudly.

  “Oh no,” Mia said in my ear, having heard him. “Sounds like you are both grumpy. What’s wrong with you two?”

  “Seems like you and Nev are the only ones to remember it’s our birthday,” I told her, feeling a little pouty myself. I didn’t care about everyone else forgetting our birthday, but Violet not remembering stung like hell. She was my life, and I thought I was hers. But maybe something had changed with us, and I just hadn’t realized it.

  Now that I thought about it, she had been a little distant since she saw that Megan chick kiss me. We hadn’t seen each other as much in the past two weeks, and that was my fault. I’d been busier than usual with football, but I’d also found it harder and harder to keep my hands—and lips—to myself since kissing her that night.

  Maybe she was punishing me for not being around as much.

  But that wasn’t like Violet. She wasn’t vindictive like that. And she sure as hell wasn’t the type of girl to stew in silence if something was bothering her. If I made her mad, she told me point-blank.
>
  “What?” Mia said incredulously. “Even Violet?”

  “Apparently,” I gritted out.

  “Huh.” She sounded thoughtful and was quiet for a moment. “I’m sure everyone is just busy today.”

  “Mom didn’t even make us pancakes this morning,” Lyric continued to pout to Nevaeh. “And Dad was already gone when we came down for breakfast. He never forgets.”

  “I’m sure they didn’t forget.” I heard Nevaeh’s voice echoing through my phone. “They’re just probably busy. I bet they have something special planned for tonight.”

  “Fuck that,” my twin said beside me. “I wanted my pancakes and birthday cake and Mom and Dad singing ‘Happy Birthday.’ This is the last damn year we will be home for this, and they ruined it.”

  Realizing why my brother was being such a whiny bitch, I swallowed a groan. If I hadn’t been so caught up in the excitement of getting the Alabama offer and worrying about Violet and me, I would have realized what was going on with Lyric before now. Guilt tried to swallow me whole, but I knew I could fix this.

  “Mia, I have to go,” I told her. “Thanks for calling to tell me happy birthday. Love you.”

  Before she could respond, I’d already disconnected. Turning around, I grabbed Lyric’s phone and lifted it to my ear. “Gotta go, Nev. Love you.”

  I ended the call and tossed my brother his phone back. “Let’s go,” I told him.

  “Where?” he asked with a grunt.

  “Anywhere the fuck we want. It’s our birthday, and we’re legal. We can do whatever the hell we feel like.” I tossed my arm over his shoulders. “Just me and you. It’s our day.”

  Lyric’s eyes brightened, the sulk completely leaving his face. “Fuck it. Let’s go.”

  When we got to the parking lot, it was raining, but that didn’t deter us. We’d brought my SUV that morning, so we got in and I started it up. “Where to first?” I asked him as I shifted into gear and backed out of my usual spot.

  “It’s our birthday, man. Let’s throw ourselves a party.” He rubbed his hands together. “With lots and lots of girls.”

  I glanced down at my phone that I’d tossed into the cupholder when I got in the vehicle. It still didn’t show a text message from Violet, and I was the one who suddenly felt vindictive. She wanted to put distance between us, fine. I’d help her do it. “Yeah,” I gritted out. “Lots of girls.”

  While I drove us toward LA, Lyric called and reserved us the penthouse suite for the night at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel and then started texting everyone we knew. We stopped for party foods, and Lyric told a few people to bring the booze.

  By the time we checked in at the hotel a few hours later, other people had already started showing up. Not ten minutes after we got there, kegs began to arrive, and I wasn’t surprised when girls started stripping to their bras and panties and running around the 5,000-square-foot suite giggling.

  I sat back, watching my little brother enjoy himself for a few hours. We hadn’t done anything like this together in forever, and I hadn’t realized how much I missed hanging out with him until right then. I was going to miss him. He wasn’t going to the same college as me, and it was going to be hard being away from him for months at a time.

  Him and Violet both.

  Thinking of my girl, I pulled out my phone and angrily hit connect on her name. It was just after six, and she still hadn’t so much as tried to call or text me.

  It rang three times before she picked up. “Hello?” she answered, sounding distracted and a little out of breath.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Um, running. My dad talked me into going on a run with him.”

  “Why are you lying to me?” I demanded, my anger at her only growing.

  “I’m not,” she said defensively. “I really am running. Or I was until you called. I can’t talk long. Dad is giving me the evil eye. He wants me to do a 5K with him next week for one of Aunt Emmie’s charities, so he’s trying to get me in shape.”

  The door to the suite opened, and another group of kids from school walked in. I clenched my jaw as they called a greeting, and I saw a few of the cheerleaders make a beeline toward me. One of them was that annoying girl who had caused all this shit between Violet and me to begin with, and she dropped down beside me.

  “Hey, Luca baby,” she purred, and my skin actually crawled as she rubbed her hand over my chest.

  “What the fuck?” Violet exploded. “Who is that? Wait. Where are you?”

  “I have to go,” I told her, a part of me happy she was pissed now. But I didn’t want her to be hurt, and I knew how she felt about Megan.

  “Oh no, you don’t!” Violet yelled. “Luca—”

  But I cut her off by hitting disconnect and turned off my phone before pushing Megan away from me. “Not interested,” I told her as I stood.

  Walking into the kitchen area, I grabbed a beer and twisted off the top. I chugged half of it before realizing Megan had followed me.

  For fuck’s sake. The girl was like a damn infestation of bedbugs. I couldn’t get rid of her, no matter what I did.

  Chapter 7

  Violet

  I glared down at my phone, stunned Luca had actually hung up on me.

  “What’s wrong?” Lucy asked as she finished hanging streamers over the French doors that opened up onto the back deck of the Thorntons’ home.

  The two of us had been helping get everything ready for Luca and Lyric’s surprise birthday party since noon. Mom had convinced Dad to let me skip my afternoon classes so I could help prepare for the party, knowing how hard it had been for me to go without wishing Luca happy birthday all day.

  When Aunt Layla told me the big plan for the surprise party, I’d been so excited, but I hadn’t realized what I would have to do to keep it a secret. Not talk to Luca all day, not be the first one to wish him a happy birthday like always, make him think I’d forgotten his special day like everyone else had.

  I knew he would be upset, but I thought everything would be fine once he realized how much thought and love we’d all put into his and Lyric’s party.

  Not once had I thought he would do something like this. Whatever the hell “this” was.

  “I heard a girl in the background,” I told his sister. “She said ‘Luca baby.’”

  Lucy burst out laughing. “No way. Lyric, sure. He’s such a player, it’s almost funny. But not Luca.”

  “I know what I heard,” I whispered, my chin starting to tremble. “He was with a girl.”

  Seeing how upset I was, Lucy wrapped her arms around me. “Okay, I’m sure there is a perfectly good explanation. Call him back. Knowing my brother, I bet it’s funny.”

  I was already doing just that, but it went straight to voice mail without even ringing, and my stomach protested. “He turned off his phone.”

  “Maybe it died,” she said, but her eyes darkened. “Call Lyric.”

  Swallowing the lump in my throat, I hit connect for Lyric and waited for him to answer. It rang a half dozen times before he picked up. There was loud music in the background, along with lots of voices and girls giggling annoyingly. It took several moments before I even heard Lyric’s voice. “Sup, Vi?”

  “What are you doing?” I whispered, unable to make my voice any stronger.

  Lucy grabbed my phone out of my hands and lifted it to her ear. “Lyric Thornton, what the actual fuck are you and Luca doing?” As she listened, I saw her eyes narrow and almost felt sorry for her brother. “You are both whiny little assholes, you know that?” she raged at him after he finished speaking. “Did it not occur to either of you that the reason no one told either of you happy birthday today was because we had something special planned? Now you’re having some stupid party in a hotel, and your entire family is about to show up at your house in less than an hour.”

  I closed my eyes. Of course they had thrown their own party. That was definitely something Luca would have done, and I
really wasn’t all that upset about it. But that girl I’d heard…

  My heart was cracking open, and I couldn’t stop it. Tossing the confetti I’d been decorating the drinks station with into the small trash can at my feet, I turned away from the two huge cakes Aunt Layla had set out only moments ago. She’d gone back into the kitchen to finish making the dozens upon dozens of appetizers she’d been hard at work cooking all day.

  One of the cakes was a replica of the Tuscaloosa football stadium. It read “Happy Birthday, Luca,” across the field inside.

  The other was a huge, lifelike tattoo gun that read “Happy Birthday, Lyric” in icing on the sheet cake underneath it.

  Even with as many people as would be coming to the party, there was no way all of that cake would get eaten. Normally whenever someone in my family had a party and there was a lot of leftover food, we donated it to a local soup kitchen. I wasn’t sure if that was what would happen with the cake that wasn’t eaten, but I didn’t plan on sticking around this time to find out.

  While Lucy continued to rip her brother a new asshole, I walked into the kitchen.

  Aunt Layla and Aunt Lana were both at the stove, stirring pots. They turned when I walked in, smiles on their faces. “How’s it going in there, sweetheart?” Aunt Layla asked as she lifted her pot and carried it to the sink.

  “I didn’t want to be rude and just leave without saying anything. But I’m going to head home,” I told Luca’s mom, swallowing the nausea I felt as I remembered that girl’s voice.

  “Luca baby,” kept repeating over and over in my head, and I was already getting a headache from it. It was going to drive me insane, and all I wanted was to go home and cry.

  Luca had never given me a reason to feel this way about other girls in the past. We always knew we were meant for each other, that our future was set in stone. He was mine, and I was irrefutably his. Even my dad, as hard as he tried to deny it over the years, had finally realized that. But ever since I’d come face-to-face with Megan Hawthorn, things had been different.