Saints and Sinners: The Complete Series Read online

  “What?” she said, widening her eyes as she watched Kona. “I…I mean…”

  “Easy…” He waved a hand when Gia opened her mouth again, ready to start explaining away her ridiculous gawking. “Don’t worry, nobody sees it but me,” he confessed. Kona watched Gia as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, praying the blush over her face wasn’t visible in the low light around them.

  “I don’t know…”

  “It’s fine,” he continued, nodding to a few girls as they walked by. “Luka’s a little clueless about females…well, most females.” When Gia looked at Kona again, frowning this time, he clarified. “Most girls go after him. He…hell, up until the beginning of this semester, we didn’t have to work for attention from women.”

  “Beginning of the semester?” Gia knew she sounded stupid and worried and irrational, but she couldn’t help herself.

  “Me, I meant me.” He exhaled, shoulders lowering, though he still held a wide smile on his mouth. “I’ve never tried so hard to get and keep someone like I have with Keira.” When Gia nodded, Kona moved his chin toward his brother. “Luka, though, he’s not gonna notice anything unless it’s right there in front of him and, I gotta be honest with you, Jilani, I don’t think you want his attention if you catch it.”

  Gia frowned, not sure what warning Kona was trying to give. This time when she looked up at him, her shyness and embarrassment had shifted to a small amount of irritation. “Why?”

  The big guy shrugged, attention down at her, then back to his brother. Two cheerleaders still in their uniforms hovered next to Luka, one on each side of his chair and Gia looked away, a little more clued in on Kona’s meaning now. She should be used to it—seeing Luka and the attention he got from girls, but she wasn’t.

  “It’s not a big deal,” she told Kona, scanning the crowd again for her friends. “I’m not…pining if that’s what you’re thinking.”

  “I don’t think that,” he told her, looking for all the world like he could barely hold back his smile. “What I do think is that my twin is a good dude… to his friends. Maybe you should just try to be his friend and keep the other stuff to yourself.”

  Gia didn’t answer, and Kona didn’t do more than tap her shoulder before he walked away, leaving her alone on the courtyard steps, debating the wisdom of pulling Claire away from the running back who had his hand on her ass. It was a distraction, something Gia did to keep her attention off Luka and the cheerleaders she knew were friendlier, braver, maybe even prettier than she was.

  She hated how dark her thoughts could go. Gia hated the cloud of negativity that could sometimes weigh her down when it came to Luka. Normally, she was strong because she’d have to be if she wanted to kick in a few doors and run her own team one day. There was no room for her goals and any self-doubt. But when it came to Luka Hale, the non-self-doubting woman she typically was got shoved aside and the awkward, goofy girl she’d been as a kid resurfaced.

  My God, she thought, watching Mimi attempt a spin on top of the dirty picnic table. It’s end of junior year formal all over again and I’m just waiting for someone to take pity on me and ask me to dance.

  “Pathetic,” she told herself, ignoring a big Sigma Chi frat guy glancing her way as he walked down the steps. “Damn that.”

  She was going to approach Luka. Kona’s suggestion was a good one, but it wasn’t the one she’d take. Just then, Gia decided to confront Luka, get and keep his attention like the miraculous way Keira Riley caught Kona’s. She was going to march across the yard, nudge both of those over-eager cheerleaders from their comfy spots at Luka’s sides and make him see her, hear her and listen.

  It was all there, right in her head; the scenario played out—her striding across the yard, head upheld, shoulders back, soaking up the attention she got from everyone she crossed. Luka would wave off whatever the girls said to him and sit up, his focus on Gia, his gaze over her body as she stood in front of him. She’d tell him she liked him. She might recite his stats, tell him what a phenomenal athlete she thought he was, tell him sometimes she’d watch him sprint, watch him with his brother goofing off, watching him on the track or on the field just because he was beautiful. Just because he was special. Not, you know, because she was a certifiable stalker unable to keep away from him. That might not go over too well.

  Gia took a step, ready to approach.

  She inhaled, straightening her shoulders, recalling every store of confidence she could muster and then, she went still, unable to do much more than stand in the middle of that yard with dozens of drunk kids around her—Claire and Mimi among then—as Luka Hale, surprising now sitting all alone, shot a long, unblinking stare right at Gia, giving her the attention she wanted until something inside her twisted and broke to pieces every shred of confidence she’d managed to force.

  He held her gaze and she was frozen by the shift of it over her, how it lingered on her stomach, how that stare heated, the muscles around his mouth tightening the lower he moved his stare, then softened when he watched her face.

  Then, Luka Hale slipped his thick tongue across his bottom lip, denting the center with his teeth and Gia’s clit throbbed, her nipples peaked and hardened. He worked a special kind of magic over her. Sometimes she thought he’d put a curse on her. One look and he’d turn her legs to jelly. That was about as close to the sensation she felt just then as Luka watched her.

  As they watched each other.

  Maybe Gia would have approached. Maybe she would have nodded Luka over, but it was just at that moment that the Sigma that had been ogling Gia chose to slug Mimi’s date, Mick Willis, and then…the crowd went a little crazy.

  Gia brought her attention away from Luka long enough to avoid Mick and the Sigma falling into the table at her left before Claire ran toward her. Then more people descended, and Gia stepped back, avoiding the two tussling idiots.

  “Careful,” she heard, feeling someone jerk her out of the way of a few of Mick’s roommates as more Sigmas weaved through the crowd.

  “Thanks.” Gia had half a second to say the word, then to look up at the man who’d pulled her out of the way and notice it was Luka before Claire grabbed her, hurrying them both from the party.

  In the distance sirens sounded and the crowd began to fracture as Claire tugged on Gia’s hand, running away from Luka, from the fighting idiots and whatever might have happened if Mick and the Sigma could have acted like adults.

  “Come on,” Claire yelled, her grip tightening when Gia looked over her shoulder, shooting one final glance back, Luka’s slow stare and half smile getting lost in the mass of faces as they ran away.

  3.

  LUKA

  The field was empty by the time Luka finished the extra sprints he decided to run after the end of practice. Kona was probably already back on the Northshore ignoring their mother’s demands he help out with the food prep she wanted for Thanksgiving dinner. The woman should have known that Keira Riley had taken over his brother’s head. Her fit little body and whatever else she’d done to get him so sprung took precedence over their mother’s commandments. Kona was a dumb bastard most of the time, but, Luka thought, he did have good taste.

  Two janitors from the night shift nodded a greeting to Luka as he pulled off his wet shirt and headed toward the showers, thinking of nothing really but a shower, and a cold beer before he was forced to pick up his twin’s slack and do whatever bullshit his mother needed.

  Kona would owe Luka one, but then, Kona was always owing Luka something.

  It was Kona and Keira, for some reason, and a million other things that didn’t make sense or matter at all to Luka that he thought of as he made it to the locker room, stripping off his clothes, ready to hit the shower and drown himself under that spray. The regular season was nearly done and Luka looked forward to the rest afterward, all three weeks of it. His brother would drill him and work him and push him just as hard as Luka would do for Kona to keep themselves in peak performance during the season. But for three
weeks, three long, blissful weeks, Luka intended on enjoying the rest.

  He tugged off his shorts and grabbed a towel, slipping it over his hips when he heard the shower on ahead of him, the room already filling with steam. Luka thought maybe Brian had kept back, likely still whining about the workout coach had given them for the almost-too close game they’d played two nights before. Whoever it was in the shower, Luka didn’t care. He was sore and sweaty and didn’t think any of his teammates gave a single shit about sharing the room-sized shower with Luka.

  Then, he gripped the loose fold of his towel and stood still as he came to the shower entrance.

  Gia Jilani.

  At least, that’s who Luka thought he saw, arms stretched, hair pulled up in a messy bun on the top of her head. Gia, Coach Mike’s niece—the girl he’d promised any player would lose his balls if he bothered to so much as look her way. The man had even attempted to dress her down in too-baggy clothes and ball caps as though that would keep her out of anyone’s notice.

  That low key, fresh faced Gia stood twenty feet in front of Luka completely naked.

  Shit, he thought, ready to bolt and duck out of the shower before she noticed him. It’s what any rational man would do. It’s what Luka knew he should do, but he couldn’t move. Not while Gia’s wet, wide ass moved under that water. Not while her entire body glistened like glass in a rainstorm.

  Not for the first time, Luka couldn’t help himself. Gia, especially had been on his radar, though she probably didn’t know it. He’d have to be blind and stupid not to notice her. Those baggy shorts and polos Mike made her wear couldn’t hide Gia’s beauty. They didn’t cover up her flat stomach, which Luka had noticed she sported the night of the post-game party at the team house.

  She’d stood next to Kona chatting, looking awkward, looking nervous, but so damn sexy Luka had ignored whatever it was Lucy Temple and Trudy Williams said to him as they sat on either side of his chair. He hadn’t been too interested in the offers they made to him. Not when Gia stepped out on that courtyard looking the way she had. The cheerleaders got bored. He didn’t care. And she hadn’t looked anything like she always did that night. Luka had suspected there was something hiding under those baggy clothes she wore. He thought maybe the way she looked at him, how nervous she seemed around him meant she either didn’t like him or liked him too much. He wasn’t sure which one was true, but at the party, Gia had seemed to shed whatever it was that made her feel uncomfortable around Luka.

  Then, she caught his eye, held his gaze like it was hers alone before she got caught in the middle of the bullshit those assholes made.

  Luka went to her because he was worried. More worried than he thought he should have been. Worried, maybe, because no one had her back just then. Maybe, he was a little worried because he didn’t want to see anything happen to her.

  He’d been disappointed that she’d left, grateful that she was safe. His reaction to her the night of the party had been unexpected. But this? Now? Wet and naked and so fucking beautiful?

  Look at her, he heard Coach Mike’s voice blasted in his head, even a side-eye glance and I don’t care who you are…I’ll have your balls.

  But Coach wasn’t there. Not in that locker room. Without realizing he was doing it, Luka shot a glance around, spotting the empty rows of benches and neat piles of folded towels and shined helmets on tops of the closed lockers. They were alone.

  She was young, he knew that, but not illegal. Coach had turned down an invite for drinks at Summerland’s when his AD asked, mentioning taking Gia out for her eighteenth birthday a couple months before and Luka had overheard the conversation as he left the locker room. She was eighteen, but fuck, eighteen year olds had no business looking like Gia.

  The small gasp of noise she made had Luka jerking his attention back to the showers, to Gia and her wide, wild eyes, how she looked between Luka, then down her wet, naked body and toward the towel rack outside of the showers. Her expression was open, and he noticed there wasn’t much she could hide with that look.

  Whatever she thought seemed to land right on her face and it was a manic mess: confusion, worry, surprise, embarrassment and the longer Luka went on watching her, unable to keep his gaze off her beautiful round tits and down that flat, wet stomach, the quicker her expression shifted into something heated.

  She wanted him, that was clear to Luka and it took everything inside him not to step inside that shower just to take what she might offer with the smallest encouragement.

  Even a side-eye glance…

  Kona had messed up just a couple weeks back. He’d almost cost them a game. Luka didn’t want to be another Hale on his coach’s shit list. Gia was beautiful, she was sexy as hell and the way his body reacted, God knew he wanted her, but he couldn’t risk it.

  They were practically naked here together and of the two of them, Luka was the one who seemed embarrassed the longer they went on watching each other. The silence seemed to give her confidence. It made her bolder than he’d ever seen her. Gia turned off the spray, gaze on him as she walked forward, each step moving her round, high, perfect damn tits closer and closer to him.

  Luka ground his teeth, trying to keep his breath even as she stood in front of him, silencing his coach’s still-warning voice.

  “You need something?” she asked, sounding cooler than he’d ever heard her be. Gia didn’t look down to the tent of terry cloth his hard dick made or gawk at his naked chest. She seemed, different, somehow, in control. There was no shy look of embarrassment from her now, though now would be the right moment for it. Instead, Gia seemed lit with something strong and primal; something Luka recognized as lust that matched his own. She tilted her head, seeming to wait for an answer Luka couldn’t make move past his lips. “So, you’re the speechless one now?”

  Gia wasn’t like the women he’d been with. She was a powder keg waiting for a match. Luka had to be careful not to go lighting fuses he wouldn’t be able to extinguish.

  She took a step closer and he watched two droplets of water fall from her temple and curve down her cheek. Gia smelled of lilac soap and something he couldn’t place that made his mouth water. If he didn’t know better, he’d guess she’d planned all this—them alone together. But he did know Gia. At least, he knew her reputation. Not once during the season had anyone been able to claim making a move on her. Not once had anyone said anything that made her come off as a groupie.

  Not once had Luka believed she knew just how tempting she was. Every other moment except for this one, Gia was shy and reserved. She was loud, she loved screaming at the refs and calling bullshit on bad plays, but when it came to him, she’d never flirted. She’d never acted like anything other than a girl who seemed to like the look of him.

  He supposed he was speechless like she accused but wouldn’t admit that to her. Instead, Luka shot for honesty, something he wasn’t used to doling out to women unless it got him what he wanted. “You got no idea, do you?” He kept his voice soft, low, though his insides were burning with the instinct to touch her, to lick dry the water from her beautiful skin. Luka closed his eyes, inhaling that lilac scent like it would satisfy him. He knew it wouldn’t. “You’re clueless how easy it would be to have any man you want?”

  Luka opened his eyes when he felt the wet touch of her fingertips near his cheek. Gia didn’t smile. She didn’t seem able to do anything but hold every emotion off her face as she watched him. Her control awed him.

  Gia opened her mouth, pink lips glistening with moisture as she wet them with her tongue. “I only want one man,” she admitted, her words confident, but there was still a wobble in her tone. Luka tensed, not sure what she wanted or how she’d go about getting whatever that was.

  She meant him, he knew, but that wouldn’t make him move. It wouldn’t keep the reminder of her age, her probable inexperience from his thoughts. “You’re young,” he told her, hoping that would keep her from touching him again.

  “I’m old enough.”

  Luka
was starting to realize this Gia was one that might be tired of the sidelines. Maybe she was tired of watching and waiting and never having what she wanted. Maybe, he thought, she was ready to step onto the field and play.

  Gia moved, making Luka step back, her wet body closer to him now, her breath heating his skin as she spoke. “I'm old enough for you, Luka.” Her breath was cool, smelled like mint, and there was a low, soft moan in her voice that made him harder. “My…my uncle…” She cleared her throat, looking down, then quickly up at him as though internally convincing herself to finish this. “My uncle will leave for Florida after tomorrow’s practice.” Some of her confidence slipped when she brushed her wet hair behind her ear, but she still looked directly at Luka. “My dorm is empty. We could be alone.”

  Fuck me, he thought.

  She was off limits, right? She was forbidden. Luka knew that. It was information that ran like a ticker tape scrolling in his mind. Gia wasn’t some beautiful woman he’d flirted with at a club or some Blue Devil-proud girl eager to thank Luka for his performance on the field.

  She was his coach’s niece. She was his coach’s eighteen-year-old niece.

  He could have taken her right then. She was already wet. He was sufficiently hard, but Luka held back, teeth gritted, jaw working as he grabbed the towel hanging from the hook next to the entrance. He moved close, his skin wetting as he grazed her chest and shoulder when he covered her body with the thick towel in his hand. The smallest twist of his head and he could reach her mouth. Their lips were so close already, their breath heated and mixed and did things to Luka’s head he wasn’t sure he liked.

  Gia shifted her gaze, moving her chin like she was prepared for whatever he gave her. Like she wanted it all and wouldn’t settle for anything less. But Luka reminded himself one last time who she was and why he shouldn’t be there with her. He lingered, unable to pull back out of her reach before he inhaled, taking in that lilac scent and the teasing delicious taste of her breath.