Spring Tide (Coastal University Book 1)

It’s been near radio silence since I slept over at Luca’s house last weekend. He woke up early on Saturday morning, then headed out of town for an away game. On Sunday, he worked another long shift at the pier. All week long, I’ve been texting and calling him when I can. He does respond, but it’s short, sweet, and to the point.

I know he’s busy, overwhelmingly so. I just miss him.

We still haven’t talked about what went wrong when he called me over that night. Now, I’m worried he may be spiraling. I can only hope he finds the space and time to confide in me soon. Hopefully, I’ve set the stage well enough for that to happen tonight.

I already sent Stella away, and I’ve prepared something special to help him relax. If he’s not ready to talk yet, then I guess that’s okay, too. I can help him in other ways.

When I hear his knuckles rap against the front door, I shoot up from my spot on the couch, practically running to greet him.

“Hi,” I say, suddenly nervous as I take in his slumped posture. “You okay?”

“I’m alright.” Luca lifts a hand to my face, cupping the side of my cheek. “It’s good to see you.”

I lean into his touch. “I missed you.”

“I missed you, too.” He follows me inside, softly closing the door behind us. “I know we haven’t talked much this week, but you’ve been on my mind a lot.”

That perks me up. “Really?”

He takes a step closer, placing both hands on my shoulders. “Of course,” he says, surprise flickering behind his eyes. “I think about you all the time. Don’t you know that?”

I drop my gaze, staring at a spot somewhere in the middle of his chest. “You’ve been pulling back a little bit this week, so I wasn’t sure.”

“I just have a lot going on.” He shakes his head, tightening his grip in a firm squeeze. “It’s nothing to do with you, or us, or anything like that.”

“I know, but I want you to know that I’m here for you. If you need to vent or if you need a distraction . . . even if you just want to spend the night together and avoid all of our problems. I can do any of it.”

“I do know that,” he says, allowing emotion to grip his voice. “I’m sorry for being MIA, Harper. I just get wrapped up in my own head sometimes, and everything else seems to fall to the wayside, but I don’t want to do that with you. I told you I needed you, and I really do. Right now, you’re pretty much the only good, consistent thing in my life.”

My nerves instantly dissipate, his earnest expression wrapping a blanket of confidence around me.

“I’m glad I can be that for you. Does that mean you finally want to talk about what’s been bothering you?”

“I do, yeah.” He releases his grasp on my shoulders, bending down to remove his shoes. He places them in a neat little pile near the door before training his gaze back in my direction. “I could use a minute to decompress first, though. It’s been a hell of a day.”

“Okay, well, if you wanted to relax . . . I, um, I ran a bath for you.”

He stops in his tracks, brows lifting. “Wait, what?”

“Yeah, I got the bath going right before you got here. I bought some bubbles and this, like, manly soap. And a candle—peach scented because I know you like that.”

“Harper.”

“Luca,” I echo his stunned tone. “I’m forcing you to relax tonight whether you want to or not. It’s not a big deal.”

“It is a big deal.” He flashes me a rare, heart-stopping smile. “Baby, you are so fucking perfect that it makes my head spin.”

A furious blush heats my cheeks. Baby. I’m fairly certain the only other time he’s called me that was when he was inside of me. At the time, I was too distracted to realize just how much I liked it. I’ve never been someone’s baby before, never dated anyone long enough to have a real pet name.

It’s a harmless four-letter word that millions of couples use, but when it comes from Luca, my God, it is so damn cute.

“Oh,” I hum. “Thank you. I think you’re pretty perfect, too. Now, come with me.”

I take his hand, guiding him down the hallway and into the dark bathroom. There are a few candles lining the shelves, but I haven’t lit them yet. The bathwater is still steaming hot, condensation fogging up the mirror and swirling in the humid air. Bubbles overflow from the tub.

“This looks like exactly what I needed,” Luca says, voice dropped to barely above a whisper.

“I’m glad.” I open the bathroom cupboard and pull out a lighter for the candles. Once they’re lit, the sweet smell of peaches filling the room, I turn back to Luca. “You should take your clothes off now.”ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

He chuckles. “You’re always trying to get me out of my clothes.”

“I happen to like you out of your clothes.”

His smile widens, instantly melting me into a puddle on the floor. “I like you out of your clothes, too.”

I step forward, fingers tracing the hemline of his T-shirt. Together, we slowly tug the material up and off his body. Once he’s fully stripped down to his boxer briefs, I run my hands over the thick layers of muscle that line his abdomen.

“You’re so warm,” I murmur, dipping my thumbs into his waistband.

“Go ahead, then.”

With his permission, I push the thin cotton the rest of the way down his hips. He steps back, his underwear lying in a pile in the middle of our feet. Before I can help myself, my gaze drifts down, down, down, settling on the prized possession between his legs. By the looks of it, he’s half-hard already.

“Quit staring at it,” he chides, soft laughter echoing around the tiny room.

My eyes shoot up, and I give him a guilty shrug. “Woops.”

“You’re really gonna make me stand here completely naked while you still have all your clothes on?”

“If you’d just get in the bath already, then you wouldn’t have this problem.”

He holds both hands up in defense. “I’m getting.”

I shamelessly watch as he strides over to the tub. When he turns, the muscles in his back flex and bulge as he hoists himself into the bubbly water, the soft glow from the candles reflecting on his tanned skin.

“It’s too bad there’s not room in there for two,” I say.

He groans, stretching his arms high above his head as he shifts into a comfortable position. “I bet you we could make it work.”

“Luca, you barely fit inside there on your own.”

“Yeah, and you’re pretty damn tiny in comparison. Look.” He bends his knees until they’re peeking halfway out of the water. “There’s a spot right here between my legs.”

“This is supposed to be for you so you can decompress like you wanted.”

“And this is how I’m choosing to relax.” He beckons me over with one hand. “With you pressed up against me in this bathtub.”

“Fine.” I shimmy out of my clothes, tidying them into a stack on the countertop. “But no funny business. This whole thing is about relaxing, okay?”

“Got it.” His brows are stern, but there’s an unmistakable smirk on his lips. “Absolutely no funny business.”

I lift one leg and dip into the center of the steaming water, carefully lowering myself into the bubbles. Luca loops one arm around my waist. It takes some cautious maneuvering, but we manage to fit in here nicely together.

Sighing, I snuggle in firmly between his outstretched legs. His dick presses into me from behind, causing my mind to shift course. “Okay, maybe a tiny bit of funny business.”

He laughs, tugging at a strand of my hair. “Harper.”

“What?” I tilt my head back against his chin. “You’re the one with an erection right now.”

“Oh my God,” he groans. “I’m in the bathtub with my girlfriend, completely naked, and her ass is pressed up against me. If I wasn’t hard, I feel like that’d almost be an insult.”

“You’re right.” I place both hands on his thighs, shaking off the thought. “Okay, let’s change the subject. Um, we can talk about our parents?”

“What about our parents?”

“My dad called me the other day. He’s gonna be here sometime next week to have a little pre-Thanksgiving dinner together. He invited you to join us if you have the time.”

He presses a kiss against my shoulder. “I’ll make the time.”

“Okay, I wasn’t so sure with how busy things have been lately.”

“I can make it work.” He runs one hand through my hair, absentmindedly twirling a strand between his thumb and forefinger. “Besides, it’d be nice for me to redeem myself. You know, since he walked in on us while my pants were down around my ankles.”

I lightly slap the top of his thigh, water splashing against the side of the tub. “You’re so dramatic. He did not walk in on us.”

“Might as well have,” he grumbles.

“He really doesn’t care about that. In fact, he hasn’t even brought it up once since that day.”

“Really?” He tenses against my back. “Your dad is definitely not what I expected.”

“What were you expecting?”

“Just, I don’t know, maybe a little bit of protectiveness for his one and only daughter.”

“No, my parents aren’t like that at all. I don’t think they really expect too much of me in the first place.”

He hugs both arms around me. “What do you mean?”

“I love my parents, I really do. And I’m not saying that they’re bad parents or that I really have anything to complain about. They’ve always provided for me and supported my decisions in the end, but they just don’t really take me seriously.”

“How so?”

“They think certain things I do are a waste of time, I guess? Like they think I’m living in some la-la land with my head up in the clouds. And they just don’t understand what I’m doing with school and my internship.”

I move my hands from his thighs, twisting them together in my lap as I ramble. “My mom’s forty-four years old, and she’s already ‘retired,’ living off family inheritance and spousal support. And my dad . . . he thinks sports medicine is a ‘low-paying field.’ I don’t know, it’s like they just expect me to marry rich or live off their money forever or something.”

He sighs, pressing a kiss to my crown. “At least it’s nice that you’ll always have a fail-safe, though.”

“Yeah, I suppose. I just wish they didn’t act like I’m somehow destined to fall into their safety net.”

“Well, most of us don’t even have the choice.” His tone is soft and nonaccusatory, but it still serves to fracture my conviction.

“Yeah.” I let my shoulders slump, embarrassment washing over me. With everything Luca has going on right now, I should’ve never even brought this up. “Yeah, you’re totally right. I shouldn’t be complaining.”

“Harper, no.” He swallows, voice thick and heavy with regret. Swiping my hair onto one shoulder, he presses his nose to my neck and murmurs against my skin, “I’m sorry, you have every right to complain. And I’m sorry you don’t feel like your parents support your ambitions. They should be so proud of you and everything you’ve accomplished.”

His words are like a balm to the uneasy feeling in my stomach. “They are proud of me, I think. But I’m just not sure it’s for the right reasons.”

“You know I’m proud of you, right?” He kisses me again, three soft pecks against my shoulder, my neck, the side of my cheek. “For every reason. And for what it’s worth, I think you’re going to make an incredible sports therapist in a few years.”

“Yeah?”

“How could I not?” I can feel his smile against my skin. “You’ve already saved my ass on more than one occasion.”

“Thank you for saying that.”

“You’re welcome.” He releases his hold on me, sliding his palms from my knees up to the top of my thighs. “Now, come on, it’s my turn to make you feel better.”

I close my eyes and tilt my head back, letting the warmth of the water and the rough pads of his fingertips bring me comfort. When he finally slides them inside of me, pressing against all my favorite spots, everything but Luca disappears from my mind.