Page 17 of Love or Leave (Mapleton #4)

fourteen

A ntonio was fucked.

Thoroughly and completely fucked.

He sat in an overstuffed, luxurious leather booth at the fanciest steak house he'd ever set foot in, next to Max and across from Cara, and carried on the impossible task of keeping his eyes off his best friend's little sister.

If the only thing working against him was how gorgeous she looked in the low-cut dress she'd changed into, or how her big doe eyes sparkled under the candlelight, he might have been able to resist.

What he couldn't resist was how much he liked her. Like, really liked her. She was so… perfect.

He glanced up and found her smirking at him, with half-lidded eyes that made him wonder what was going on in that beautiful mind of hers.

It was probably wishful thinking on his part, but she seemed into him. In fact, with the way she'd been looking at him all day, he was convinced her mind was so deep in the gutter she'd need a shot of penicillin.

Just then, Cara smiled at him before dropping her gaze to his mouth and licking her lips.

Fucking hell.

His body responded instinctively. His heart pounded as a flush of warmth radiated from his stomach. He wanted to touch her. Wanted to kiss her lips. Wanted to drop his face into her cleavage while she straddled his lap.

But more than that—arguably worse than that—he also wanted to just be with her. Alone, hanging out, talking, laughing, playing games.

He shook his head.

He had to stop this!

He screamed it in his head, but the message didn't seem to absorb.

He'd swore up and down that he would keep his distance that weekend, or at the very least not spend any time alone with her. But the second she'd stepped into the back of the limo that morning, with her beautiful pale pink skin that had been licked by the cold, he knew he was in trouble.

He'd wanted her sitting next to him, her head on his shoulder, her hand in his.

He'd tried to stop himself from thinking about her. He really did. But then she'd smiled at him and sent that Scrabble invitation and he was toast.

He shouldn't have accepted the invitation.

He shouldn't have played the word sex.

And he definitely shouldn't have felt relief when she'd said things weren't great with Jalen.

He blinked hard at the menu, forcing his attention on the first line—though he’d already read it thirty times—instead of on Max’s hulking presence beside him or Cara’s stunning eyes smirking at him from across the dimly lit table.

"This place is so cool," Cara said.

Antionio looked up at the sound of her voice as if being summoned, and before he could stop himself, his eyes connected with hers.

Her eyes sparkled brighter than the jeweled earrings that framed her face.

He broke eye contact and glanced around the room with a casual nod, hoping it wasn't obvious how much was going on in his mind.

"Yeah, I didn't expect all this from the outside," Chelsea said.

In fact, none of them had.

Natalie had heard of a secret steak house in an old, renovated factory that was incredibly exclusive, and booked reservations.

When they'd arrived and saw a butcher shop, they'd thought they'd been scammed, until a host in white gloves opened a nondescript black door and invited them in.

The opulence hidden inside shocked them.

The restaurant was small and intimate, decorated in black and gold. The host led them into a private cellar room with chandeliers and sconces on the walls. Antonio had loved it—until Cara sat across from him and he realized all that lighting was illuminating her .

She was wearing a deep burgundy dress that brought out the natural flush in her cheeks, and she'd painted her full lips the same red as the first night they'd met. All of that was bad enough the first time he'd seen it. But this time she glowed from the inside out, like a fucking beacon.

Resistance was futile for a brainless bug like him.

"You okay?"

He twisted his head toward Max, who was staring at him with a puzzled expression.

Shit.

Had Max just caught him ogling his beloved sister?

"Yeah." Antonio’s voice was garbled and thick with fear that he had just spoken his last words.

When Max didn't immediately stand and break his neck, Antonio cleared his throat. "Why?"

"I just said you're being even more quiet than usual, but you didn't hear me."

He forced his shoulders to relax and looked down at the menu. "I'm just trying to decide what to order."

Max narrowed his eyes at him, looked around the table, then back. "It's a prix fix menu."

Antonio looked back down at the menu and saw that it was, in fact, not a menu, but a card explaining the different courses. No choices involved.

"Oh," he said, placing the card down and taking a drink from his glass of water.

This was going to be a long night.

"Are you feeling okay?" Cara's voice skated over his nerves, somehow both thrilling and calming.

He looked up and met her eyes. "Yes, fine," he said.

"Really?" she asked with a smirk that made her eyes sparkle even more. "You look like you might be a little cold. Maybe even free—"

"Nope," he cut her off, reaching for the wine and trying not to jerk his gaze away guiltily. "I feel great."

Just then, several waiters entered the cellar with the first course and, mercifully, the wine pairings.

They all raised a glass to their first drink of the night before Ethan struck up a conversation about what lay ahead of them.

Chelsea spoke a little about the bridal shower and Adam filled them in on the rehearsal dinner that his Uncle David was planning.

Antonio paid attention, but as was his usual habit, he mostly fell quiet to the extroverts of the group.

He liked it best that way. The food was delicious, and the wine was the best he'd ever had, as were his friends.

But nothing compared to the beautiful woman making eyes at him from across the table, and as drink after drink arrived, he struggled to remember why he was keeping her at arm's length, especially since she seemed very interested in getting closer.

Why was he still lying to himself about how happy he was to be near her?

And why the hell did he stop her from saying their code word?

He chanced one more glance at her, and when their eyes connected, he stopped questioning himself. Everything in that moment seemed crystal clear.

He wanted Cara. And not just for the night.

And he was sick of feeling guilty about it.

"The cab's here!"

Antonio spun on the sidewalk outside of the club they'd just left and found a small van stopped on the street waiting. He looked back at all his friends and then back at the van. No way were they all going to fit in that thing.

"Is there only one coming?" he asked.

Natalie blinked up at him. She and Ethan were standing with Jae, holding her from both sides.

"Uh…" she said.

Antonio smiled.

The night had taken a wild turn after the steakhouse.

They'd gone to three clubs and the shots never stopped flowing.

After a while, Antonio realized that someone was going to have to stay sober enough to keep Adam alive, so he started pretending to take the shots and dumped them instead.

Cara had caught onto him and quietly called him out for it, but he carried on doing it, and she seemed to do the same.

Besides the two of them, Natalie seemed to be the most coherent.

"We should get Adam in," Natalie said.

Antonio looked over at Adam, who was splayed out on a bench next to Cara and shook his head. "I'll get another cab and take Adam with me," he said.

Adam was fine where he was, relatively speaking, but the rest of them were not. Max was swaying on his feet, carrying Willow on his back and Chelsea in his arms. Ethan and Natalie were struggling with Jae.

"You guys go," Antonio said, walking to the van and opening the door. He made sure they all got in before closing the door behind them, but when he spun to look back, Cara was still on the bench, sitting with Adam.

"Do you want to go with them?" he asked.

She smiled and shook her head. "You need my help with this guy."

Antonio didn't, but maybe she was using it as an excuse to hang out with him. He hoped she was.

"I can get…"

Antonio broke eye contact from Cara and looked at Adam, waiting for him to finish his sentence, but he blacked out mid-thought.

Antonio turned to the van and waved them on. Natalie nodded, said something to the driver, and off they went, leaving Antonio and Cara alone for the first time that night.

Well, besides Adam.

Cara pulled her coat tighter and gave a small shiver against the frosty night air. Antonio started feeling guilty about wanting her to stay with him.

"Are you cold?" he asked. "You should have gone with them."

Cara smiled and shook her head. "I think Adam's going to be harder to handle than I was."

Antonio's memory flashed back to when he'd pulled her from the bushes, and he laughed. "I bet he won't scream like I'm trying to take advantage of him the second I touch him."

Cara laughed and stood from the bench, then moved in close. "I promise I won't scream if you do it again."

He couldn't keep the smile off his face at the suggestiveness of her comment. He also couldn't stop the flood of lascivious thoughts from short circuiting his brain, or stop the tingling in his palms as they ached to touch her. "You want me to touch you again?"

Cara pressed in closer, then smiled with a nod.

"What are you two…"

Both their heads snapped toward Adam, who'd come to for a split second before re-passing out.

Cara winced and took a cautionary step back. "Do you think he can actually understand us?"

Antonio shrugged. "Maybe, but his short-term memory will never retain it," he said, then glanced back at her.

Cara side eyed Adam before moving back in close to him. She zipped her coat up so that it was fully closed around her neck, then gave him a devilish little smile. "It's kinda fun, isn't it? Sneaking around like this?"