Page 37 of Pucking Tangled

THIRTY-SIX

Luca

Luca didn’t speak.

He couldn’t.

He didn’t trust himself not to completely fall apart.

Instead, he just stood in the middle of the living room staring at Casey’s phone, scrolling through the article. The pictures. The comments.

One after another, they painted a picture of Mia that strangers on the internet were all too willing and eager to tear apart.

Yesterday, someone had been watching them.

Knew who they were.

And took pictures of them.

All on a day when they were just trying to have a normal existence.

And now, that someone had the balls to leak the photos.

“She’s not answering,” Owen said, pressing his phone to his ear again. His jaw was tight .

Casey was pacing. Waylon looked ready to hit something—or someone.

Luca knew that feeling all too well. He promised Mia that he’d go to war for her. And he meant it.

His band of brothers did, too.

Luca: Mia, tried calling you again. The call won’t go through. We’re on our way to get you. Stay put.

Luca didn’t flinch. He just grabbed his keys and headed for the garage. “Let’s go,” he called over his shoulder, his voice low and final. “Now.”

No one argued.

They all piled in his Expedition in record time and he drove like his license and the law didn’t matter.

Casey scanned his phone, furiously searching for updates.

Owen and Waylon were both making calls and sending messages to their agents and the team’s PR person, no doubt trying to do damage control.

But Luca? Luca was silent. His hands gripped the steering wheel tight enough to turn his knuckles white.

He wasn’t surprised the world didn’t understand them. He’d been bracing for it, in fact, since the second Mia had first looked at him like he mattered. Like their group mattered.

But the part he couldn’t have ever prepared for was their private business going public and not being there to comfort her.

Did she regret what they’d done? Everything they’d shared? Was she ashamed?

He hated it, the not knowing .

Hated that people who didn’t know her would call her names.

Hated that the fragile, beautiful relationship they’d been building was now something people would laugh at in comments and group chats.

He didn’t want to be angry.

No. He wanted to burn the whole world to the ground and make it right.

When they pulled up to the building where Casey had tracked her phone to, they saw her sitting on the steps, hugging her knees and rocking back and forth.

She looked small. Fragile.

And for the first time since they’d embarked on this wild, unconventional love story, she looked scared.

Before he even came to a complete stop, Waylon jumped out of the back seat and ran over to her. He scooped her up in his arms and carried back, tucking her inside and sliding in next to her.

“Mia,” Waylon said softly.

She blinked up at him, her bottom lip trembling just slightly. “I’m okay.”

“You’re not,” he replied, brushing her hair back from her face. “But you will be.”

“Give me your keys.” Casey held out his hand.

Mia pulled them from her pocket.

Owen put his hand over Casey’s. “Case, are you good to drive?”

Casey nodded. “I’ll be right behind you.” He leaned into the back seat and kissed Owen and Mia, one after the other. “See you at the house.”

“I didn’t want you guys to see me like this,” she cried as Luca tore out of the parking lot .

“We see you ,” Luca said, his voice low. Steady. “That’s all that matters.”

He glanced in the rearview mirror and saw her looking at Owen, her expression wrecked. “They’re saying awful things.” Her lip started to tremble again.

“They don’t get to have a say,” Waylon growled. “They don’t know us. They don’t know you .”

Mia’s breath hitched. “People are laughing at me, Waylon.”

Luca’s voice cracked, thick with emotion. “Let ’em laugh. We’re not fucking ashamed of you.”

“Luca’s right,” Owen agreed. “If anyone should be embarrassed, it’s the person who took those photos like a fucking stalker.”

“They…” She hiccuped. “They’re talking about you and Casey, too.”

“Mia, they’ve been talking about us since we came out,” he told her, his voice matter of fact.

Luca heard Waylon tell her, “Let them watch, baby. Let them talk. Just means they see what we already know— you’re worth everything. ”

Casey

Casey could barely remember the drive back to the house. His head was spinning with emotions.

Anger.

Pain.

Fury .

He drove Mia’s car with his hands clenched around the steering wheel tighter than they needed to be, following closely behind Luca’s SUV, his eyes glued to the taillights like they were a lifeline.

He knew Mia was in that car, tucked safely in the back with Waylon and Owen, and it killed him that he couldn’t see her.

Couldn’t hold her. Couldn’t fix the look on her face that had gutted him on those campus steps.

But someone needed to get her car back to the house so that no one broke into it.

By the time he pulled into the driveway, Waylon was helping Mia out of the car. She looked steadier now, but barely. Her steps were slow, and she didn’t look up once as they walked to the front door.

Casey turned the ignition, and got out of the car, breathing hard through his nose.

The minute they made it inside the house, Mia broke free from Waylon’s embrace and made a quiet beeline for her room.

She was already halfway down the hall before he could catch her. She didn’t say a word to any of them—just slipped into her room like her heart had been shattered and the only thing holding her together was the quiet.

He followed.

Didn’t knock.

Didn’t hesitate.

“Mia.”

She turned. Her chin trembled again, but she didn’t start crying. Not yet.

“I’m okay,” she said softly.

Casey closed the door behind him. “You keep saying that, but you don’t look okay.”

“I just…” She blew out a shaky breath. “I can’t believe th is is happening. It was one day. One perfect day. And they ruined it. ”

Casey crossed the room in two steps. He wrapped his arms around her, tucking her head against his chest. Her shoulders shook and her breathing hitched.

“It was. And they don’t get to take it from you,” he whispered. “From us. They don’t get to ruin what we are.”

“But they already did.” Her voice cracked. “People I’ve gone to class with for a year— they’re laughing at me. They think I’m some pathetic groupie with no self-respect.”

“You’re the smartest, strongest person I’ve ever met.”

Her hands fisted in his arms. “Then why does it feel like I’m breaking?”

“Because you’re human. And this isn’t fair.” He gently cupped her face in his hands. “Mia, I don’t care if the whole damn world saw that kiss. I’d do it again in front of cameras, on a billboard, at center ice if it meant showing them who you are to me. To all of us.”

Tears welled in her eyes and spilled over. A sob broke free, and she hid her face against his chest as she let it all out again.

He held her while she cried, messy and heart-wrenching. He rocked her back and forth, whispered into her hair, kissed the top of her head over and over like she might shatter if he stopped.

He ached for every tear that fell.

“I’ve got you,” he murmured, his own feelings heavy in his heart. “We’ve all got you.”

She didn’t speak again until her tears finally slowed and her hands unclenched from his shirt.

“What do we do now?” she asked, looking up at him with a mixture of hope and fear in her red-rimmed eyes.

“Now we rally the troops. ”

Her lips tilted up faintly. “Is this one of those ‘might need bail money’ things?”

“It’s a ‘protect Mia with everything we’ve got’ thing.”

A quiet knock sounded at the door.

Owen’s voice was low. “Is she okay?”

Casey looked at her, waiting for the nod. She gave it. Barely.

He opened the door, and the others filed in slowly, instinctively forming a wall around her.

Luca reached for her hand. Waylon sat at the foot of the bed and kicked off his shoes. Owen stepped in close and pressed a kiss to her temple.

And when Mia sank down to sit on the edge of the bed, they all sank down with her.

“I’ve already spoken to someone in the front office,” Owen told them.

“They’re just as shocked by the story as we are.

They have no idea who this ‘source’ from the team is.

” He snorted and shook his head. “They also said to make sure that everyone knows they fully support our relationship. They’ll be releasing an official statement soon. ”

Waylon blew out a breath and ran his hand through his hair. “We’re all going to have to.”

“Brooke’s digging to see if she can find out who the supposed source is,” Owen continued.

“We’re doing everything we can to get to the bottom of this, Mia,” Luca assured her.