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We looked crazy. A tatted-up biker dude chasing a neon pink Italian Barbie in goth, thigh-high boots. But I couldn’t careless. The run sent blood pumping through my veins, and it felt amazing to be frolicking.
A green hedge rose above me, cutting through the lawn to be taller than I could reach—maybe ten feet tall. It felt like we were caught in the gardens at Versailles—and I sprinted in. Shadows covered me almost instantaneously, blocking out the relentless sun.
Graff called after me.
And I goaded him on. “Come in and find me,” I sang.
The hedges shifted as a stiff wind blew through, and I stopped after I made a sharp turn to the right to look back. When he neared me, his massive boots seemed to shake the ground. People scattered out of his way, like pigeons. When he made it halfway down the run toward my corner, I laughed and scurried deeper into the maze. He had size on me, but I had agility. Despite that, I swore I heard Graff’s deep chuckle behind me. He liked this too—no matter how foolish and stupid this game was, it reminded me how young I was.
How much I had left of life to experience.
I had been trying to be mature, the long game of a woman about to be married off for a family alliance. But I was only four years into adult life. I had been in college and seen how wild some girls went after high school. Many people older than twenty-two years had done really stupid shit, and I wanted a taste of that before my life was no longer my own.
Zigzagging through the tall hedges, I dashed left and then hooked a right. I moved here and there until I was lost in the hedge of fake green, painted and smelling like grocery-store pine. I slammed my back against the hedge and breathed heavily.
My gasps came loudly, and I slapped my hand across my mouth.
I had lost Graff somewhere, but I knew he would be like a cat, stalking me. Prowling.
Goosebumps rose on my skin as a chill slithered down my spine. Finally, the relentless heat had fucked off, but the cold realization that I wanted him hunting me had me shivering.
Tension had wrapped around my body, and I peeked out, trying to see Graff. Where had he gone? Did Graff leave me here?
No, I told myself, because if he was going to leave me anywhere, it would have been in the empty canyon. In the desert, where I would never find a way out and would starve and wither away from dehydration.
Yet, as irrational as it may have been, I feared being left.
Would he really do that?
Abandon me in a strange place?
Turn an ice-cold shoulder.
Like when my father kissed Caterina on the head before he left, but not me. He would always give me a couple of words like “Be good, Adelina,” or “Don’t get into trouble,” but he never kissed me goodbye in the morning. I told myself it was just because Cat’s chair was near the door, but that was a lie.
Mamà and Nonna would coo over my sister too, making sure her dresses were smooth and her hair was always in place. They were nice enough to me, Nonna more than my own mother. Mamà took care of my hair when I asked, but my younger sister had always been the real family jewel.
When I’d been upset over it, Nonna had always said, “Sii forte e coraggioso, Adelina.”Be strong and brave.
The expectation had been so clear—I was to be the strong one while she was the pretty one. The loved one. I had fawned over Cat too, thinking that’s what everyone should do. I adored my sister, but I also envied the attention she drew.
“Got you!” Graff latched his arms around me, and I let out a shocked but delighted squeal.
Before I knew it, he was picking me up from the ground and swinging me around. I kicked my legs out, flailing, and Graff laughed. Thunder rumbled overhead. His hot breath pulsated next to my ear, and more chills skirted across my arms, this time not from a cold. Graff engulfed me in his warmth, his arms locked around me, and the front of him rubbed against my back. He pressed himself against me.
We both froze, his arms relaxing. It allowed me to put my feet back on the ground slowly twist around in his arms. He glanced down at my lips.
I hesitated, but he didn’t stop me. Didn’t pull away.
I was so close to kissing him until a louder crack of thunder echoed above our heads. It was a split second before rain pelted down on us.
“Shit!” Graff grabbed my hand and pulled me toward a small leaf-covered awning in the hedge.
I stumbled into him, ducking my head. My wet hair caught across my neck and hair, and I peeled them off. The rain was thick and heavy, turning everything into a haze. I couldn’t see through the downpour, everything still darkened by the hedge maze and now the clouds overhead.
Graff peeled off his jacket and held it over the two of us. The heavy rain that seeped through the foliage splattered against his vest. It leaked over the lip and plopped onto my bare skin. I wasn’t ready for the rain, but neither was Graff by the looks of it.
As a biker, he must’ve been caught in freak storms from time to time, and in LA, this was definitely a fluke. However, he was trembling like a soaked puppy, peeking out from under the makeshift leather umbrella.
