Built For Failure

Chapter 7

LUCA

Looking down at Vera as she sleeps is such a beautiful sight. From her curvy but cute nose, to her full pink lips, all the way up to where her eyebrows crinkle together while she dreams. She's such a beautiful girl and deserves so much better than what she gets.


That douchebag, Alex, will get what he deserves. He doesn't know what a stunning, intelligent girl he lost. But at least this means I may have a chance with her. I want to get to know her more before I make any sort of move, just because I want her to feel comfortable with me.


However, her throwing her luscious leg over my legs is not helping me stay within the friend zone. I've been trying to keep nice, calm, PG 13 thoughts about her, but the more that I think about it, the more that I notice. The way that when she walks, her ass jiggles, her thighs also jiggle a bit but I think it's sexy, so no complaints here.


And by now, you probably think I'm a creeper. No, I'm just enjoying the beautiful view of such a gorgeous young lady. She's strong and smart, but she doesn't see what I see. I want to change that. Even if it means banging it into her head while I thrust insid-


Never mind, those thoughts need to go away. Not now, head below my shoulders. I want to take my time with this girl because she means a lot to me already, she just doesn't know it. Everything about her is downright adorable and she's full of beauty. I plan to help her realize that soon enough.


Vera's lips quiver as she starts dreaming again and she moves her thigh higher up to right below my stomach, momentarily rubbing against my dick. Now is not the time Luca Jr, now is not the time. Settle down and go back to sleep.


I run my fingers up and down her back slowly, feeling my t-shirt ride up as my thumb makes contact with her bare skin. She looks hot as fuck in my clothes, way better than I do. We'll have to have sleepovers more often, especially now that I know she's single and won't kick me in the balls if I overstep.


We're going to have to discuss boundaries soon, because I don't really know when I'm completely stepping over boundaries unless they are stated and set into place. I guess that'll be a conversation for another day. Leaning against my headboard, I shift my attention to the TV for a few, before I start to feel my body relax and I was getting sleepy. Shifting my body down my bed, I settle in and wrap my arms around Vera, I could get used to this.


All I hear is my breathing even out as I drift into unconsciousness, letting sleep take over my body.



VERA

Trying to roll over, I wiggle out of the vice grip I was in. Wait a minute, vice grip? I peek open one eye and see a gorgeously tatted arm laying across my waist. I turn my head to see a very handsome and very comfy Luca. I knew he was hot, but not THIS hot up close and personal. The warmth of his arm radiates to my core. I could get used to this shit right here.


Knowing that I don't have school today, I start to silently and quickly slide out from under his arm, lightly placing it on the bed. This causes him to groan and me to freeze as I watch him roll over onto his other side, grumbling about not getting up. Smiling, I walk into the bathroom and spot an unopened toothbrush with minty toothpaste next to it. Brushing my teeth, I take a rag and wash my face before sneaking out of the room and closing the door behind me.


Walking into the kitchen, I turn on my Spotify and scroll to find a perfect song. Settling on Work Out by J. Cole and putting Glamorous, as well as I'm not Pretty on my queue, I take out a few pans and sit them on the stove. Glancing in the fridge, I see Luca has some bacon and eggs. Now just to see if he has any pancake mix.


Hopping up on the counter, I look through the upper cabinets and stumble across a box of pancake mix. Bingo! Carefully jumping down, I grab two bowls from a cabinet - one to mix my pancake mix in, while the other I crack the eggs and scramble them, adding in a little salt and pepper. I start dancing to the music and swaying my hips as I get ready to start.


Turning the stove on, I warm up the pans and grab some butter to stick on the pan to prevent my lovely pancakes from sticking, pouring the eggs into a smaller pan and breaking them up to scramble them. Getting a spatula out of a drawer, I pour some pancake mix on one of the pans and place bacon strips on a third pan.


Shit, I have a lot going on, but I'm not about to fuck this up. Let's get to cooking, Vera! Cautiously watching the food, I flip the pancakes to make sure they aren't burning on one side, seeing that it's the perfect golden color I was looking for. Also turning over the bacon, with quite a few pops of grease on my arm and a lot of fucks, I successfully cook it and take it off before it gets too crunchy. Crisp, but not break-your-tooth crunchy. Stirring up the eggs, I get them to the perfect scrambled texture and scrape them off of the pan onto two plates I grabbed out of the dishwasher. Shaking my hips, I continue.


Flipping the pancakes again, I check the color and stick them on a separate plate for us to choose from. I pour the leftover mix into the pan and make a couple pancakes with mickey mouse ears. Too fucking cute. Hearing the sound of a throat clearing, I immediately stop dancing and slowly turn around, as if I was caught red-handed doing something. My jaw falls at the sight in front of me.


Luca's leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, showing off his tatted arms with messy bed head. He decided to still go shirtless and his pajama pants are hanging low off of his hips. He clears his throat again and I make eye contact with him. His eyes slowly rake up and down my body, stopping right where I can feel the sensation of my nipples rubbing against the fabric of my- his shirt.


"Good morning, beautiful. Making breakfast? What did I do to deserve such a breathtaking and sexy sight?" His raspy morning voice makes my thighs quiver and I feel sorry for his underwear becoming a little wet. Sorry not sorry.


I smile at him and flip the pancakes over. "You do a lot for me, so I wanted to return the favor. Good morning, handsome."


He makes his way over to the island behind me and leans back against it, watching me closely as I continue to dance and finish the couple of pancakes I have left on the pan. Seeing that they're done, I take them off and stick them on the plate with the others. Walking over to the island, I place all of the plates of our breakfast down as he grabs syrup out of the cabinet. Turning around, I go to walk past him as one of his hands grip my hip.


I stop what I'm doing and look up at him through my eyelashes. "Yes?"


Staring at me, he clears his throat again. "Thank you for this, Vera. You didn't have to do this. But I could get used to it." He bends down and whispers into my ear.


"However, quit shaking that ass of yours or we'll both get into trouble." My cheeks become hotter as he pulls away, causing me to bite on my lip and he groans as he watches me.

"Vera.. I'm warning you." I chuckle and walk away, sitting on one of the island chairs as he grabs us some silverware.


"What would you like to drink? I have milk, tea, sprite, beer-"


"I'll take some tea, please!" He smiles and grabs two glasses, pouring us both some. Sitting down beside me, we both eat in silence. Cutting my pancake, I pick up a couple pieces with some egg and bacon, popping them into my mouth and chewing as the grease on the bacon coats my tongue.


Glancing over at Luca's plate, I see he's nearly done and has only a few pieces of egg and bacon left. "Are you still hungry? There's some extra over there." He shakes his head.


"No. I do have a question, do you have school today? I'm off, so I was just wondering."


"Nope, no school for me today. What do you want to do?"


He pauses and thinks for a moment. "I'm not too sure, actually. I don't really have anything in mind."


"Hmm... We could stay in and watch movies for a few? We could cook dinner tonight? OH, and we can bake things. I'm good with baking and I can make just about anything."


"Oh wait, do you want me to stay the night again? I'll have to stop by mom's and grab some things before that. I don't mean to step on your toes or cramp your style, you know?"


A smile pulls on his face. "You'd like to stay again? I'm all good with it if you are. I can take you to school in the morning before work. I'll be off at 3 PM so I can pick you up too, if you'd like."


"And you aren't stepping on my toes nor cramping my style, Vera. I love and enjoy spending time with you. I've told you this, you make me happy and excited to see the next day. I wouldn't mind if you stayed here with me forever, I'd clear space for all of your health and beauty stuff, knock shit out of my closet for room for your stuff. I'd buy you your own pillow or even put "Vera's Spot" on the passenger side of my car. That's how much you mean to me."


I look at him and can feel the amount of love that radiates through that message, it makes my emotions kick in and a few tears fall. "That means so much to me, thank you Luca. I've enjoyed spending time with you and learning that it's okay to be myself around people. And that I'm loved and wanted as I am, even when douchebags like to play with my feelings."


He wipes my tears away and looks me in the eye. "What Alex did to you is indescribable and I hope he gets the worst of karma. But you are a strong woman, V. You truly are. And I'm here as your support system, I'm not going anywhere."


I lean my forehead against his and smile, hugging him. "Thank you for everything. Can we bake brownies and cookies?" I move to put our plates in the sink and I wash all of the dishes I've used. He picks up a hand towel and starts drying some to move them out of the way in order for the newly washed dishes to dry.


He laughs out loud. "Yes, but we'll have to go to the store. And you don't have any clothes to wear."


"Okay? Give me a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, I'll be good to go. Messy hair and all." Finishing washing everything, we make our way to his bedroom.


He throws on some sweatpants and a shirt, tossing me a shirt and another pair of his sweats. Walking into the bathroom, I quickly throw my hair into a messy bun, simply because I don't feel like fighting the shit. Taking off what I slept in, I pulled his shirt and pants on. Even if his sweatpants are too big on me, I think I look hot, so I'll be fine.


Opening the bathroom door, I see him sitting on the bed with his head resting on top of his interlocked hands. "Ready to go?" I tie the strings tight on his pants to try and keep them up as much as possible.


Nodding, I grab my phone and wallet, following him out of the door. He locks his apartment door after holding it open for me and I walk to the elevator to push the button for it to come to our floor. Luca catches up to me and waits patiently beside me, I look up at him and admire him.


He looks down at me and winks. The door to the elevator opens and we step in, pressing the first floor button and waiting for them to close. In less than a minute, we're on the first floor and the door opens. Luca walks ahead of me and holds the door open, pressing the unlock button on his car key remote.


He opens the car door for me and I slide in, buckling my seatbelt as he gets behind the wheel and starts the car. Putting on his seatbelt, we begin our journey to good ol' Walmart.


"So, I was thinking, how about you grab some stuff while we're at Walmart and you can just leave it at my place? That way you don't have to carry shit back and forth. We can get anything you need. Even clothes or personal hygiene stuff." I look over at him.


"Sure, it'll be expensive but I can cover it. I'll get some stuff while we're out. What do you want to do for dinner?"


He taps his fingers on his steering wheel. "How about homemade pizza? We can make our own and just see how it goes. It's an experience!"


I laugh. "I'll gladly enjoy having this kind of experience with you, Luca."


In 15 minutes, we pull into the Walmart parking lot and Luca finds a decent space to park in. He turns the car off and gets out, opening my door and allowing me space to get out. Thanking him, we begin walking to the sliding doors. He walks and grabs a shopping cart while I walk beside it. Heading to the health and beauty section, I stop to grab a few things: some shampoo and conditioner I typically use, my berry-smelling body wash that I get, as well as some deodorant, a toothbrush, a hair brush, and some scrunchies that Luca insists on me getting.


We make our way to the food section, stopping on the baking aisle for me to grab the brownie mix, cookie mix, and a couple of baking pans so I know we'll be covered. Remembering to grab a gatorade, I grab an orange one, fruit punch, and cool blue. Luca stops to grab a few fruit punch and fierce grape gatorades.


Luca gets the pizza kit mix while I run over and grab mozzarella and cheddar cheese, also grabbing some pepperonis while I'm over there. After grabbing everything we'll need, we make our way over to the women's section, as well as the intimate section. Grabbing a couple pairs of leggings, one pair of ripped jeans, and some pajamas to sleep in, I move to the intimate section. Luca follows behind me, this should be interesting.


Stopping at the underwear and lingerie section, I grab a couple different colored thongs and a few pairs of hipster, to which Luca picks up the thongs and wiggles his eyebrows at me. "Sexy sexy, I love the lace on these."


I laugh out loud and shake my head, grabbing a pack of Stitch socks. "Okay, I think I'm good for now." We head up front to the cash registers and stop at one of the cashiers. She scans all of the food items first, putting them in proper bagging as I put the bags in the cart. She moves on to scanning my clothes and health and beauty stuff while I search through my wallet for my card. Saying the total, Luca manages to slide his card in and pay before I could.


Huffing a breath, I place the rest of our bags into the cart and cross my arms while I stare at him. "Luca. I could have paid for that, that was mainly my stuff and that shit is expensive!" He shrugs and pushes the cart out the door, heading in the direction of his car. Unlocking it, he stops and starts putting the bags into the trunk. I decide to help him and take the cart when he's done, pushing it where the others are and I turn to walk back to his car.


He stands with the door open, waiting for me to get in so I sit in the passenger seat. He gets in the front seat and I smile as the smell of his cologne fills the car's air. I have to figure out what the scent is, I want to get him more of it. He starts the car and backs out of the parking space, starting our journey home.


"Hey Luca, when's your birthday?"


He glances over at me. "May 1st. When's yours?"


"December 9th."


"Beautiful. I'll have to remember that." Me too, Luca. Me too.


We turn onto the road to his apartment when I decide to text mom and let her know of my plans.


Me: Hey mom, sorry to text you at a random time. Is it okay if I stay over with Luca again? He says it's okay, but I wanted to clarify it with you.


She responds back in a few minutes.


Mom: Sure, but may I meet this handsome young man, face to face? Now that I have the name.


I look over at Luca. "Hey, my mom wants to meet you. When does that work for you?"


"You can invite her over to my apartment. We're almost there anyways."


I send her the address and inform her that he's invited her to his. I think this will be and go okay.


Me: Oh, and mom. Can you bring me some of my clothes? You know what I like, so it's okay - I trust you. I love you.


Mom: Sure thing sweetie, I love you too! See you soon. <3


We pull into a parking space at the apartment and unload the bags, I manage to grab 3 in each hand, while Luca decides to go all macho man and gets 5 in each. Men.


I walk to the elevator and push the button, the doors open instantly and we walk in, pushing the floor Luca lives on. The doors close and we look at one another, the tension rising between us. I don't even know what this tension is, what if he doesn't like me? Is it too soon? I don't know how long I can fight this attraction and pull towards him.



LUCA


I don't know how much longer I can keep my hands and dirty thoughts away from this beautiful woman in front of me. There's a constant gravitational pull towards Vera, I've been fighting it ever since we saw each other at my job. I have this feeling to protect her, be there for her. It's something I can only fight for so long.


The elevator dings and we get out of the elevator to walk to my apartment door. Problem is, I'm struggling with unlocking the door. Vera reaches over and her hand brushes mine as her soft fingertips latch on to the key. If only those hands were on my di-


Not now thoughts. Not now, it's too soon for her. Or is it too soon? I'm going to meet her mom first hand. I hope she likes me and doesn't judge too harshly. We walk into my apartment and I walk into the kitchen, sitting down the grocery bags while walking down the hall to my room and sitting V's bags on my bed.


Ever since I saw the cute underwear she put in the cart, all I can think about is what they'd look like on my bedroom floor. I get it, it's horrible to think this way. But I can't help it. There's something there.


If only I knew how she felt too.


Maybe one day, I will.


~~~~~


I'm really shipping Vera and Luca. #Lera? #Vuca? #Levura? No idea of a ship name, this is hard.


Their relationship calls me somewhat single, and very much alone, in 500 different languages. But they're so cute together!


Do you think Vera's mom will like Luca as he is?


More Luca POVs? Less? None at all?


I'm wondering what their pizza will taste like, I'm really hungry.


Alright I'll shut up now.


Thanksies for reading!!

♡ Miya