Lunar Crest University (Forbidden Fruit)

Chapter Thirty-Six

LUCA

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16TH, 2023

F inley doesn’t let go of my hand the entire way to her apartment.

And while I know that doesn’t mean she forgives me or that everything is okay between us, it’s enough for me. Any amount of touch, even the smallest, is better than her leaving, even if she decides she hates me. She can hate me as she sits in my class every day; that would be enough for me if that’s all she was willing to give.

I’ll take anything.

I feel her body go rigid as I park along the curb in front of her place, and my brows furrow as I glance over at her in the passenger seat. Her eyes are wide as she stares out of the windshield at the white parked car in front of us. I don’t recognize the vehicle, but judging by the panic written all over her face, she definitely does.

“Oh no,” she whispers.

“Do you know who that is?”

I can make out someone sitting in the driver’s seat, but the windows are too tinted for me to decipher who exactly it is.

Letting go of my hand, she immediately flings the door open, despite the blood draining completely from her face. I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but I follow suit because I’m scared of who’s about to get out of that car. As we climb out, the driver’s side door of the white car swings open quickly, and the curly-headed fucker emerges.

Shiiit .

“ Finley ?” he asks incredulously, his eyes darting between the two of us.

“Levi,” she says cautiously, like she knows that all hell is about to break loose. He looks fucking pissed.

I mean, seriously, the tips of his damn ears are red. He’s fuming—his nostrils flare as he storms over toward her, a look of pure disbelief mixed with anger flooding his features. His mouth parts as he shakes his head down at her like a disappointed parent. I don’t like how close he’s getting to her, very obviously mad, so I round the hood just in case I need to get in between anything he’s about to throw her way.

“What is this?” he questions. “What are you doing with him?”

He steps closer to put his face down to hers, trying to pull a dickhead move of being intimidating, and I’ve already had enough. I push myself in between them, putting my hand against his chest as I give him a solid shove.

“Levi, please,” Finley rasps. “Just calm down, okay?”

“Calm down?” he bites back, a look of disgust forming on his face that I want to punch so fucking badly. “Jesus Christ, Finn. Are you fucking this guy?”

His chest hits my hand again as he dares to try and step up in her face once more, and this time, I use both hands as I push him away. He stumbles backward as he gawks at me.

“Get out of her face,” I warn.

Shuffling toward me, he shoves me back, but I don’t budge nearly as much as he did. “Fuck you! What are you doing messing around with students, you fucking weirdo?”

Ballsy kid, I’ll give him that.

My blood is boiling underneath my skin as my hands twitch to wrap around his neck and snap it like a fucking twig, but Finley steps in between us, one hand on my chest and the other against his to keep us apart. She maneuvers until I’m standing behind her as she faces him with both of her hands on his chest. Why does that piss me off?

“Levi,” she begs. “ Stop , please.”

“You can’t be serious. He’s our professor, Finley.”

“I knew him before he was our professor.”

Levi scoffs with a bratty roll of his eyes. “He could lose his job . You could get kicked out of class. Fuck, I mean, you could get expelled.”

I can’t see her face from this angle, but I can see the way he’s looking at her. They’re talking without really talking, and the jealousy creeps up my neck. I crack it in hopes of making the feeling go away, but it doesn’t.

“How old are you, anyway?” he asks me.

“ Levi , stop,” Finley pleads with him.

“You haven’t been answering my texts.” He throws his hands up in the air. “I came over to check on you. Where were you? I’m your best friend, Finn. I would think I deserve better than being ghosted .”

Her shoulders sag. I can visibly see her deflate. “I’m so sorry?—”

“Save it.”

He waves her off. Pulling her back to me, I look down to see her hand clamped over her mouth and tears brimming her green eyes as she watches him climb into his car. The second his car starts, he’s gunning it off the curb and down the street, causing a spectacle with tires squealing like a fucking crybaby.

He could be nicer to her, I’ve always thought that.

“I’m sorry,” I say in her ear, rubbing her shoulders. “I should’ve been more careful. I wasn’t thinking.”

“He hates me,” she whispers.

“Do you want to go find him?” I offer. “Check on him?”

Not that he deserves it .

“It’ll just turn into some big, explosive argument.” Her face falls into her palms, and I pull her into my chest. “He needs to blow off some steam. I’ll check on him later.”

I bite back the thoughts swirling in my mind. Of course, I’m worried about who he’ll go running his mouth to in his angry state, but I don’t question her about it. Not now. She has been through enough today. For the last few days. She needs to rest, emotionally and physically. I have a weird gut feeling that there’s no point in worrying about my job when there are people like Javier and his men, who are determined to make my life a living hell anyway.

“I’m a terrible friend,” Finley mumbles into my chest.

“Come stay with me,” I say. “You can stay at my house, and I can keep an eye on you. You can just…get away.”

“Again?”

“It’ll be different this time, I promise.”

She pulls back, wiping her pink nose with her sleeve. Her green eyes are bloodshot as they observe me, and I can’t help but cup her face in my hands. I’m just so relieved she’s letting me touch her, letting me comfort her in any way I can.

“You promise?” Her hands come up to grab mine.

“I do.”

I know we’re talking about her getting away on another trip away from home, but I mean it. Everything will be different this time, if she allows me to show her.

Finley sighs.

“Then take me home, Luca.”