world. And we can’t give you everything, but we can give you whatever we have.”
Xan’s cheeks pinked, and he shifted closer. “You’re married.”
Luca’s mouth opened to say something, but another voice spoke behind Xan. “Yes. That doesn’t change things.” Sebastion rolled over and gently laid his hand on Xan’s hip, keeping close, but not pressing against him. “We like you.” He mimicked Xan’s tone from before, and he saw a reluctant understanding in the younger man’s eyes.
Xan gave a full-body shudder. “What does that mean?”
“Right now,” Sebastion said, his fingers digging into the side of Xan’s sweats a little deeper, “it doesn’t have to mean anything. You have a long road to walk, and there are things you need to figure out on your own.”
Xan nodded, his breath catching in his chest, and he looked back at Luca. “I feel lost.”
Luca touched his cheek, first with the backs of his fingers, then cupping it against his palm. “I know.” He leaned in, his gaze flickering to Sebastion who looked both defeated and sure all at the same time. His husband nodded, and Luca’s thumb brushed the corner of Xan’s lips. “It’s just this right now. Just us.”
Xan’s breath came out through his nose in a quiet rush. “Okay.”
Luca knew better. He knew they should talk it out. He knew they should define boundaries and find lines they shouldn’t cross. Instead, he stared down at this moment between them, much like the moment he faced the day he looked Sebastion in the face and told him he didn’t care if they hadn’t been on a single date—he knew they were meant to be together.
And maybe he wouldn’t be lucky forever. Maybe it would crash and burn. But he was willing to take the risk.
He stroked his thumb over Xan’s cheeks until his eyes closed again, and then he leaned in. He was profoundly aware of Sebastion there with him, watching as his lips pressed against Xan’s. He used his thumb to gently coax the younger man’s mouth open, and then he dipped his tongue in and tasted. It was sweet and sour and everything like he imagined, and his heart beat even harder.
For him, the kiss was chaste. He didn’t take the way the heat crawling up his spine demanded. He didn’t push, he didn’t consume. He pulled back with a series of soft pecks to the corners of his mouth and dragged his thumb under Xan’s right eye.
“Was that okay?”
Xan let out a tense, whispery laugh. “Are you asking me if the best kiss of my life was okay?”
Luca flushed a bit and looked over at Sebastion, who had pressed himself against Xan’s back. “Yes. I’m asking.”
Xan’s eyes finally fluttered open, and he leaned back into Sebastion’s arms. Luca watched his husband lean in and press a kiss to the side of his neck. It was so perfect. It was so Sebastion, and Xan seemed to realize that because the next breath he let out moved through his entire body.
After a beat, he swallowed thickly and then reached for Luca, pulling him in close. “Fireworks,” he whispered.
A four-year-old memory of a bright-eyed lost Xan in a dark alley punched him in the sternum, but he wasn’t brave enough to say it aloud. So, he simply reached his long arm behind him and flicked off the lamp. The darkness in the room pressed against them on all sides, and though Luca doubted he’d sleep much, he knew this wasn’t a moment he’d trade for the world.
It felt like an eternity when Luca woke to the soft press of fingers against his neck. He recognized the touch, so he rolled close and wrapped Sebastion tight in his grip. His arm was aching, and his back was sore from the unfamiliar, too-hard hotel bed, but he didn’t care.
The night had been strange and a little painful and incredibly wonderful.
But as he crawled further and further toward consciousness, he felt tension in Sebastion that hadn’t been there before. For a second, his brain panicked. Was it too much? Had Sebastion changed his mind about wanting something more than just a single night?
He opened his eyes, and Sebastion was staring at him. After a beat, the older man licked his lips and let out a tiny sigh. “He’s gone.”
Luca tried to sit up, but Sebastion held him down. “What do you mean he’s gone?”
“I mean he slipped out around three in the morning, and he took his bag with him.” Sebastion dragged a hand down