He nods. “Yeah. I just wanted to tell you I love you. You know that, right?”
Oh. “I know,” I whisper. Let that be enough. Please don’t make me say it back.
“Good. I’ll see you later, love. Have a wonderful day.”
And with that, he walks out of the room. This time, the click of the front door comes a few seconds later, and I let myself relax. Let my muscles unclench.
My throat burns with the force of holding back my tears. But I won’t cry. I won’t. I refuse.
Austin is coming.
I just have to hold on until then.
Chapter 4
Austin
I’mdamnnearrunningthrough the Cincinnati airport toward the exit. Turning off my phone on the plane was literally the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. But now it’s back on, and I’m just waiting for a message or call from Luca.
I should have known something was going on. I should have fucking known.
Sure, when Luca moved, we were dumb kids. We didn’t know what the world had in store for us. We didn’t know his parents would die. I didn’t know their funeral was the last time I would see him. I didn’t know when I sat down across from Damien, holding Luca’s hand as he went over the details of Marjorie and Ronald’s estate, that Luca would end up dating the guy.
He apparently had a lot going for him. Fancy job as a lawyer, fancy car, probably a fancy house too. Not that I thought Luca ever cared about that shit. Not with the way we grew up. It was likely novel for him, sure, but not something he even would have thought about wanting for himself.
He just wanted to write his stories and live with his head in the clouds.
I should have known.
My stomach turns with nerves and anger. Mostly at Damien. What a fucking prick. But also at myself. I should have known. All the hallmarks were there. Luca pulling away, telling me not to contact him unless he reached out first. Always being too busy for me to come visit. Brushing me off anytime I mentionedhimcoming to visit.
Not to mention the strange conversation yesterday. Luca almostnevertexts me. It’s always phone calls. If I didn’t pick up on the other clues, I should have picked up on that. I should have read more into it. I should have dug deeper. I shouldn’t have shoved down the strange sensation in my stomach when that message came through, but I did. And now he’s hurt. He has to be. Why else would he call me to come get him? Why else would he have sentthatmessage specifically?
None of that matters right now, though. All that matters is that my best friend in the entire world called me and needed help. Help that I have every intention of giving.
My phone buzzes, and Luca’s name flashes across the screen just as I’m stepping out of the airport and into the bright sun. “Hello?”
“He’s gone,” Luca whispers.
“I just walked out of the airport. I’ll get a ride. Hang on while I order one, okay?”
I don’t wait for a response. Pulling the phone away from my ear, I order an Uber. Thankfully, there’s one close, and I don’t have to wait long. “You still there, Luc?” I ask when I’ve pressed the phone back to my ear.
“Yeah. How long will you be?”
“The Uber should be here any second, and then it’s just drive time. I think the app said twenty minutes.”
Luca blows out a long breath. “Okay.”
“Can you stay on the phone with me this time?” I ask. The anxiety spiral I had when he hung up on me earlier is lingering.
“Yeah, but my head hurts pretty bad, so I don’t really want to talk.”
What the fuck did this asshole do to him? “Okay, no problem. Here’s my car.”
When the black sedan comes to a stop, I climb into the back seat. “Thanks, man,” I murmur to the driver as we’re pulling away from the curb. I let my head rest against the back of the seat as we drive away from the airport.
I’m exhausted. I had worked a twenty-four-hour shift and had only been asleep for a couple of hours when Luca called me, so between that and my adrenaline crashing, it’s catching up to me. I let my eyes fall closed as I listen to Luca’s quiet but steady breathing.
