Austin shakes his head, poking at the wood to get the logs to catch. “There’s no way.”
I scoff. “Clearly there is. Did you see that wink?”
“I think he’s just like that.” Austin shrugs, closing the door to the fireplace before joining me on the couch. “When I first met Jasper, I tried to hook up with him.”
A giggle bursts from my chest. “Oh?”
“Yeah.” He grimaces, shooting me a look like he’s worried abouthow I’ll react. “He shut me down. Told me he wasn’t interested. He’s not into men.”
Okay… but… “I’m not sure that’s sound logic.”
“What do you mean?”
I rest my head on Austin’s shoulder, staring at the fire. God, I love it here. It’s so damn warm and cozy, and I’m not talking about the fire or the couch. “Just because he wasn’t interested inyoudoesn’t mean he’s not into men. What exactly did he say?”
Austin pauses. “God, it’s been so long ago now that I don’t remember.”
“Hmm. I still stand by my assessment that he’s into Arlo.”
“Well,” Austin says, laughing loudly. “Arlo’s definitely into him. Maybe that’s why they’re being weird. Maybe Arlo tried to shoot his shot and got shot down.”
I hum. “Maybe. I’m not sure I buy that for a second, though. I’m sleepy,” I murmur, changing the subject and looking up at Austin. “Take me to bed?”
“My pleasure, baby.” He stands up, scooping me off the couch and whisking me into our bedroom.
Chapter 31
Austin
“Ikickedass.”Lucasmiles up at me with stars dancing in his eyes.
“You really did.”
“I didn’t think I’d be able to do it.”
I didn’t either. Not because I don’t think Luca is capable, but because Jasper is a big fucker, and he’s difficult to get on the ground. I saw him nursing his ribs after the last time Luca dropped him. I also saw him wince when he told Luca that he was pretty sure he’d mastered the move, so really, I think he wanted to be done for himself more than anything else.
I laugh. “You got him good.”
Luca blows out a relieved breath, looping his armthrough mine.
With each of our self-defense classes, he becomes more and more confident in his ability to fight off an attack. After months of him being here, I’m not sure it’s really needed. If Damien was going to do something stupid, I think he already would have.
Sure, at first, I watched out for him, but now? There’s no reason to. Luca has been thriving, and he hasn’t heard a word from Damien. Sometimes it feels like we all got off a little too easily. If I lie awake in bed at night thinking about it too hard, it’ll freak me out, so I try not to.
Luca doesn’t seem concerned, at any rate, and he knows Damien far better than I do.
“What are we gonna do tonight?” Luca asks when we get to my truck.
“I’m not sure. Is there anything you want to do?”
I open his door and help him in, waiting until he’s buckled to shut the door and go around to my side. When I climb in, Luca’s blowing on his hands, so I start it up to get the heat going.
“I want to write,” he says, glancing at me.
I can’t help but smile. “Oh?”
“Yeah, so I wasn’t sure if you had plans for us or not. If I’m being honest, my brain is going a mile a minute, and I really need to sit down and put words to paper.”
