“About?”
“Whether I could be that man. Whether I’m enough for a man like you.”
“Because…” I couldn’t form complete sentences. Not when my heart and world were exploding at the same time.
“Look at me. I’m not from the world of thousand-dollar suits and million-dollar apartments. I go for the simple things—a plate of pasta or a hot dog on the grill. I’m a pretzel-from-the-street-cart guy, and you’re caviar and champagne.”
“Can’t we be both? These past few months have taught me that I don’t have to love pretzels from the cart, but maybe I could love the guy who does. I can live without the glamour and glitz, and I’ve lived over twenty years without Luca, but I’m not sure I can live one more day without you.”
“What?”
Seeing the wineglass in Torre’s hand tremble, I snatched it away and set it on the table. “You know I’m clueless as to what I’m doing here. I’ve never felt like this or said the words before. Jesus Christ, I didn’t even believe in it. But seeing you next to Luca, and hearing you stand up for the sixteen-year-old me, did something to my insides, and I was back to being the kid who only wanted someone to care for him, even if it was just for an afternoon. And I’ve been so busy saying I didn’t believe in forever and I’ll never fall in love, I didn’t recognize it had already happened.”
“Frisco.” Torre, stunned and wide-eyed, reached for me, but I put my hands up.
“No. Don’t. If you touch me, I won’t let you go.” Panic rose through me. “What if I fuck up because I don’t understand the right way to do this?”
“Now can I talk?”
I wiped the sweat off my brow. “Yeah, sure.”
“Is there ever a right way to love someone? We know the wrong way—cheating and lying.”
“What the hell do I know about love and relationships and forever?” A rough sound escaped me, a cross between a sob and a laugh, and I rubbed my surprisingly damp eyes. “Dammit, I once told Presley I didn’t even want the same breakfast twice in a row, and now I can’t imagine not seeing your face every morning on the pillow next to me. But how the hell can I be sure I won’t hurt you or screw up?”
“You can’t. Everyone hurts the one they love eventually. It’s how we come back from the pain that matters. It proves we’re willing to work hard for what we have and what we mean to each other. The simple fact is”—Torre cupped my face, his smile both tender and fierce—“you drive me crazy but keep me sane. And I love you too; not only for who you are, but also for who I am when I’m with you.”
“You’re mine. That’s who you are. I’ve felt it for a while now, but because I come from two people who never belonged together in the first place, I couldn’t be sure what it was. Everything I knew was based on what I had with Luca and what I saw at home. A corrupted kind of love.”
His thumb caressed my lips. “You viewed your life through a distorted lens. Whether you wanted Luca or not, it was wrong of him to take advantage of you, and then to find out he was with your mother?” Torre replaced the caress of his finger on my lips with his mouth, and I allowed him to take the lead, feeling as unsure as that sixteen-year-old. “It’s no wonder you ran from any entanglements or love. What did you know?”
“Press’s parents had that kind of relationship. And maybe if they lived, it would’ve been different, but when they died, it was another kind of betrayal. They were taken away so quickly, it almost ruined Presley’s life. And mine.” To my mortification, tears spilled from my eyes. “It wasn’t fair to lose them like that. They didn’t deserve it. And when it happened, I wished it was my mother because she’d hurt me so bad.”
“Oh, babe, it’s okay to feel like that.”
“I’m a horrible person. What kind of child wishes their own parent dead?”
“Someone who was deceived and lied to for so long, it tore their heart to pieces, but someone strong enough not to let it break them.”
Horrendously embarrassed at my breakdown, I wiped my eyes on my sleeve and sat up. “I feel broken. Talking to Luca today forced me to see I’m not healed. I can’t believe I allowed him to affect me.” Torre opened his mouth, but I shook my head. “Let me finish. When you sprang to my defense, I realized I wasn’t alone anymore.”
“You were never alone. You have your friends. They’ll always be there for you, like you are for them.”
“Presley’s known me the longest, and he’s like my brother; we’ve been side by side, together, for years. You…you chose to be with me in spite of who I became after Luca. And you’re the one I want. By my side. In my bed.” Fire kindled in his eyes, and an answering throb of desire pulsed through me.
“I want you too.”
I stood and held out my hand. “How about now? In my bed.”
Laughing, Torre put his palm in mine, and I pulled him up from the couch. Then, with our arms wrapped around each other, we walked upstairs to my bedroom. I took my time slipping the new clothes off his body, pausing to kiss and lick his warm skin as it became exposed to the air. Soon the beautiful suit and brand-new shirt lay on the floor, and he stood naked in front of me, his thick cock heavy and erect between us.
“You’re perfect. Perfect for me.”
“And you’re perfect for me too, except for one thing.”
I grasped him in my hand, gliding my fingers up and down the silky, hot, steel ridge of flesh. “Mmm, what’s that?” I pressed a kiss to the swollen head, licking and kissing him, drowning in the scent of Torre, which had become as much a part of the air I needed to breathe as oxygen.
“You’re still dressed.”
“I have things to attend to first here. But don’t worry. We have all the time in the world…don’t we?”
I could finally laugh with my heart, now that it had been made whole.
