Luis dipped his head for a kiss. Their lips met in a sweet collision, and suddenly all was right with the world. Paolo slid his hands under Luis’s T-shirt and ghosted his palms over warm skin that went on for days. Heat pooled where he wanted Luis most, but short of dropping his jeans in the fridge, there wasn’t much he could do about that.
His phone was still buzzing. Irritated, he pulled back and glowered at the screen. “Jesus fucking Christ.”
Luis buried his face in Paolo’s neck and kissed a path to Paolo’s collarbone. “Something wrong?”
Paolo swayed on his feet, tipped upside down by Luis’s attention to his throat. “Not unless you count Toni driving me insane.”
“What’s he doing?”
“Celebrating that I can’t go and see him tonight. Apparently, I mess with his stuff too much.”
“Why can’t you go?”
“Because I’ve been sick. I have to leave it forty-eight hours before I go back. Home policy to protect the residents.”
“Makes sense.”
“I know, I just hate leaving him by himself. Nonna’s okay when she’s with it enough to know where she is. She’s made friends. Toni’s not like that. He hates other people.”
“How did he run this place for so long then?”
“Same as me. By shouting at everyone.”
“You don’t shout.”
“You can’t hear me half the time, which is probably just as well. I annoy myself most days.”
Luis laughed. “I told you already, everything annoys you.”
“You don’t. And apparently, you don’t annoy Toni either. He’s bugging me because he wants you to visit him instead. Just tonight, I think, but maybe forever. He wasn’t specific.”
“He wants me to visit him?”
“Yeah, but don’t worry. I’ve already told him no.”
“Why?”
“Because my grandparents aren’t your problem.”
“No, I meant why does he want to see me? Have I done something wrong?”
“What? Why would you think that?”
Luis shrugged. “Dunno. Why else would he want me to visit?”
“Because he likes you, Luis.”
“Wow. You never say my name.”
“Don’t I?
“No. But I like it when you do. It sounds nice.”
“You say the strangest things.”
“Not on purpose.”
“I know.” Paolo kissed Luis again and forgot that they were in the fridge. Forgot everything except how Luis’s lips felt against his. How his warm body melded to his own as if they’d been made to fit together in a perfect puzzle. Only more insistent buzzing from his phone drove them apart.
