“You might”—Luca’s breath hitched as Emerson moved to his neck—“regret that one day.”
Emerson disagreed. But he didn’t say anything. He just smiled into Luca’s skin before tugging his ear with his teeth.
They drove over togetherin Luca’s car.
Emerson could tell Luca was embarrassed, swiping trash off the passenger seat to make room for him, but Emerson was thrilled. As he’d been thrilled ever since he’d seen this car back in his driveway again. He’d never been inside it before. He suddenly wanted to be inside all the places he’d never been, ask all the questions of Luca he was too dumb and selfish to ask when they’d pretended they were only fucking.
So when Luca started the engine and the car remained quiet, Emerson said, “Play some of your music. Your favorite album.”
Luca glanced at him before wordlessly shuffling through his phone.
They listened without talking the whole drive, Emerson trying not to stare at Luca too hard. Because while Emerson always had to sit close to the wheel with his short legs, of course Luca drove in that dude way, all laid back and sexy, and it made Emerson want to do things he shouldn’t be thinking about on the way to Luca’s parents’ house.
When they arrived in front of a deep red two-story home, set in the middle of a steep hill behind Greyfin Bay’s downtown, Luca cut the engine and asked, “Did you like it?”
And even though Emerson knew it was the kind of music he wouldn’t listen to every day, he nodded, honestly. “Made me feel kind of hype and calm all at once.”
“Yeah,” Luca said. “That’s exactly it.”
Looking out the window at the house in front of them,Emerson added, “So probably the perfect thing to listen to before meeting my boyfriend’s family.”
The sentence hung in the air between them, Emerson’s breath catching in his throat at the possibility that he’d gotten it wrong. He knew they’d just made dramatic speeches about choosing each other, about what they wanted, but only now did it occur to him that they hadn’t given actual names to anything.
When another second ticked by without Luca saying anything, Emerson added, still speaking to the window, “That’s…what’s happening, right? We’re dating now?”
“Yeah.” Luca’s voice was a croak, a sound so funny that he immediately followed it up with a laugh, and Emerson’s chest loosened. He turned, smiling at the blush on Luca’s cheeks. “I mean, yeah, I think,” Luca continued, voice steadier. “Right? We’re dating.”
Emerson nodded, smile deepening on his cheeks.
“Oh myfuckinggod.” Luca stared at the steering wheel. “We’re dating, and the first thing I do is bring you to meet my family? Like, the same fucking day?”
“Technically,” Emerson said, “I think the first thing you did was blow me in the shower.”
“Yeah,” Luca said, emphatic, throwing up his hands. “Thatwas a normal thing to do!”
Emerson laughed and opened the car door.
“Come on, Luca. It’ll be fine.”
But they were already at the front step before he thought to ask—“I am meeting your family as your boyfriend, though? Like, they know?”
“Well,” Luca said. “I basically told my mom everything, so—yeah, everyone probably knows.”
“Okay,” Emerson said, only having a second to wonder at whateverythingactually encompassed before Leah flung open the frontdoor.
“Oh hey, stranger.” She pulled Emerson into a hug first. “Fancy meeting you here.”
“Thank you for having me.”
“Your dad ran to the store to get more beer,” Leah said with a big smile and pat on her son’s cheek before pushing them both inside the house. “And Daniel’s manning the grill out back. But come, meet Bailey.”
They walked down a short, narrow hallway until they met another dark-haired man and a short woman with light brown hair and rosy cheeks in the kitchen.
“Hey, Luca.” The man and Luca leaned into each other simultaneously, arms going wide and then thumping around each other’s backs in a way that was almost aggressively familiar. “Missed you on the run.”
“Yeah,” Luca said once he’d stepped back. “I missed you, too.”
“This is Bailey.” The man placed a tentative hand on the woman’s elbow, gave a tentative smile to Luca and Emerson. “Bailey, this is my brother Luca, and…”
