It was mostly a repetition of what Jansel had already written on the whiteboard, but Emerson liked hearing more details, liked picturing Luca accomplishing all the things Emerson himself should have been doing if he hadn’t been hiding away, again, all day in the wildflower field.
Except then Luca cut himself off with a frown and said, as if reading Emerson’s mind: “You were in the wildflowers all day again, right?”
Emerson nodded.
“How’s your back doing?”
And after rambling his ass off five minutes ago, Emerson was suddenly unable to form words. His back hurt like shit. His back had felt incredible ever since Luca touched it last night. Both things were true but he didn’t know how to explain that.
“Emerson? You okay?”
“What do you want to do?” he blurted. “That we haven’t done so far. What do you—what do you most like?”
Luca didn’t tilt his head in confusion. Didn’t laugh or frown or otherwise indicate that Emerson was being weird. He only swallowed the bite he’d been chewing and looked straight at Emerson when he asked, “In the bedroom, you mean?”
A wave of gratitude swept through Emerson’s chest, hot and soothing.
“Yes.”
Luca took another bite, chewed as he thought. Emerson glanced at their plates. They were both almost done.
“I like being fucked,” Luca said. “But I don’t need it, if you’re not into topping. I don’t mind topping either, if that’s what you’re looking for. I’m just always worried I’m not as good at it?” A small, self-conscious laugh that somehow made Emerson half hard. “I’m not into super rough stuff, but I’m also open to trying new things, especially if my partner’s into it.”
Luca had been staring into the distance just over Emerson’s shoulder. But when Emerson didn’t immediately respond, he made eye contact again.
“Is that helpful?”
“Yes.” Emerson swallowed. “Would you like me to fuck you? Tonight?”
Luca’s eyes darkened. His lips twitched. “Sure,” he said, nonchalant. “If that’s what you want, too.”
“It is.” Except as soon as he said it, Emerson wasn’t sure if he was being…too much. Overbearing. Maybe it was kind of pathetic? Demanding sex every single day since Luca had offered? They’d barely even finished dinner. Jesus. “We can wait though, if you want to do something else first? Is there another baseball game you were hoping to watch? Or some writing you have to do?”
Luca only bit his lip, dark eyes sparkling. After a second, he took a long sip from his water glass, still maintaining eye contact. Emerson was all the way hard now.
“What do you normally do?” Luca eventually asked instead of answering the question himself. “After dinner, on the days Daisy isn’t here. Or when Daisy is here, after you put her to bed.”
Emerson released a small laugh, scratching the back of his head. “Nothing exciting. Once the animals are all set in thebarn, I watch TV, sometimes. Or read. I’m part of a few groups online, message boards and stuff like that, of other small farmers. Honestly, I spend a lot of time scrolling through those. And then…I’m normally out like a light by nine.”
So yeah, he finished in his head.Sexy stuff. Ready to fuck yet?
“What shows do you watch on TV?”
“Oh god, nothing cool.” Another scratch behind his ear. “I watch a lot of cooking shows.Chef’s Specialis a favorite, but I’ll watch anything that actually focuses on the food, you know. It always gives me a ton of ideas of new things I want to try to grow.”
“That makes sense.” Luca took another sip of his water. It wasn’t logical, how sexy this was. His fork rested neatly in the middle of his clean plate. “And what kind of books do you read?”
Emerson barely kept himself from burying his face in his hands.
“Well,” he said on a long breath. “I am sorry to tell you. They’re normally about agriculture.”
Luca burst out laughing, a loud, crisp sound, the rim of his water glass still held against his bottom lip.
“It’s truly all farming all the time in your head, huh?”
Emerson’s mouth had curved in reflection of Luca’s laugh, but the smile faded now. He broke eye contact, fiddling with his own fork.
Yeah, he almost said out loud.That’s why my husband left me.
