Page 14 of Mouth to Mouth

Brad nodded as he leaned forward. That was good information to have.

“I’ve seen Luca when he doesn’t give two shits about a person. He’s not outright rude but he doesn’t go out of his way to give them a hard time,” Cal told him.

That was not Brad’s experience. Luca loved to spend his time glaring at Brad and making sarcastic little comments. It was sort of adorable. The Daddy part of Brad would love to show Luca what else he could do with his smart mouth.

“But when Luca is interested in someone, then he gives them his attention,” Cal stated firmly.

Brad felt like he was missing the point here.

Cal rolled his eyes before draining the rest of his coffee. Frowning, he set the mug back onto the table. “Luca is still interested in you. He might not like you. I’m not disputing that. But he is interested in you.”

“He…” Brad let the words trail off as he thought about what Cal was telling him. Really thought about the words. Luca did not like him. That wasn’t anything new. He still never kicked Brad out of the coffee shop or made Brad feel unwelcome. He was just a little feisty.

“Just think about it,” Cal offered.

“I will.” Brad was already obsessed with Luca. This conversation just adding to the many things that Brad wondered about Luca. As much as Brad told himself that he didn’t care what Luca said or did, that wasn’t true. Brad thought about Luca a lot. Wanted to be around him even when Luca would glare or scoff at anything Brad said.

“Good.” Cal started to rise.

“If I might say something in response,” Brad said quickly. Cal had offered him advice and Brad was compelled to do the same.

Cal nodded. “Sure.”

Brad cleared his throat. This was awkward. “Uh, so, I just wanted to tell you, to mention, that is…”

Cal waved his hand. “Spit it out, kid.”

Fuck! “He watches you too.”

“Excuse me.” The scowl was back as Cal stiffened.

Oh yeah, Cal knew exactly who Brad was talking about. “He watches you too,” Brad repeated.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Okay.” Brad shrugged. It didn’t matter to him whether or not Cal believed him. He was just offering a little insight from the outside.

Cal blew out a rough breath. “It doesn’t mean anything.”

Now this was interesting. Cal acted like he didn’t want to talk about it. But maybe he did. Maybe Cal needed someone to talk to. “Doesn’t mean anything to you or him? Because from my point of view I would say that Scott feels different.”

“He’s young,” Cal replied. “Scott doesn’t know what he wants.”

“Scott is the same age as James. They’re twins, after all. Would you tell James that?” Brad knew the answer before he asked the question.

“Scott’s not James,” Cal responded sharply. “He’s sweet and kind and soft.”

“James isn’t?” Brad shouldn’t find this amusing yet he did. Maybe it was not having to worry about his own damn issues for a little while.

“He is,” Cal hedged. “Except⁠—”

“Except what?” Brad pushed. He really wanted to know the answer.

“Scott needs to concentrate on school. On everything that he wants to make happen. Scott is going to make a difference in the world. I won’t be the one that stands in the way of that,” Cal declared.

“Why would you stand in the way?” Brad questioned.

“Because I’m an old man that’s past my prime,” Cal offered, laying his hands flat in front of him.