“I am. Definitely.”
Gen smiles. “Wait till you see the big ass bed in the master, Luca. It’s perfect for three boys.”
“Let’s go see it then. Otherwise, I’ll be sleeping on this rug.”
Genesis
I am not freaking out. No. I’m good. So, so good. It’s absolutely no big deal at all that I made out with my best friend ever, and that we basically had a three way on his living room floor with the hottest man alive. Well. The hottest man who isn’t Cairo. I won’t be able to pretend this didn’t happen in the morning, but I’m pretending now. I. Cannot. Even. Process. This. Like, I knew it was probably going to happen, but it actually did happen.
Luca has been eyeing us like prey for months, and I had a suspicion getting him out of a public setting would give him the chance he clearly wanted. That I wanted. I just wasn’t sure Cairo wanted. I’m still not. Did he really, or did he get caught up in the moment? I’ll find out the, potentially devastating, answer in the morning.
Luca and I follow Cairo through the labyrinth of hallways until we get to the other wing where the master bedroom is. Yes, this damn house has wings. It even has a guest house in the back. It’s a hashtag goals house, that was literally handed to Cairo, and a massive upgrade from the hovel he called an apartment that he lived in before. Still, as gorgeous and lux as it is, it’s far too big for my boo alone.
Cairo opens the double wood doors to the bedroom and steps aside to let me and Luca in the room. Luca whistles as he takes in the space—travertine floors, a full wall of glass overlooking the backyard, and that bed. The biggest bed I’ve ever seen dominates one whole side of the room. The bed isn’t made, which is so Cairo and so adorable, my heart flutters a little. Living here won’t change who he is at all.
“Well,” Luca starts. “Guess I’ll get ready for bed.” He tosses the towel on the floor, wiggles his hips, then laughs as he slides into the bed scooting to the middle.
I follow suit, dramatically pulling the towel from my waist, as is my way, and climbing in next to him. Luca pats the bed on his other side, grinning at Cairo.
“You coming?”
“Yeah.” He removes his towel and climbs in next to Luca. There’s still room for at least two more people.
“Why is this bed so big?” Luca asks.
“Two reasons,” Cairo starts. “One, my auntie wanted it big to fill the space.”
“Makes sense,” I say.
“And the second reason?” Luca asks.
“I’m told my uncle snored, so rather than sleeping in separate rooms, they had this bed made and a curtain hung between them to buffer the noise. I told you, they were eccentric.”
“That’s hilarious,” Luca says, chuckling. “Well, it worked out. And it’s only slightly weird we’re lying in a bed where your aunt and uncle got it on.”
Cairo screws up his face in horror. “Ew.”
“Agreed,” I add. “Ew.”
“And I’ll have you know, there was no sex in this bed,” Cairo adds. “My mama tells me my aunty gave that up after my last cousin was born, which was way before this house was a thing.”
“I feel kind of bad for your uncle,” Luca says.
Cairo shakes his head. “Don’t. He wasn’t lonely, let’s put it that way.”
“So, are they like the scandal of the family?” I ask, giggling.
Cairo smiles. “They are. They always did their own thing. My mama was the good girl. Followed all the rules. Her sister was the wild child. Married a man her father didn’t approve of, but he was good to her. They had a nice long marriage, until he died a few years ago.”
“Your parents cool with you?” Luca asks.
“Yeah,” Cairo answers, nodding. “They don’t love it, but they don’t hate it.”
“Good place to be,” Luca says. He turns to face me. “You?”
“My dad is cool. He raised me alone, but not for lack of trying to find the one. He finally did when I was a teenager. She’s a nice lady.”
“What about your mom?”
Cairo’s face saddens on my behalf.
“She died when I was a baby. My parents were tough kids from a bad neighborhood. Only kids themselves when they got together.” I smile. “She was really beautiful. Got in some trouble one night, got in a fight, got stabbed. Died.”
“Oh my god,” Luca says, his voice soft and his brow furrowed. “Jesus. How old were you?”
“Two. I don’t remember her, but sometimes I think I do, you know? It’s like she’s in my head, in my memories, and it surfaces sometimes. My dad says I do certain things like her. I laugh like her and tuck my hair behind my ear when it’s longer. When I look at pictures of her, I see myself.”
Cairo reaches across Luca and squeezes my hand.
“I’m a firm believer that when people die, they don’t leave us.” As he speaks, Luca rubs my hand sweetly, with Cairo’s hand still entwined. “My birth mama died three months after I was born. She had brain cancer they couldn’t treat. Found out six months into her pregnancy.” He’s silent for a moment as his face softens. “I’m not one of those ‘everything happens for a reason’ people, but I do believe we have angels around us, and those angels are people we have loved and lost.”
“I’m sorry,” I say, rubbing his shoulder. Cairo nods.
“Thanks.” Luca smiles. “Even though you don’t remember your mama, you loved her.”
“I did. She loved me too. Everyone said she was a good mama and she wanted better for herself after I was born, but it's a hard life to get out of. My dad…” I stop myself. “We should talk another time. This is heavy after a night of fun and drinking.”
“I’ll listen whenever you want,” Luca says. “Anytime.”
“Thanks.” My eyes shift across him to Cairo. That look he gives me—eyes soft, lips sweetly upturned, brow slightly creased—it’s the one I’ve grown addicted to, and it settles the chaos in me when my mind starts taking me places I don’t want to go. It...fixes things. I want to tell him that, ask him how he does it, but I’ve never found the words. I don’t know what he’s feeling when he looks at me like that, but whatever it is, I hope he always does.
I put my rehearsed smile on my face, hoping it pushes away the brewing insecurity I feel over what happened tonight and what it means for us going forward. “Let’s get some sleep, boys.”
I wake up to the feeling of a warm body brushing against mine, a soft ass pushing into my very awake erection. Opening my eyes, a smile pulls at my lips when I find Luca doing his best to grind into me.
“Morning,” I whisper.
Luca looks over his shoulder. “You down?” His eyes shoot to the area where my dick is under the blankets as he asks his question.
“Always.”
“Good.” He scoots back, and then I notice his arm around a still sleeping Cairo, pulling him closer.
I twist to Cairo’s nightstand, hoping to find some lube while keeping my dick firmly pressed against Luca’s ass. “That’s my boy,” I murmur when I feel the telltale bottle in my hand. I open it, pour some on my hand, then hand it to Luca, who grins.