Page 6 of There is No Try

“Yours? Go with you? You aren’t making any sense. What are you talking about?” My brows pinch.

“Come home with me. I’m in love with you, pup.”

“Love?” I scoff, taking a step back.Selfish bastard.“You wait until you’re leaving to tell me? That’s not love, Lucas.”

“At least I’m admitting how I feel. You love me too. I know you do, but both of us have been too afraid to be the first to say it. Inever wanted to ruin my relationship with Gavin, or with Ronan, if you didn’t feel the same way. I’d rather be your friend than nothing at all, but I can’t move to the other side of the world without you knowing how I feel about you.”

I still can’t say the words. No matter how much I love him, if I tell him, it’ll make it too real. He’s leaving. I take a deep breath and on the exhale it’s as if alarm bells are going off in my head. “You were asking me out last week. How long have you known about your work visa issues?”

Luc lets out a long sigh. “About two months, but I only found out this morning I’ll have to get creative if I want to come back. I thought for sure the league would’ve had it sorted for me, but that wasn’t the case. My agent fucked up the paperwork and I was denied.”

“Is there any way you could stay?” My heart squeezes. I close the distance and wrap my arms around his middle. Holding me tighter, he kisses the top of my head, and tears prick behind my eyes. I’m not the only one losing Luc, my whole family is.

“Come with me. You and Gav,” he whispers and it only makes it harder to keep myself from crying.

“I can’t. Gavin’s life is here. We can’t pick up and leave. Do you have any Irish family? You could apply for citizenship.”

“No.” He groans, and I feel the deep rumble everywhere. “I’d be able to stay if I married.”

I glance up, resting my chin on his chest. “Don’t joke about that.”

“I’m not joking, pup. When I looked into citizenship, it’s an option.”

I marinate with it for a moment, then blurt, “Then let’s get married.”

“What did you say?” His voice is low and gravely, making my body light up.

I swallow thickly and repeat, “Let’s get married. You’ll get to stay, and we wouldn’t need to tell anyone. If they ask, you can tell them your agent was able to extend your visa.”

“When I get married, it’ll be for love. I do love you, Bridge, but…” He shakes his head. “No. We can’t do this. Not like this. I won’t drag you or Gavin into anything with a contract marriage.”

“What if you leave and they aren’t able to negotiate anything? Then, what? We’ll never see you again?” The thought sours my stomach.

“I’d never let that happen.” Lucas says it so matter-of-factly, I can’t help believing him. His eyes dart between mine in silent question and my whole body is buzzing in anticipation. Taking my cheeks in his hands, he brings my lips to his in a sweet, soft kiss I feel all the way to my toes. He’s my brother’s mate, I shouldn’t let him kiss me, and definitely shouldn’t indulge in the fantasy he’ll stay, or return to Ireland if he leaves. Yet, here I am.

Reality barrels into me, and a whimper escapes me as I break our kiss. “I’m sorry, Luc. I shouldn’t have kissed you.”

“I kissed you first, pup.” Lucas grins, the dimple on his left cheek popping. “And I’m going to do it again.”

As he pulls me closer, his undeniably hard cock is pressed against my stomach. I can’t help teasing, “Is that a light saber in your pocket?”

“Absolutely.” He lets out a full laugh and slides his hand into my hair, tugging gently. I stifle a moan. “My apologies, pup, it doesn’t vibrate or light up.”

My cheeks heat, but my embarrassment quickly disappears as Luc leans in to kiss my neck. For the past year, I’ve suppressed how I feel about him. If it doesn’t end well, not only would it break Gavin’s heart, it’ll put a strain on his friendship with Ronan.

Except, he’s leaving… And no one would know if we spent this week sneaking around.

“Have dinner with me?” he whispers against my skin.

As he trails his kisses up my neck to my jaw, I give in and reply, “You win, Luc. I’ll have dinner with you.”

CHAPTER 3

LUCAS

I’ve wanted Bridget since the moment we met, but I need to slow everything down. No matter how much I lie to myself, nothing about this is casual. Her words repeat over and over in my head on the drive to dinner. The thought of marrying her has crossed my mind more than once this past year, but I’d never want to marry her for citizenship. It isn’t fair to her or Gavin to consider any of it, but…

What if?

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