Page 8 of Labor of Love

West snorted and glanced at the television. Twenty-eight minutes remained on the Jun_iper video. When it ended, Luca would want to get up to use the bathroom like he always did at this time of night, and once that happened, the foot rub would be over, and West would be able to tame his thoughts and go about the rest of his night.

He could make it.

Twenty-eight minutes wasn’t all that long—somehow, someway, he’d figure out how to behave.

5

LUCA

“Can I ask you something embarrassing?” Luca had been sitting on the question for almost half an hour, but with the Jun_iper video winding down and bedtime looming, it was now or never, and never wasn’t sitting right. Not with the way he’d been feeling lately, and especially not with how good it felt to have West rubbing his feet.

Unfortunately, the foot rub stopped.

West froze, sizing Luca up warily.

After a moment’s consideration, he consented with a nod.

“It’s nothing bad,” Luca hastened to say. “I’m not, like, gonna ask you if I can pick your nose or anything. I’m notthatweird. At least, not tonight.”

He grinned to show West he was joking, and melted on the inside when West relaxed and gave him a small smile in return.

“Anyway, I was just wondering… can we cuddle? I know it’s a weird ask, but I’m so hormonal it’s ridiculous, and I’m pretty sure if I don’t snuggle up with someone, I’m gonna ugly cry.”

West’s expression decayed. “You’re sad?”

“No, that’s not it, exactly. I?—”

Luca didn’t have time to explain that this early stage of pregnancy was whipping his hormones into a frenzy worse thandinnertime at the piranha exhibit, and that he was prone to feeling all kinds of random things, because West had already climbed out from beneath his legs and draped himself over him like a weighted blanket.

He buried his face in the crook of Luca’s shoulder, gathered him in his arms, and gave him a squeeze.

Luca’s sadness instantly melted away.

“I read online that having something heavy on top of you can help regulate your emotions,” West mumbled in barely more than a whisper, not lifting his head from the spot he’d found. His lips brushed the collar of Luca’s t-shirt, almost touching skin. “If I’m too heavy, you’ll tell me, right? I figured it would be fine, since… you know… but I’ll get up if I’m hurting you, or if this is going to endanger the baby.”

The baby.

Luca’s heart fluttered.

West hadn’t brought up his pregnancy since they’d parted ways after his heat, and while there had been no expectation that he would be involved in the baby’s life, knowing he was thinking about it gave Luca warm fuzzies.

“You’re not hurting me, and you’re not hurting the baby,” he assured him, nuzzling his cheek against the top of West’s head. “You feel so good on top of me. God, I needed this.”

“I’ll look into buying you a weighted blanket.”

“You don’t need to buy me anything—unless this is bad for you. Are you not enjoying it?”

West’s arms tightened possessively. “No, I am.”

“Then next time my hormones are making me weepy, I’ll just tag you in, and you can crush the bad times right out of me.”

A silence fell between them, heavy, but oddly pleasant. Contemplative. Luca had no clue what West was thinking, but that was nothing new. He was an enigma on his bestdays, impossible to pin down. Wildly creative. Kindhearted. Handsome inside and out.

Without thinking, Luca reached up and began to stroke his hair.

West went very still, then relaxed.

If he were a cat, Luca got the impression he would have begun to purr.

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