Page 45 of Sparring Partners
“But this is the opportunity I’ve been working towards for god knows how long — which is now being presented to me on a plate,” Luca admitted quietly.
“What happens to us if you take this job?” Adrian’s voice, low and tense, his words as direct as his gaze.
Luca forced himself not to shy away. “The thought of leaving here…”
“Where’s the job?”
Luca kept his gaze locked on Adrian’s. “Australia.”
“Oh.” The word exploded from Adrian’s lips, as surprise turned to shock, but just as quickly as it appeared, it was gone, leaving Adrian’s expression as unreadable as ever.
Was that it? Oh?
“For god’s sake, Adrian.” The words burst from him, relieving some of the pressure that had been building up over the past two days. “I’ve just told you I could, just possibly, be upping sticks and moving to the other side of the world, and all you can do is sayoh. Do you even care what I do?” Luca hated the wobble that crept into his voice, but more than that, he hated that he couldn’t read the man who sat just inches from him, the man who was making the decision he had to make so damn hard.
“Of course I fucking do.” Adrian jumped up from the sofa, and thrust his fingers through his hair, his unreadable, still expression shattering like glass. “How can you think I don’t care what you do, or where you go?”
Luca’s chest tightened as Adrian glared down at him. Adrian’s lips were pushed into a thin line, tightening his jaw, and he was breathing heavily through his nose. His expression was one of pure anger, radiant with fury. Luca’s heart tripped as he locked eyes with Adrian. No, not angry, not furious, but brimming with upset and turmoil.
Adrian dropped down next to him, the fire that had exploded from him just as quickly doused. “Of course I care, and more than you know,” he whispered as he placed his hands either side of Luca’s face.
Luca leant into Adrian’s warm palms, feeling the press of Adrian’s work worn hands, the little callouses, the roughness of his skin. Hands that could be as gentle as they could be aggressive and demanding, hands that had travelled his body and had made him see stars. Hands that had never held him quite like they were holding him now.
“I know what I want you to do, but this isn’t my decision,” Adrian said quietly, as he brushed his thumbs across Luca’s cheeks.
“I want you to say it. I have to hear what it is you want.”
Luca gazed up into Adrian’s eyes. Eyes he’d seen blazing with fury, with heat, with stripped down, naked lust. Eyes he’d seen filled with laughter. Eyes he’d seen wide and full of wonder, glazing at the point of release. But as Adrian continued to gaze down at him, there was something new, something different, and Luca’s heart thudded, fast and erratic as his mind groped for what it might be.
“I want you to stay,” Adrian said quietly. “I don’t want you to go to Australia. I don’t want you to go to London, or even the next damn village in the valley. For god’s sake, Luca, I want you to stay. Because my life is better with you in it.I’mbetter for you being in it. I reckon I’ve kind of got used to you being around, and I’d like you to stay around for a whole lot longer.”
“You’ve got used to me? Like an old pair of slippers you mean?” Luca couldn’t keep the smile out of his voice, and when Adrian smiled, slow and soft, a light flicked on in Luca’s heart.
“Your words, babe, not mine.”
Babe… The endearment, never uttered before, dug deep inside Luca’s chest, pushing out all the air and making it hard to breathe.
Slowly, gently, almost with reverence, Adrian kissed him, little more than the softest of brushes across his lips, before Adrian pressed his forehead to his.
“I’m difficult. I don’t compromise, or not well. I see the world in black and white. I’m not an easy man to be with, god knows I’ve got the scars to prove it. I’m not blind to the kind of man I am, but it’s who I am. If you stay with me that’s the whole package. Is what I am worth you giving up your dream job for?”
Adrian’s voice was gravelly and unsteady; he’d opened himself up in a way that Luca hadn’t experienced before, not even when undone with need and want and desire. Luca closed his eyes, to stop the welling tears that threatened to fall.
“I don’t want to go,” he said, his voice trembling. “Everything tells me I should, because this is what I’ve been working towards for all these years. Everything is telling me to say yes, except for what’s in here.” Luca eased out of Adrian’s hold, and pressed his hand to his chest. “I want to stay here, Adrian. I want to stay here. With you.”
Luca sucked in a shuddering breath. He’d said them, the words he’d thought he’d never say to a man again. He’d said them to this awkward, frustrating, difficult man. He’d said them, and meant every single one.
“You do? You’re sure?”
Luca’s heart jumped at the hope shining in Adrian’s eyes. Pushing himself to his feet, he held out his hand. “Let’s go upstairs, where I can show you exactly how sure I am.”
CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO
Alex opened the door, and Luca couldn’t hold back his grin.
“What?” Alex said, letting Luca into his huge barn conversion home.
“You. Are you really Alex Love, or some sort of imposter? Because the Alex I’ve known for too many years would never have let his hair grow out even a millimetre, or wear—” Luca peered at his friend’s torso, “a ratty, old, and decidedly too big and out of shape T-shirt with a faded Badger’s Arse Ale logo. What have you done to my uptight, buttoned up old friend?”
