Page 27 of Lucky Boys
Eventually, all the other guys started to leave the room. Diego was getting an office space set up for himself, and Mav went with him to help. Skye and Brooks walked out together, leaving me alone with Luca.
Once everyone was gone, Luca let go of the pretense of being strong and slumped into the closest chair, looking exhausted.
I didn’t even think, just walked up to him and knelt in between his legs. I was cupping his face and lifting it up before my brain caught up with my actions.
“Talk to me, Luc. You don’t need to pretend to be strong, not with me.”
My thumb traced along his jawline, the stubble rough along the digit. He cupped my hand with his.
“I—don’t know what I’m doing, Wes. I fucked up so badly. And the worst part? I spent the last years walking around convinced I was right and did a good thing. I-fuck, maybe I should find someone else to protect Diego and Brooks? I’m not sure I should be doing this.”
Yeah, fuck that. I wasn’t going to let him believe that. I was also way too old to be kneeling on this hard floor.
Groaning, I stood and took Luca’s hands. He looked confused but went with me willingly to the love seat. I sat down and dragged my best friend with me, so close he was practically on my lap.
Luca seemed amused but didn’t say anything. Which was good because I’d be happy to point out how he needed to wear a back brace when doing anything physical and how his knee creaked every time he bent over. We weren’t in our twenties anymore.
“Listen to me and listen good, Luc. I won’t let you get in your head. Believe it or not, you are human.” Luca snorted, but I ignored it. “You make mistakes. We all do. That’s life. What matters is what you do after those mistakes. You have a lot of options here, but none of them are wallowing in self-pity. I don’t know everything that happened, but I know you made a judgment call with Brooks, and maybe in hindsight it wasn’t the best decision, but that’s the beauty of hindsight. At the time, we can only work with the information we have. And sometimes, even you will get it wrong.”
Luca opened his mouth to say something, but I put my finger to it, shutting him up. He raised an eyebrow, but humored me and stayed quiet. I was well aware I was one of the few, if not the only person who could get away with that. “But Luc, out of the million judgment calls you make, getting only one wrong is fucking amazing odds. There is no one, and I mean that, that I’d trust with my life over you. And not just my life, but Riley’s and Beckett’s too. When they had their issues, I didn’t think twice about calling you because I knew no one would protect my sons like you did.”
Luca sighed. “Yeah, but that’s different. I can’t even be in the same room with Brooks without fucking up.”
I glared. “My finger is still on your lip. That means it’s time to listen.”
Luca’s gaze turned dangerous. I swallowed but didn’t back down. “Oh, does it?” he asked, his voice taking on a sultry tone.
For the first time in my entire life, I could understand what Skye or Brooks or any other submissive must feel like when they gave into that side of them. I hadn’t thought I had a submissive bone in my body, but Luca had a quality about him that made me want to be softer than usual.
I ignored it. “Yes. Now, let’s talk about Brooks. You say you fucked up, and I’ll have to take your word for it. But when Brookswas in trouble, when he had nowhere else to go, who did he go to?”
Luca sighed again. “Me, but that was only because—”
“No. It was because he knew he could trust you in this situation. He was hurt and had been avoiding you, and still, he came to you. I can absolutely fucking promise you that if you went to him right now and said you were going to find someone else to help, he’d lose his fucking shit. He wants you, Luca. Because you’re the best. No one will protect him and Diego like you do. So, whatever happened, you need to let that go and find a way to move forward. You have a whole bunch of people in your corner, including Brooks, and we won’t let you give into your self-doubt.”
Luca sunk into me, and I wrapped my arm around him, holding him tight. I couldn’t remember the last time we’d cuddled like that. It had to be at least 10-15 years, but it felt right. It made me think about things I tried to keep buried, of what Luca and I could’ve been if our careers hadn’t gotten in the way.
“Thanks,” he whispered after a while.
“There’s nothing to thank me for, Luc. You know I love you and will be here for you always.”
Luca smiled softly, a little sad. “Yeah, I know. Fuck, I have no idea what I’m going to do, but I do feel better. You always put things into perspective.”
“I hope I always do,” I whispered. If Luca heard, he didn’t respond.
CHAPTER 12
BROOKS
I didn’t knowwhat to expect after the group hug in the conference room. I was still feeling some type of way and a little itchy. I really needed to find a way to get to a club or have one of the guys here to do more than flirt with me. Though, I didn’t know if that was truly an option. I had the vague idea that Skye, Maverick, and Luca didn’t have a traditional relationship, outside of it already being three people, but what that meant, I didn’t totally know.
What I didn’t expect was Skye to grab my hand and literally drag me from the room.
“Come on.”
“Where are we going?” I asked, but I didn’t really fight getting dragged along. Anything would be better than standing in that suffocating room with Luca staring at me with sad, pathetic eyes. They were worse than a puppy’s. I wanted to give that man everything when he watched me like that.
Skye pulled me through the entire fucking mansion until we hit the outside. I hadn’t really had a chance to be out here yet, and it was unsurprisingly gorgeous and extravagant, though the pool looked sick as fuck. I would be checking that out for sure.
