Page 74 of Rescued
“I know your size, baby boy.”
We both go still at those words. Which is stupid because Austin and Luca both already know.
“Okay,” I say slowly. “Please don’t go overboard.”
Shooting me an unbothered grin, Jasper shrugs. “Don’t tell me what to do. If I want to spoil you a little bit, I’m going to.”
I roll my eyes with a huff. Annoying as hell sometimes. “Alright, fine.”
Austin and Luca keep looking between Jasper and me and then at each other. As long as I’ve known them, they’ve spoken in this almost completely silent language. I always thought it was adorable. What would it be like to know someone so well that you know what they’re thinking by the quirk of their brow or the tilt of their lips?
Jasper makes eye contact with me. I nod to let him know I’m really okay, and it hits me like a bolt of lightning thatwedo that. All it took was a single look, and Iknewhe wanted to make sure I was okay.
Making his way across the room to me, he catches my chin gently in his hand and tilts my head back. A heartbeat later, his warm lips are on mine.
I sigh, kissing him back.
“Whoa,” Luca breathes. “Iknew,right? But there’s knowing, and then there’sknowing.”
“Right?” Austin whispers.
My smile interrupts our kiss, and I pull back. “You know we can hear you, right?”
“Wasn’t trying to keep it a secret,” Luca says. “Unlike you.”
Ouch. Okay. I guess I deserved that.
“I’ll be back, baby boy.” Turning away from me, Jasper glances at Austin. “You wanna ride with me to Graymont?”
Austin snorts. “As if I’m missing out on the chance to grill you. Let’s go.”
Giving Luca a quick kiss, Austin follows Jasper out of the house, pulling the door shut behind him.
My stomach does a nervous flip when I’m alone with Luca.
For a second, we just look at each other. He nibbles his bottom lip, then cocks his head. “You’re really okay?” he finally asks after a few seconds of tense silence.
“I’m really okay.”
He walks across the living room slowly, then sits down beside me on the couch. Kicking his shoes off, he pulls his feet under him and turns to face me fully.
“Spill.”
My eyes widen. “What do you want to know?”
“Why did you have children’s bedrooms set up in your house?”
I sigh. “Because I was days away from getting custody of my younger brother and sister.”
Studying me for a second, Luca nods. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I don’t know, really. At first, it was because I was never planning to stay here. Not long term. So why tell people about myself or my family, you know?”
Luca doesn’t say anything, just stares at me, so I take a deep breath and keep going.
“Then Salem called me and told me they had been taken into foster care. I wanted to get them, but it felt like an uphill battle. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to.” I shake my head. “I didn’t mean to putdown roots here. Or make friends. I definitely didn’t expect to meet someone like you. And then there was Austin and Jasper, and later on, Theo. And then…” I wave a hand around like that somehow explains anything at all.
“Your lies got too big,” Luca says.
