Page 28 of Mouth to Mouth

Brad paused. While Dawson wasn’t the most talkative person that Brad had ever met, he didn’t normally look at Brad like he had two heads. There was no way that Luca had told the other man what had happened between him. Had he?

Dawson dropped his gaze to the counter before shifting nervously from side to side.

Or maybe Luca had.

Brad needed to know either way. He rolled his shoulders back before he walked to the counter. “Morning.”

“Good morning,” Dawson replied quietly.

Yep, Dawson still didn’t look at him.

“Uh, is Luca here?” Brad asked.

Dawson shook his head. “He’s upstairs. At home.”

Figured. Brad was disappointed but it wasn’t Dawson’s fault. “Oh. Okay.”

“You could go up?”

It came out more as a question than an invitation. “Are you sure?”

Dawson shrugged. “He should be leaving soon. You can still catch him.”

Brad checked his watch. He had arrived early for a reason. “Okay. Thanks.” He took a step back. “Uh, could you not mention that I was here?”

Dawson glanced up briefly before he dropped his eyes again. “Sure.”

“Thanks, man.” Brad smacked the counter then turned. He hurried from the shop, ignoring the rest of the patrons. At least the patrons inside weren’t anyone that Brad knew. Or would rat him out to the rest of the crew.

He took the stairs two at a time until he was standing in front of Luca’s apartment door. Brad was a little jealous at Luca living so close to his work and not far from the university.

The house that Brad rented a room in with four other guys was on the opposite side of the city from the fire department. When the tourists had started arriving, it added traffic and congestion to Brad’s daily commute. Annoying and unnecessary. It was the only negative about the city that Brad had found. The housing was expensive and hard to come by.

Brad had lucked into the room that he rented so he couldn’t complain too much. It was something he could afford. Most of the houses were way out of Brad’s price range. Or so rundown that they needed to be condemned.

He lifted his hand to knock when the door was pulled open and Luca stood there, staring at him. Luca had a backpack over one shoulder and his surfboard by his side. “Brad? What are you doing here?”

What was he doing there? Good question. It seemed like a good idea when Brad had left his house that morning. He had some explaining to do. Claiming not to be a Daddy then messing around with someone who identified as a little made Brad the biggest asshole in the world.

Brad wasn’t being fair to Luca. Which meant he needed to apologize again.

The day before, Brad had barely managed to get his hand out of Luca’s shorts as several laughing surfers had entered the tent. It had been awkward as they both pretended that they hadn’t been doing anything close to what they had been doing. Even Luca had been without his usual sassy remarks as they separated.

Before Brad could explain or ask Luca if he was okay, Luca’s name had been called. It had been time for Luca to get back into the competition. Luca had patted Brad’s stomach before quietly thanking him for the stress reducer.

Brad had stared after him. Much like he was currently doing now.

“Dude. Hello, Brad.” Luca frowned at him. “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” Brad responded. He had to ignore how damn good Luca looked in his shorts. His package framed perfectly, making Brad’s mouth water. “I came to talk to you.”

“Talk,” Luca repeated. He lifted his brows. “Why?”

“Why?” What kind of question was that? Wasn’t it obvious?

Luca shrugged. “Yes. Why?”

Frustration filled him. He snapped before thinking about the words. “Maybe because I can’t stop thinking about you. Or the fact that we’ve now hooked up three times and I still don’t even have your damn phone number. I couldn’t call you this morning and had to go into the coffee shop looking for you.”