Page 29 of Mouth to Mouth

“You want my phone number?” Luca asked. He dropped his backpack then set the surfboard carefully against the wall. “You planning on calling me up for a date or something?”

Brad threw his hands up in the air. “You drive me crazy.”

Luca smirked. “That’s pretty obvious.” He leaned against the doorjamb. “Although I’m beginning to wonder if that might not have been an issue before I even met you.”

Okay, the boy was being a brat. That wasn’t really a surprise. Wanting to put Luca over his knee. Yeah. That wasn’t how Brad normally operated. Well not without consent and an established boundary talk. Which he wouldn’t be doing because Brad wasn’t a Daddy anymore. He was finished with that part of his life. He had to be. Brad couldn’t go through that pain ever again. He pressed his lips together.

Luca held up a hand. “Let me guess. You’re here to talk to me.”

Brad nodded. He had said that, right? Yes, yes, he had.

“I’ll save you the trouble,” Luca told him. “It can’t happen again. You like me as a friend but you’re not looking for anything permanent right now. You’re not a Daddy anymore. You’d also appreciate it if I didn’t tell anyone about what has been going on between us.”

He found himself scowling at Luca as he spoke.

“How’d I do? Did that pretty much cover everything?” Luca asked. “Because I have places to be.”

It had. All the words Brad had practiced on his drive over sounded wrong coming from Luca’s mouth. And hearing them made Brad’s stomach ache. They needed to be said except now Brad didn’t want them out there.

Luca cleared his throat. “Hello?”

“Can I kiss you?”

“Can you…do what now?”

Brad knew his eyes had to be huge as he wanted to slap a hand over his mouth. He hadn’t meant for that to come out. The part of him that couldn’t stop obsessing over Luca was taking control of his mouth. His brain was out of service, allowing his body to rule.

Pushing off the doorjamb, Luca straightened. Instead of looking angry, confusion crossed over Luca’s features. Brad could work with that.

“I want to kiss you,” Brad confessed quietly. “I want to press my lips to yours and taste you. I want to be mouth to mouth with you. Need it.

“Uh, okay.” Luca was looking at him like Brad had lost his mind.

Maybe Brad had, because he shuffled forward. “Okay? Is that a yes?”

Luca shook his head.

“Oh.” Brad dropped his shoulders.

“Jeez, don’t look like that,” Luca complained.

“Like what?” Brad questioned. He wasn’t looking at Luca like anything. Was he?

“Like I just kicked your puppy,” Luca returned.

“But I really want to kiss you,” Brad confessed. Luca’s lips were shining like he’d applied something to them earlier. Was it flavored?

“Brad,” Luca drawled. “What are you doing here. Really? Because I don’t think it was to get a morning kiss.”

Rubbing the back of his neck, Brad shrugged. “You weren’t wrong.”

Luca stared at him.

“About what you said. What you said I was going to say.”

“That made more sense than it should have.” Luca sighed.

“But I don’t want to say them,” Brad continued. “I know I should. I was prepared to.”