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Dating Luca would be a terrible idea. I couldn’t let it stray into that territory, but I could at least let us both indulge in the physical side of things. I needed him to understand fully so things didn’t get messy.
“First and most obvious rule: we’re telling no one about this. Not your brother and sister, not Allie, not your friends or your parents. Don’t even start talking about me more in a platonic context because they will sniff it out. My name doesn’t leave your mouth unless you’re with me.”
“Okay, fair. What else?”
“No sleepovers, and no gifts,” I added from my mental list. “I assume we’ll be meeting at my place since I have no desire to waste money on a hotel and you live with your parents.”
His cheeks flushed. “If you don’t mind.”
“I like my space so that’s fine. Just don’t touch my stuff. Everything has a spot it belongs in and I like it that way.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Pleasant warmth rushed through me at his words and the cheeky expression on his face.
“Does buying lunch count as a gift?” he asked.
“You don’t have to buy me food, Luca.”
“But I want to.”
“Okay,” I conceded. “Food can count as not-a-gift. But nothing else, and especially not things that someone might comment on.”
“Got it. So a tiara is off the table, then?”
My laugh caught me off guard and had several tables looking in our direction. I took a long drink until they got bored and looked away. “Quit being cute when I’m not expecting it.”
Luca beamed. “I feel like you should always have that expectation, but I can try to tone it down.”
Hmm. I didn’t like the idea of that. “You’re fine as you are.”
He grinned, and my heart did a stupid little flip.
“We have to be casual, Luca. This can only be for fun. I meant it when I said I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t,” he insisted.
“History says otherwise. I like you. You’re so important to people I love and while I’m an excellent fuckbuddy, I’m a terrible girlfriend, so don’t get it in your head that that can happen between us.”
He didn’t look especially convinced, but he nodded anyway. “I can be casual.”
“Good.”
The little screamy voice in the back of my mind was going wild, shouting that I was going to implode both our lives. I sat in the lapse of conversation for a few moments, trying to think of what other boundaries I might need to lay down to keep us both safe. Most people I’d been with had been delighted over the no-strings-attached sex, but I had a sneaking suspicion Luca would need some guidance with it. He didn’t strike me as the casual sex type, though he’d surprised me at the wedding, so maybe he was.
“I also can’t offer you sexual exclusivity.”
His eyes widened, and I could see the questions turning around in his head.
“I wanted to be clear about that up front.”
“Are you…with someone?” he asked, choosing his words carefully.
“Not romantically,” I replied, opting for truth even if I didn’t want to launch into a full explanation. “All I can promise you is that I keep myself safe and have a standing appointment at the omega clinic to make sure I stay that way. I know it’s not an ideal situation?—”
“No, but nothing ever is.” Luca shrugged. “I don’t want to haul out the cliche of ‘I’ll take what I can get,’ but I’m happy with whatever you want to give me.”
I watched him for a long moment. It was a better response than I’d been anticipating, but not one I trusted in full. Luca didn’t know the whole story, though I didn’t think it was the business of a friends-with-benefits situation.
