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I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to be able to do anything but think about it.
Luca winced as he stretched during my class. I wasn’t sure how it was possible that he had gotten his muscles even tighter than last week, but somehow he had managed it. I wiggled a couple of blocks to help him hold the position more comfortably.
He mouthed a “thank you.”
“We’re holding for thirty more seconds and then we’re going to go into our final relaxation,” I told the class, watching the seconds tick by on the clock. The very end was always my favorite, when I could see the tension float out of them. “Okay, let’s get settled.”
I didn’t even pretend not to stare at Luca while his eyes were closed. Everyone else had their eyes closed too, so no one could see me. Stella hadn’t said anything about asking him out and Luca hadn’t said anything either. I was mostly banking on my sister being a chickenshit because I had no idea what the hell I would do if she actually did ask him out. I couldn’t tell her not to, and I also couldn’t technically tell Luca to not agree if she did. He would definitely be an improvement over Rodney for Stella, but the mere idea of him dating my sister sparked a jealousy so strong it nearly choked me.
I slapped back the little voice in my head that wanted to keep him. It had wanted to keep a lot of people, and listening to that voice had never gone well.
I’d been debating with myself since Sunday if I should ask Luca about Stella. If he had recently started walking Beans, then I might’ve been suspicious. As far as I was aware, Luca didn’t even know I had sisters until our first “date.” He didn’t seem like the type to play the long game, finding out about Stella from Allie, and then deciding on walking her dog on a whim to cultivate goodwill with me. He’d probably seen Stella struggling and immediately offered to help.
He was just like that.
I swallowed hard against the rise of emotion in my throat. My sisters and I had complicated relationships, but there was nothing I wouldn’t do for them, and it meant more than I could ever express that Luca had taken it upon himself to help Stella for no other reason than to be helpful.
As class ended and everyone put away their supplies, Luca hung back and helped me clean up the room afterward. I watched him curiously.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Workout today took a little more out of me than I expected.”
“Good thing you have me to loosen you up again.”
Luca tucked close to me and dipped down to speak quietly in my ear. “I know I promised you could tie me up this week, but would you mind terribly if we just hung out? I don’t know how much my body can take tonight.”
I raised one incredulous eyebrow. “Not even going to ask me if I’ll get on top and save you the effort?”
His cheeks flushed in the dim light of the empty studio. “I’m not going to say I don’t enjoy the view. I didn’t want you to feel like you had to.”
I put the broom and steam mop away. “We can skip if you’re not up to it.”
“No. I’ve been waiting all week for this. If you want to skip then that’s okay, but I’d still like to see you tonight. Outside of class, I mean.”
“All right. Why on earth were you doing a workout before coming to see me anyway?”
“It was kind of impromptu. A new friend wanted me to try.”
Heat raced through my body. “If that’s code for you’re sleeping with someone else, I’d like to know.”
Luca’s jaw dropped. “God, no. I haven’t touched anyone but you, and I have no plans to do otherwise.”
The sense of relief from those words shouldn’t have been as strong as it was. Luca was perfectly able to have as many partners as he wanted as long as he kept me informed so we could stay safe. I didn’t have to like it, but I would be a giant hypocrite if I forbade it.
“Have you had dinner already?” Luca asked when I didn’t immediately respond.
I shook my head. Usually I would eat after class, but my new schedule with Luca had me eating a little less than I should.
“We could order in? I’ll do whatever sexy things you want as long as it doesn’t require the use of my arms.”
I rolled my eyes playfully with a quiet laugh. “Okay. Put in something for delivery and we can meet at my apartment.”
“No preferences?” he asked. “What’s your favorite?”
“Cobb salad, but with cheddar instead of blue cheese.”
He was already on his phone looking for a place that had it. “Okay, order placed!”
