Luka huffed, pushing on Reno to get him to stop. He asked again, “Will you?”
“Of course.” Reno beamed at him and watched as Luka melted. “It would be an honor to trust your strength, to face things side by side.”
Luka rolled onto his side towards Reno and tangled their limbs together. He let his eyes close, took in a deep breath,and Reno watched as his shoulders relaxed. Reno reached out to trace all of Luka’s sharp, worried features, hoping that his fingers could eventually smooth all of them down until Luka softened under his touch. He wanted a life so full of love, of fun, of gentleness, where Luka never had to fear again. And, he knew if they tried together, it might happen.
“Tell me you’ll choose this,” Reno said, his fingers still tracing Luka’s cheekbones, his brows, his jawline.
Luka’s eyes slowly opened, clear and determined as he said, “I choose this. You. Us. As long as you’ll have me.”
Reno brought their lips together, and Luka’s words, his promise, were sweet on his tongue.
“As long as you’ll have me.”
EPILOGUE
“It’s morefun to be in the crowd in London, I promise.” Cane ushered Luka out the stagehand door, a hand on his back while Luka fought back a snarl. He wanted to be backstage. He’d not seen Reno fortwo months. It wasn’tfair.
“Caaaaaane," Luka said, in a way that sounded eerily like Reno, “You’re torturing me. I haven’t seen my boyfriend in forever, and I’m going to die. It’s his birthday, let mein.”
Cane gave him a look that was so tired but so loving, Luka found himself dropping his attitude, marginally. Over the two months Voltage had been on tour in the South and Central Americas, Cane had graciously stayed with Luka. He’d diligently kept an eye on him, much to Luka’s annoyance and gratitude, and every morning after their run, they FaceTimed Reno together to check in and eat breakfast. It was cute. So cute it made Luka queasy.
“You can see him after the show all you want. He needs to focus on the performance.”
“Untrue, I cannotsee him all I want—he is leaving again in one week. He can focus just fine after I’ve kissed him, I promise.”
“Go with him on tour, then. Kiss him all you want another time.” Cane rolled his eyes and started pushing on Luka’s back again. Luka groaned and thought about giving up.
“You’re so mean to me. And, I am going with him for the second half of the tour. I wanna see France.”
“Spoiled.”
“You get to come too!” Luka finally let Cane push him out the door and into the concert hall, where a small crowd was starting to file in. “Okay, you win! But I’m going right to the merch stand, and getting the only signed Zana photo card in there as payback.”
Cane closed the door, leaving Luka to stand there feeling foolish while a few people looked at him with wide eyes. He pushed his hair away from his face, wishing he’d at least trimmed his bangs and maybe worn a cooler outfit if he was going to be in the crowd. He decided to steal a shirt from the merch booth, too. He spun on his heel and headed right to it, ignoring the pointed whispers around him from the early-access fans.
“Oh shit, what are you doing here?” Luka asked as he slipped between people to join Conner behind the table. “Hand me the photo card box. Please.”
“Had the night off from the pub, so I thought I’d help the band out with merch. Reno trusts me with money, which means Kandi does too. Plus, the fans…” He let out a low whistle. “Hot.”
“Uh huh.” Luka reached over him and took the photo card box and started shuffling through them. “Be careful, it’s an all-ages show.”
“If I think someone’s hot, I cross my fingers they use a credit card so I can ask for their ID to see if the card ‘matches’. Easy age check.”
“Okay, creep. Oh score!” Luka pulled the photo card out with a cheer. “Zana’s gonna be so pissed I snagged this.” He slippedthe signed card into his wallet. “Give me a shirt too, I didn’t know Cane was gonna force me out into public view.”
“Sure, what size?” Conner pulled a box of shirts out for Luka to dig through.
“Medium is fine.” His phone buzzed in his pocket and he smiled at the text that popped up.
Rosé
Will u get me one of my queen’s shirts please i will owe u big time wish i could have gone w u!
Anything for u. I'll be free again next sun to help w ur booth
I'm so so lucky ur a morning person. Farmers markets KILL me
But the ladies love ur crochet stuff so much :)
