Page 54 of Rookie Rules

The corridor kiss lived between them, but Luca would not build the next one out of silence alone. He would not let Rowan arrive, take what comfort he wanted, and call the whole thing another failure of distance.

"Say what you want," Luca said.

Rowan's expression tightened. His hands remained at his sides.

"You."

The word landed without decoration.

Luca had imagined extracting an admission from Rowan often enough to know none of those versions had been this spare. Or this dangerous.

"Tonight," Rowan added.

There was the limit. There was also the choice.

Luca heard both.

"And tomorrow?"

"I don't know."

It was not enough. It was more honest than anything Rowan had given him since the corridor.

Luca stepped within reach. "Then choose what you know."

Rowan kissed him.

Not the startled breach of the arena corridor. This began with intention. Rowan's hand settled at Luca's neck, thumb beneath his jaw, and held him still while his mouth opened over Luca's.

Luca let him set the first pace.

That mattered.

Rowan had spent days behaving as if desire were an accident he could prevent by standing far enough away. Now every movement contradicted him. He pushed Luca back against the closed door. He kissed like a man making a decision he intended to survive.

Luca put both hands at Rowan's waist. The fabric of the suit was still cool from outside. Beneath it Rowan was warm, solid, and holding himself with the same precision he used at the faceoff dot.

Luca slid one hand up his back.

Rowan broke the kiss.

Their foreheads nearly touched.

"Still okay?" Luca asked.

"Yes."

"Good."

Luca turned them.

Rowan's back met the door. Surprise flashed, then heat. Luca kissed the corner of his mouth, his jaw, the exposed line above his collar. Rowan's fingers tightened in Luca's shirt, not pushing him away, not passive. Holding.

"You can tell me what you want," Luca said against his skin.

"I came here."

"That tells me where."