Page 104 of Two for Charging

Mooney glared at him, arms crossed.

Did he want an answer? Luca couldn’t think of one besides the truth, and he had no idea if he ought to reveal it.

“So? Where were you?”

“I…”

With a huff, Mooney turned away and began stuffing his things into his suitcase. “Fine, don’t tell me. I covered for you last night with Lindy, by the way, so you’re welcome. If you do it again, you’re on your own. The team needs you. I can’t believe you’d put getting tail above us.”

“I’m sorry.” What else could Luca say? He hadn’t put a random hookup above the team, and he hadn’t needed Mooney to cover with Lindy. She must have questions now about why he had.

They finished packing in silence.

Luca managed to catch an elevator down alone with Chris, claiming they wouldn’t fit with Mooney, Howie, and Vanderbilt, along with all their luggage.

As soon as the doors shut, Chris burst out, “I’m not ashamed of you; I promise. And I’m also not ashamed you were the one who fucked me.”

“I didn’t think you were.”

Chris appeared not to hear him, wringing his hands together and continuing to talk. “But, like, I’ve been not-straight for two days, and—”

“Chris, it’s fine.” Luca put both hands on his shoulders to get him to stay put. “We don’t need to tell anyone right away. We can wait as long as you want.”

“Okay.” Chris smiled, a little abashed. “Probably won’t be long. I hate lying to people.”

“You’re also very bad at it.”

“Sorry.”

“No, it is a good thing. You are an honest person. If you weren’t, we might not…last night might have not…”

Chris kissed him quickly, just in time before the elevator dinged and the doors opened.

On the bus, Mooney, Vanderbilt, and Hayes claimed the seats surrounding Chris and continued to rib him mercilessly about his alleged Italian lover (which wasn’t incorrect). This left Luca sitting next to a taciturn Howie, who stared out the window with his headphones firmly in place and refused to talk.

If Luca hadn’t assumed Chris knew how he felt, if he had been clearer with his words, he could have spared them both the day of agony in which they both thought there would never be any more between them. But Luca had been so caught up in his own hurt pride he had utterly failed to so much as try, and what for? He might have missed out on the best thing that had ever happened to him because he’d been so sure he would be hurt—when, all along, Chris had never been anything less than unfailingly, unflinchingly kind, even when Luca was being rude.

What was more, Chris deserved Luca being open with him. Being trusting. Letting himself feel things instead of trying to bury them and pretending a series of romantic gestures were only favors between roommates. Sure, literally anyone else on the planet would have recognized the dates for what they were. But Luca had been too stubborn, and Chris didn’t process attraction and love the same way Luca did. He also had terribly low self-esteem—or at least he used to—so it was no wonder he hadn’t realized.

The obliviousness charmed Luca as much as it frustrated him. Chris recognized love in other people at a hundred paces, or he wouldn’t have spent the last year as the team’s secret keeper. Luca supposed it was different when he was the one being loved.

Ultimately, last night had taught him the same lesson Lindy had been trying to impart all season, and Luca was man enough to admit he felt closer to the team and better on the ice the more he let himself open up. Before, his motivation had been to help Chris and to make his life better. Now, Luca was forced to accept he’d made his own life better as well. So, he would begin as he meant to continue.

Luca poked Howie in the side.

Howie swatted him away.

Luca poked him again.

“What?” Howie snapped, pulling his earbuds out.

“Are you going to ignore us forever?”

Howie shrugged. “I might. What’s it to you? You hate me anyway.”

“I don’t hate you.”

“Well, you sure as fuck don’t like me.”