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18
Luca
It was thanks to Marco and Rhodes that I was able to even get out on stage when last-minute uncertainty hit.All these questions I didn’t have answers to raced through my head.Would this actually work?Couldthis work?What if someone else outbid her?What if Lonniedidn’tbid on me when she realized what was happening?
What if she thought this was a prank instead of me being one hundred percent genuine?
After I blurted all of that out to Marco, he'd slapped me around the back of my head, then straightened my pocket square, gave me a grin, and told it to me straight.“Get your ass out there, otherwise you’ll never know and we’ll never hear the end of it.”
Rhodes had snorted and shaken his head.“What your inspirational big brother istryingto say is that if not now, then when?Because you’ve gone to all this trouble to set up a date that’ll be the big grand gesture that’s perfect for her and her alone, andnowyou’re having second thoughts?C’mon, Luc.You finally know what you want; all you’ve gotta do is go out there and get it.”
So I did exactly that.I walked out on stage and took control of my future—well, the future I want anyway.
And now that I’m backstage and still in a state of shock, bewilderment, anxious excitement, and tempered hope ...I’m wondering if I’ll evenmakeit till tomorrow night.
“You, Luca Rossi, might just have the biggest balls I’ve ever seen,” Scotty says, coming over and slapping me on the shoulder.He holds his hands out wide.“Likehuge.”
“You been checking me out in the locker room, Scotty?”I ask, deflecting how I’m really feeling with a smartass comeback.
Cap appears from behind the curtain, walking straight toward me, his expression unreadable, his eyes locked on me.I freeze in place, my body no longer willing to cooperate with me as I wait for my impending doom.Any chatter that had been going on falls by the wayside as London’sfatherand mysuperiorstops in front of me, crossing his arms over his chest and staring at me.
My mouth is as dry as a desert, but somehow, I manage to swallow down the tight lump in my throat and square my shoulders.Cap is not a man to be treated like a fool, and I would never dream of being anything but my true self with him.And okay, so I could’ve given him heads up that I was going to dothatin front of everyone tonight ...but in my defense, I wasn’t sure exactly how it would go down.I was also more nervous than I’ve ever been in my entire life.Like I can face a burning building on the verge of a flashover, but putting myself out there for my best friend—the same one I’ve been telling everyone I didn’t have feelings for when my subconscious was laughing at me, like the idiot I am—thathad me nearly losing my dinner before I walked out on stage.
Now the indiscernible expression on Cap’s face has me sinking back down to earth, especially when he crosses his arms in front of his body and narrows his eyes.
“Cap, I—”
“About damn time, Rossi,” he says, his lips curving into a smile as he pulls me in for a man hug before letting me go.“You sure know how to make a statement too.Two thousand dollars?My god, I think we’ve been paying you too much.”
I let out a huge sigh and shake my head, my lips twitching as all the tension and worry I’d been holding onto leeches out of me.“Fuck, you had me worried there for a moment.”
“Youwere worried?Luc, you’ve been in denial for so long we started wondering if you wereevergoing to see the wood for the trees,” he says, looking around the crew who must have gathered to watch the show of London’s Dad Ripping Me a New One.Thankfully, that didn’t happen.
I meet his eyes, making sure he knows I’m being straight with him.“I may have taken my time, sir.But my intention is to sweep your daughter off her feet and prove to her that my eyes are well and truly open now.There isn’t anything I won’t do to make sure she knows just how serious I am about her and how strong my feelings are.”
Pride shines back at me in his gaze.“Luc, there isn’t another man on this crew that I’d trust more to look after my baby girl than you.”
“Hey!I take exception to that,” Scotty pipes up from the sidelines.
All heads snap his way, a chorus of “Really?”and “You’re joking, right?”ringing out around the group.
“What?I’m trustworthy.I’d never deny I had the hots for the Cap’s daughter like Luc did,” Scotty says.
Cap’s grin turns into a deadly scowl, one that we’ve all seen at one point or another over the years we’ve been together as a crew at 101.Scotty’s gulp and shrinking form prove he’s feeling the intense weight of the Captain’s glare.
“You want to repeat that, firefighter Jones?”Cap asks.
“Nope.Not me.I’ve got to ...um ...bye!”then Scotty’s gone faster than I’ve ever seen him move, and as hard as I fight it, I can’t help the snicker that escapes my lips.Marco and Rhodes chuckle right alongside me.
“We’ll leave you to it, Luc,” Marco says wrapping his arm around my shoulders.“I’m happy for you and here if you need advice.”
I arch a brow.“Advice?”
Marco rolls his eyes and laughs.“Yeah, and for once, you should actually let what I’m saying sink in.”
“Okay, big brother.What is this advice?”
“Don’t listen to anyone.Just go with the flow and what feels right.”
