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With the tenderness Renzo offered him and with all the patience.
“You still there?” Renzo asked.
Emil rubbed at his eyes, trying to chase away the fog. “Yeah. Sorry. Just tired, I think.”
“I know. I’ll let you go.”
Emil hated those words, no matter how necessary they were. “Call me tomorrow?”
“We’ll definitely talk tomorrow,” Renzo said. “Just try to get rest and remember this is a small moment. There are bigger and better things waiting for you.”
“I,” Emil said, then stopped. He felt it—those three small words that were far too big for so few letters. But he held back. Saying them now wouldn’t be fair to either of them. “Yeah. Talk tomorrow.”
“Good night, sunshine.”
Those words sent Emil into a fitful slumber, but in spite of that, he had a smile on his face and warmth where his heart beat.
CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR
“I don’t like it here.”
Renzo looked over at his brother and laid his hand on his shoulder. “I know, bud. But it’s only for a second. I just need to upload a couple of things to my drive, and then we’re leaving.”
Matty began to bounce on his feet. Sometimes, when he was excited, it was easy to forget he was a grown adult and had been through the wringer, thanks to Renzo’s bad decisions and crappy ex. And that was weighing heavily on him in spite of the fact that he knew he was making the right choice.
Emil should be several walking red flags, but he wasn’t. He was a good person who was dealt a shitty hand, and he was one of the few people in the world who was trying to become better. Renzo wasn’t going to ever demand perfection. How could he when he was the furthest thing from it. But he was learning to trust again, and Emil made him feel safe.
So making the phone call right after he and Emil talked had been easy. Setting up his plans and his tickets and letting Matty know had been simple.
It had been the next morning that was hard and almost impossible not to second-guess himself. What if he got it wrong? What if he was actually unwanted?
“When do we get on the plane?” Matty asked as Renzo fished his keys out of his pocket and opened his office door. Matty looked around nervously, and Renzo knew who he was looking for.
“John doesn’t work in this building,” he said, ushering his brother inside. “And you have the itinerary in your email, bud. Instead of asking me a hundred times, why don’t you look.”
“I’m nervous,” Matty spat, crossing his arms. “Don’t be a jerk.”
Renzo threw up his hands. “I’m not trying to be, but last-minute flights are stressful, and surprising Emil is making me feel a little…”
“Crazy pants?” Matty said.
“Let’s not use that phrase,” Renzo told him tiredly as he dropped behind his desk. “But also, yes.”
Matty snorted as he dropped into one of the empty chairs. He swung his legs and looked around at all of Renzo’s shelves. “No pictures of me.”
“I have a bunch, but I keep them where nosy students can’t find them,” Renzo said, pointing to a couple of frames facing away from the door.
Matty grinned. “Because I’m better-looking than you.”
Renzo’s brows shot up, and then he laughed. “Sure. Whatever you say.”
Matty just grinned but stayed quiet as Renzo worked, which made his quick task easy. The internet was better now that the campus was all but deserted, so he had everything uploaded and ready to go. His only excuse for staying home was work, and now he was mobile. Which meant he could give Emil what he’d been begging for.
The only fear licking at his heels was that maybe Emil was just talking through emotion. Maybe he hadn’t been serious. Even when Victor and Oliver promised it would be the best gift—even when Victor insisted he pay—Renzo couldn’t shake the worry that he was doing too much.
Emil said he felt needy, but all he wanted was a promise that Renzo would be waiting for him when he got back. He wasn’t jumping in a plane and upending his entire trip.
“Can we go?” Matty asked. “We’re gonna be late.”
