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Mercifully, that was a conversation Conor never had to have. Dad had been dead for nearly a decade.
It wasn’t until he was in college that Conor realized he was bisexual, not gay, when he’d fallen for a girl who lived in his dorm. He’d lost his virginity to her, and after they eventually broke up, he lost a different virginity to a guy in his business law class.
Conor’s gaze drifted to Luca’s ass as the man bent over, checking the bench seat for his missing cell.
“Found it,” he said, standing up and turning.
Conor’s eyes flew to Luca’s face, hoping the other man hadn’t caught him ogling his ass. It appeared luck wasn’t on his side when Luca gave him a look that was too knowing for Conor’s peace of mind.
Conor cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Good.”
Many, many years ago, he and Luca had been—if not friends—friendly acquaintances. Until Conor fucked it up. After that, he’d stonewalled, avoided, and ignored Luca until he graduated, and their paths no longer crossed on a daily basis.
Prior to Gage’s wedding, he hadn’t been in the same room with Luca Moretti since high school, something Conor preferred.
“It was a great party,” Luca said, attempting to make small talk.
“It was,” Conor agreed.
Luca glanced around the restaurant. “You here alone?”
Conor nodded. “Yeah. I was just about to lock up.”
Considering Luca had seen him sitting by himself through the window at the front of the restaurant, it was apparent he was lying.
“Everything look okay? Anything left to put back or clean up? I can help, if so.”
Conor shook his head. “No. I was actually just sitting here wondering what the odds were that I could hire your aunts and mom as chefs in my restaurants.”
The edges of Luca’s lips curled up, giving him a half smile, and Conor felt his dick twitch.
There was no denying the Morettis had good genes, but as far as he was concerned, Luca was the best-looking of the bunch. Which was ridiculous, considering the guy had an identical twin.
“I’d say the odds are slim, but I’ll pass on your compliment just the same. They’ll be pleased to know you liked the food.”
Silence fell and lingered a shade too long, but Conor didn’t have a clue how to break it. Social skills were way down on this list of things he could do. Rock bottom actually.
Luca glanced at the time on his phone. “Well, I guess I should head out. It was good to see you, Conor. Maybe we’ll run into each other again sometime, especially since…”
Luca had seen the same thing Conor had tonight.
“Since my brother and your cousin are dating now,” Conor finished.
“Yeah.” Luca shook his head in disbelief, as if a Moretti and a Russo relationship was completely out of the realm of possibility. “That’s going to take some getting used to.”
Luca’s words hurt, but Conor knew that wasn’t his intention, so he just nodded. Luca was as straight as they came, something Conor had resigned himself to long ago. Any lingering fantasies he harbored toward the man were destined to remain dreams and nothing more.
“Well, good night,” he finally managed to say, following Luca to the door so he could lock it once more.
“I’ll see you around,” Luca said as he took his leave.
Conor stood at the front window, watching Luca walk away down the sidewalk, sighing heavily.
Rather than heading to his own car, Conor went back to the table he’d just been occupying, dropping down into the chair again, reliving mistakes he hadn’t thought of in years.
When those thoughts got too heavy, he pushed them away, instead letting himself dream of things he was afraid he’d never find.
Love.
Marriage.
And a place where he wasn’t lost in the shadows.
* * *
