Chapter 21

Something settled inside of Luca when Gus agreed. It was as if someone had opened a valve and let out all the worry and anxiety.

Luca collapsed against Gus’s shoulder. “Okay,” he whispered back.

He swallowed around the lump in his throat and blinked. This was not the time for crying, even if they were happy tears. He had a plan, goddammit.

“Now that that’s out of the way, we move on to part two of my plan,” he murmured against Gus’s neck.

“There’s a plan?”

“Of course, there’s a plan.”

“So what’s part two?”

Luca could hear the amusement in Gus’s voice, and he smiled.

“Part two is a nap, and part three is where I show you my new underwear.”

“New underwear?”

Gus’s hand wandered down Luca’s back, all the way down to the waistband of his sweats. Gus pulled them down, intent on going directly to part three of Luca’s well-laid-out plan. Luca didn’t mind, happy Gus’s energy seemed to be returning. He wished he’d done this earlier and not waited all this time.