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‘It’s an option,’ Wilder pointed out. ‘You’ve made friends.’
Luca bit his lip, then nodded. ‘That means something.’
‘And you don’t have to hang out on farms with sadistic peacocks if you don’t want to,’ Wilder pointed out.
This time, Luca’s laugh boomed from his chest, wild and all-encompassing. ‘Okay.’
‘But maybe…you might also want to have dinner. With me,’ he added after a second.
Luca’s lips parted and chest expanded like he sucked in his breath. ‘Why?’
‘Because as far as I know, we’re both humans who eat human food, and I know a couple of decent places. Here and down the hill,’ he added, in case Luca wasn’t ready to face the Savannah nightlife just yet.
After a beat, Luca nodded. ‘Tomorrow?’
Tomorrow would work—he would make it work. It had been years since Wilder had thought of anything except his bakery, and his quiet life, and his Tuesday wine nights with Jayden, Knox, and Talia. The newness was nerve-wracking and knee-trembling, but he wanted it. He hadn’t realized how starving he was for a new step, for proof to himself and to anyone who had known him before that Scott hadn’t entirely destroyed him. That he had managed to save all the pieces of himself, even if they didn’t fit together the same way anymore.
When he’d seen this man, looking like a lost puppy on a park bench, he’d only wanted to offer a cupcake and a kind word. He’d had no idea the potential it had to become something so much more.
CHAPTER 11
It wasn’t a date. It most definitely was not a date, but it felt like a damn date, and that had him panicking almost beyond reason. Eventually, Luca rushed downstairs and slammed himself against Raphael’s desk, careful not to jostle his still-aching dick as he met the other man’s wide gaze.
“Help.”
Raphael cleared his throat and rolled back in his chair.
“Help?”
“I have a thing.”
“You have a thing?” Raphael’s lips twitched. “You really need to be more specific.”
“Dinner. Tonight. Uh,” Luca sat back and ran his hand through his hair. “It’s not a date?”
“Are you asking me or telling me?” His tone was more amused than anything, which only served to make Luca more panicked.
“I don’t know. I’m think I’m freaking out.”
With a small sigh, Raphael wheeled around his desk and dragged his gaze up and down Luca’s body. “Give me five minutes.”
Sagging against the desk, Luca tried to calm himself down because he had no right to get worked up in the first place. Wilder was being nice—Wilder felt sorry for him, with good reason. But he also seemed like maybe he kind of liked having Luca around, and even if it wasn’t romantic, it was the first time Luca realized he was going to have to impress someone simply by being himself.
And that was terrifying, because he didn’t have much self. Before his money, he’d been a pliable stoner who worked customer service and always had a couch for friends to crash on. After money, he’d been a walking ATM—or a walking orgasm. Even Gabby—and God, he did adore her—wouldn’t have bothered to stick around if he hadn’t put her through school.
The tuition checks had earned him plenty of blow jobs and late-night Chinese take-out and reality TV binges, but he had no illusions about why she was with him. To her—he was a glorified sugar daddy. He was a pretty wallet, but ultimately just a sad old man with no direction.
So why did Wilder want this at all? Pity was one thing, but he wanted Luca to stay, and he didn’t think it was to change the way Luca thought about Savannah.
After all—he was nothing. He was no one.
What did it matter?
“You look like you’re about to have an actual breakdown,” Raphael said, jarring Luca from his thoughts.
Luca cleared his throat, annoyed that it was tight and hot. “It’s just been a day. This is normally how I calm myself down.”
“That surprises me in no way,” Raphael said with a grin. “Come on. Jayden’s back here, and he’s going to do your hair, and then I’ll give you a facial. The proper kind, not the come kind.”
