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“I don’t think he minds,” Raphael said.
Luca’s face eased into a half-smile. “I hope not. We need time though, and I can give him that. But I have to go home and pack, and I need to talk to my brother, and… I don’t know.” What he wanted was advice from Noah, who had lived in Savannah most of his life. He wanted to know that he could plant roots there, that people wouldn’t urge him to leave the moment things got rough. They had all seemed to forgive him for his early mistakes, but he wasn’t sure he trusted them. At least, not yet.
“I’ll protect your car, but I can’t drive it without hand controls,” Raphael said.
“Just prepare to fight people off if they get too close. Use your crutches if you have to.” Luca dug into his pocket and pulled out his keys. “Jayden said he’d give me a ride to the city, and Nellie’s going to hold my shit here until she finds me a good place to crash for a while.”
“A while,” Raphael repeated.
“Maybe forever, but I don’t want to make promises.” Luca started to step back, but Raphael grabbed his arm and used it to leverage himself up.
“I don’t make friends easily.”
Luca lowered his eyelashes. “I know.”
“So I don’t let them go easy.”
He laughed and shook his head, curling one of his hands around Raphael’s wrists. “I know. I’m not leaving you, even if I don’t stay here.”
Raphael made a soft noise, but he let go with one hand and used it to touch the side of Luca’s face. “Be safe, yes?”
“Always.”
“Call me when you land.”
Luca felt his heart warm, the feeling cascading through his limbs, and it was a reminder that this wasn’t all for Wilder. Wilder was his focus, he was falling deep in love, and he wanted to see when or if it would end. But there was so much more, and maybe that’s why it felt so damn big. Maybe that’s why he felt a fire deep inside him for the first time in his entire life.
“I promise I’ll call every day,” Luca said, and Raphael’s body relaxed some. “I don’t plan on being gone long though.”
“Good.” Raphael let go and backed into his chair. “If you talk to Wilder, let him know we have his back, okay?”
Luca swallowed thickly and took a moment to answer. “Thanks. I…thank you.”
He had nothing more to offer, and his flight was leaving, so he said a last quick goodbye, then headed out to meet Jayden, who was waiting for him at the steps. He flung his bag in the back, then climbed into the seat and offered Jayden a smile before he pulled away from the curb and out onto the street. Luca didn’t know him well at all, and wasn’t sure Jayden was willing to give him a chance. He offered to drive him to the airport after he overheard him talking to Dmitri about it, but only when Luca said it was a round-trip ticket.
“If you hurt him,” Jayden said once they hit the freeway, and Luca startled in his seat, turning his gaze away. “If you hurt him, I will get everyone I know to come with me to California, and we will hurt you worse.”
It should have annoyed him. He should have been insulted. He was a grown adult in his damn forties, and this kid was threatening him all for a boy, and it was ridiculous. And yet, all he could do was smile. “Okay.”
“That’s all you have to say for yourself?” Jayden’s tone was sharp and accusing, and Luca couldn’t help his shrug.
“It’s the only thing I can say. I can’t make that promise, you know. I’m not going to be like his ex. I’m not a monster. But I am human, and humans make mistakes.”
“I know,” Jayden said with a sigh, then was quiet for a long moment. “I don’t think you’re a monster, for the record. But he’s one of my best friends, and I will do everything in my power to protect him.”
“I know.” Luca wasn’t quite sure what else to say, but he damn well knew how he felt. “I think I love him.”
“Oh,” Jayden said with a small laugh, “I know you do. Anyone who has been within ten feet of you two knows you’re both hopeless. But he’s a good person, and I’m not…I’m not going to sit here while someone fucks with him.”
“Is that what you think I’m doing?” Luca asked.
Jayden scoffed and swooped into the fast lane like he wanted to get to the airport and get Luca out of his car. “I don’t know. You waltzed into Savannah like you were lost, but somehow better than all of us…”
“Trust me,” Luca interrupted with a half-laugh, “I have never thought of myself as better than anyone.”
“That might be worse,” Jayden answered. “You can’t put all the burden on him to love you.”
“How he feels right now is enough.” Luca looked away again and missed Wilder like a limb. “I can’t be there to take care of him right now, so I’m doing what I can from here. The first step is closing up everything I have back in California.”
