CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Lucas
HE SAT down across from Akio at his dining table, a glass of whiskey in hand. Akio was looking at him over the top of his beer. He’d told Akio they needed to talk, and he’d instantly demanded alcohol which he couldn’t exactly blame him for. Everything between them was progressing very fast especially because they were somewhat stuck together since Akio was staying with him. A week had already passed since he’d moved the man in, and despite all the sex they’d been having, they hadn’t talked much. Not about the real stuff.
He’d had Akio twice already today, once when he’d woken up with Akio’s ass rubbing against his morning wood, and the second time because Akio had announced he was taking a shower with a naughty look in his eyes, and he’d been unable to keep his hands off the man.
“Do we need to talk?” Akio asked, a hopeful look on his face. “I know other things we could do. More enjoyable things.”
Lucas gave him a disappointed look, and Akio sighed dramatically.
“You know we do. This relationship is moving fast, and you’ve never been in one before.”
Akio glared at him. “Is my age a problem for you?”
“You’re a grown man.”
“Doesn’t really answer my question,” Akio muttered.
“It’s not as much the age gap.”
“What is it, then?”
He hesitated for a second, unsure how Akio would take it.
“The way we met…” He sighed and shook his head. “Let’s not mince words here, you saw me as a sort of hero.”
Akio crossed his arms and said, “What was it you said about your ego?”
He stared at Akio until he sighed, arms falling to his sides.
“Fine. Yeah. I had a crush on you from the start, but I knew that wasn’t what it was for you. I was a kid to you.”
“You were.” He met Akio’s unwavering gaze. “Until you weren’t.”
He watched as Akio swallowed, his Adam’s Apple moving up and down. He stared at that elegant throat of his, so pale in comparison to his flushed cheeks.
“When?” Akio asked, eyes widening as if he hadn’t meant to ask.
He raised his glass to his lips and threw back the whiskey, cringing as it burned on the way down. His voice was rough as he spoke, and he could almost convince himself it was from the whiskey.
“Last year. Your birthday.”
Akio blinked at him, then snapped his brows together. “Why?”
Lucas shook his head slowly, trying to find the right words.
“I could no longer pretend you were a kid, and when you saw me… the way you smiled, the way you looked at me, I just―” He ran a hand down his face. “I was a fucking goner right then and there. Then you made me dance with you and I was more focused on you than teasing Diesel. I couldn’t look away from you. I could barely get myself to let go of you again. I sure as fuck didn’t want to let go.”
“Teasing Diesel? What do you mean?”
Fuck.
Lucas pressed his lips together. He’d said too much.
Akio narrowed his eyes.
“What. Do you. Mean?”
“Your um… crush? It was kinda evident from the start,” Lucas said with a grimace.
Akio’s mouth dropped open, and he shook his head.
“My brother knew the whole time?”
“Yeah. We all did, and I would―” he cut himself off, not wanting to admit it, but Akio looked at him with such an amused smile on his lips that he told him anyway. “I would engage you because Diesel hates it.”
Laughter burst from Akio, and he found himself looking at the man with confusion and just a pinch of hope for his own dignity.
“I can’t―I can’t believe I never saw it,” Akio said between bursts of laughter.
Lucas arched a brow at him and said, “To be fair, you were kinda occupied by your crush on me.”
Akio’s eyes gleamed dangerously.
“Oh, I was. Very occupied.”
Lucas knew just how much. He knew what Akio had been doing while thinking of him and it set his whole body aflame with desire.
He pushed his chair back, rising with deliberately slow movements. He rounded the table just as Akio got up as well, dark eyes trailing Lucas.
He stopped in front of Akio, hands going to his face, soft smooth skin against his palms. Akio looked up at him and his heart squeezed almost painfully.
“I know this thing between us is very new, but I’ve wanted you for a year.”
A bashful smile spread on Akio’s face. “I’ve wanted you for a lot longer.”
Lucas’ lips quirked at the corners, and he stepped closer, bringing them nearly chest to chest. Akio tilted his head back to keep eye contact and Lucas slid his hands into Akio’s soft black hair.
“I’m not just talking sex,” Akio blurted out.
“I know.”
The way Akio looked at him? That was far beyond just physical attraction.
As he ran his gaze over Akio’s face, he knew it was much more than that for him, too.
“I think I’m falling for you,” he said, his voice sounding rough with the emotions he didn’t try to hide.
“Really?”
He poked Akio in the ribs, chuckling when Akio jumped and slapped a hand against his chest. The hand stayed there, in the middle of his chest. Akio could probably feel the frantic beating of his heart.
“You don’t think me a liar, do you?” he teased Akio who went bright red in the face and started spluttering.
He shook his head and shut Akio up with a soft kiss to his lips. He pulled back to see a flustered Akio blinking at him, lips parted slightly, that lovely flush on his skin. Those dark brown eyes enthralled him, pulling him into their depths. There were so many emotions swirling around in there and it was all for him.
If someone had told him four years ago that he would end up lucky enough to have someone so sweet, brave, and loyal as Akio looking at him with affection and desire, he wouldn’t have believed them.
“I don’t know what I’ve done to have you―”
“You see me,” Akio said, cutting Lucas off. “You’ve always seen me. You never looked at me as… as Yokota’s son. As someone who was abused and shot his own father. You just saw me as a person.”
He felt tears filling his eyes at the raw emotion in Akio’s voice.
“You have been the only bright thing in my life for so long,” Lucas said, voice barely above a whisper. “Every second I’ve spent with you has been real. There has always been an understanding between us. Something that binds us together. I don’t know how to describe it.”
“How about we just feel it?”
He looked at Akio, the man he was most certainly falling hard and fast for, and he knew in his heart that he would never find someone who made him feel the way Akio did. He was quickly becoming his everything, a lighthouse shining across the sea to call him home.