Chapter 15
Luca
My head was still in the clouds after kissing Axel last night.
From the moment I looked at him on the street outside the Midnight Market, I knew there was something dangerous about him.
Not that I was afraid of him, but more like afraid of how he affected me.
I was terrified of whatever was going on between us, but the pull he had on me was all-consuming.
I knew life was about taking chances, and if I was going to take one, it would be with Axel.
We had until the middle of September to find and get him settled into his new place. In six weeks, he went off to training and a demanding ten-month season if they made a run for the cup. If he didn’t stop rejecting all the good ones we’d found, he’d be living there when the season started.
It had already been what felt like the longest day when I pulled up to the front door of his building.
One of the senior living facilities I preferred had lost partial funding, which meant no new placements.
I spent the day searching for open spots while counting down the minutes until I could leave.
Waiting in the usual spot, the doorman approached my window and relayed Axel’s message.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Vaughn. Mr. Hughes is delayed. He called down to ask that we park your car so you may join him upstairs.”
“Ah. Okay.” Getting out of the car, I collected his iced coffee along with my bag before handing over the keys.
It wasn’t much, but the money I saved on food allowed me to splurge on coffee for him.
He always seemed surprised. Had no one ever done that for him?
Or was he always the one to do the giving?
When I stepped off the elevator, I made my way down the hallway to his door.
Knocking lightly, I waited for him to answer.
“Let’s go, Hughes,” I called. “The realtor is….” The door swung.
open, leaving me unable to breathe when a nearly naked Axel stood in front of me, his hockey god body on display.
“Waiting,” I finally breathed. Drinking in the man candy work of art in the doorway, I cleared my throat and looked away.
“I’ll just…wait. Here.” I handed him his coffee.
Axel took the cup, then reached out to pull me inside. “No, you won’t.”
Standing impossibly close, I could feel the heat from his skin.
Jesus fuck, he was magnificent. Without thinking, I wiped away a few stray drops of water that clung to the tattoos covering his chest. “You’re wet,” I said, stating the obvious.
Axel stood stock still as I pulled my hand away.
“Why are you, umm…” The words came a little breathier than I wanted.
“Business, and he just left.” Setting the cup down, he pressed me to the wall, leaned his chest into mine, and kissed the daylights out of me.
Mint burst along my tongue as he claimed my mouth with the most sensual kiss of my life.
I gave in, wilting like a flower out of water into his arms. He smelled so good.
But the last part of his statement chose that moment to register.
He? Who was he? Pushing him away to allow oxygen into my bloodstream, I looked toward the door and around the room as if he were still there.
Was it a hookup? When had he met someone else?
Nausea rose from my stomach as a hot streak of jealousy shot up my spine.
We hadn’t discussed any parameters, and this was why I didn’t do hookups.
But as I looked at him looking at me, I took a deep breath.
This was Axel. And he was different. But it didn’t stop me from being jealous of whoever he was.
“Luca?” he murmured, drawing my eyes to him. He looked concerned. God, I hated it when he whispered like that.
“Yeah, sorry,” I muttered, pushing past him to get away from the magnetic pull he had on me. Tossing my bag onto the sofa, I sat down and pulled out my phone, ignoring the half-naked man. “You need to get dressed so we can go.”
That didn’t deter him. “What’s wrong?” His soft tone beckoned me. Somehow, I’d already become beholden to the softspoken man he showed me. “Are you okay?”
My eyes snapped up to where he stood with his massive arms folded over his chest, towel dangling by a thread.
One hasty move and it would be on the floor.
“Of course.” Forcing my eyes back to my phone, I scrolled through my apps, not seeing one of them.
“Why wouldn’t I be? Last night, I mean, we didn’t…
and I didn’t…. You can do…” I waved my hand, “whoever you want.” I was such a fucking liar.
It mattered, but it shouldn’t. Dropping my head into my hands, I rambled like an idiot.
“God, ignore me. I’m overreacting. And emotionally stunted.
I know that, and this is a waste of time.
” I looked up to find Axel sitting on the coffee table, in his towel, smiling at me.
“Why are you so upset?”
“I’m not upset,” I snapped. Jesus fuck. I breathed out erratically. “That’s a lie. I’m irritated that you aren’t ready to go. We have an appointment, and I hate being late.”
He didn’t believe me. “Are you sure that’s it?”
I huffed and looked at the half-naked man who insisted on frying my brain. “It’s rude for you to hook up with someone when we had an appointment.” What the fuck was I doing? I buried my face in my hands again. God, I was embarrassed.
Axel chuckled and ran his hands over my head, tipping my chin up to look at him. “Are you referring to the he I spoke of?”
I was ready to die. “Yes. Can we forget this ever happened? I’ll go back downstairs and get in my car, circle the block, and wait for you to come down.
” I got to my feet but was immediately pulled back down.
I kept my eyes peeled for that towel. I knew what a man looked like.
I was one. But not what this man looked like.
“Wow,” he mused, smiling at me. “This is really something.”
“This is also why I don’t do this. This is what you get for investing yourself in a something-ship with a virgin.” I rubbed my eyes, wondering if I could disappear through the floor.
When he laughed, I could hear the happiness in his tone.
It was completely different from laughing at something funny or making fun of me.
It was the pure form of joy in his tone, and the sound was for me.
Because of me. I had my own wow moment, because this must be what it was like when someone cared about you.
The deep melodic sound and the way he looked at me quieted one of the million doubts I had about this twenty-hour-old something-ship we were in.
When he settled down and found me gazing up at him like some love-sick fool, he kissed me. And I melted like an ice cube on the sidewalk. “The he in question was the law firm courier who delivered some papers from my attorney. I had to sign them, delaying my shower after my workout.”
I blinked at him, still a bit dazed from his near-nakedness and that kiss. “Oh.”
“I’ll bore you with it soon, but I really should get dressed. Or we’re going to be late.”
“That’s what I’ve been telling you. Now go. I’ll be right here, quietly dying of embarrassment.”
Axel didn’t move. “Thank you,” he whispered, his expression so genuine that I wouldn’t dare make a joke about it.
“For what?”
“For putting up with me…I can be difficult to take sometimes.”
He was wrong. “I’ve got you, big guy.”
Axel’s lips tipped up just enough for me to see as he stood. Picking up his coffee, he took a sip. “Thank you again.” He held up the cup, then trotted off to his bedroom.
Half an hour later, we pulled up to a three-story Mediterranean-style home on a quiet street, priced at a cool 5.
3 million dollars. “It looked bigger in the photos,” Axel said, opening the car door.
I followed as he got out of my car and stood in the middle of the driveway, looking up at the balconies.
The realtor came out the front door with a big smile until he saw my car sitting in the driveway.
It was almost comical to watch his face contort into a forced smile.
“Hello, welcome.” He extended his hand to Axel. “My name is Javier Devareux, Devareux Real Estate.”
“Axel Hughes.” The man eyed me as I strode up in my khaki pants and non-designer shirt. Axel introduced me. “This is Luca Vaughn.”
Javier’s strained smile and a nod almost made me laugh. “Well, let’s go have a look, shall we?” As we followed behind him, he turned to Axel. “Have you already been pre-approved for a mortgage loan?”
“No. I’ll be paying cash,” Axel replied, walking through the front door.
The realtor eyed his athletic shorts and T-shirt as he entered the house. “Let me show you the…”
“No. We’ll look around and let you know if we have questions.” Axel didn’t wait for his approval. Instead, he reached for my hand to pull me through the foyer into the large kitchen.
“I think he wanted to come with us,” I whispered into his shoulder.
“That’s unfortunate,” he said, pulling me into the large family room.
As we went from room to room and floor to floor, our realtor followed along, keeping an eye on us from afar.
It took us ten minutes to tour the house and the backyard.
With this one, he’d have his jacuzzi, heated swimming pool, and two-car garage.
Not to mention a separate pool house. “No plunge pool,” I pointed out.
“Guess you’d have to fill up that giant bathtub with cold water. ”
“Hmm,” Axel replied. “What do you think? Do you like it?”
“What’s not to like? But it’s not my decision.”
“But if it were, would you like living here?”
I snorted. “Uh, yes.”
Axel took another look around the grounds as we walked back to the car. He motioned for the realtor who had been lurking behind us. “How soon will it be available?”
“That will depend on your bank and the paperwork.”
“No bank. Cash offer. $5.2 million.”
It was entertaining to watch the smug as fuck realtor’s eyes pop out of his head.
“Cash, sir?” He looked him up and down. “I’m sorry, what did you say your name was?”
It was my turn to happily supply that information. “Axel Hughes,” I said, as if I were somebody. “Starting center for the New York Nighthawks. You know, the NHL team.”
Fireworks shot off behind his eyes. “Oh yes! The Nighthawks.”
“I’ll have my attorney contact your office,” Axel said, opening my car door. That was new. I got in as he walked around. “I want to close next week. Can you make that happen? If not, I’ll find a realtor who can.”
His eyes widened like saucers. “Yes, sir. I can. No problem, sir.”
Axel got in and closed the door. He put on his sunglasses and grinned over at me. “Man, I’m glad that’s over.”
Shifting in my seat, I looked at him. “It took you over a month to finally look at a property, and you bought the first one you saw.”
His smirk made my heart do stupid things in my chest. I might have to get that checked out. “I know what I want when I see it, Vaughn.” He lightly tapped the end of my nose with his index finger. “Let’s go. It’s hot in here.”
“Yes, sir, your lordship. Guess you’ll have to buy a car next, huh?”
“I suppose so. Let’s go do that next.”
Starting the car, I pulled out of the driveway, hoping my two-decade-old car didn’t leak oil onto his new driveway. Next time, I’d park on the street, just to be safe.
As we left the property with the view of Manhattan, I couldn’t help but think that we were at the beginning of the end now that we’d ticked off this box.
I glanced at him as he called this attorney about purchasing the house.
Axel was happy and moving toward his new life.
It was just a matter of time until he realized we weren’t meant to live in the same world.