Chapter 32
Axel
He chuckled, sated and unable to open his eyes. “Are you kidding? Never better.”
I rubbed my right hand up and down his naked back as he sprawled across me. “Are you sure?”
Luca lifted his head to look at me. “I’m fine. Just feeling the stress of getting everything done before the end of the semester. And work is tough right now. Winter in the city is hard on people.”
“What can I do to help?”
His hand found the side of my jaw. “You’re doing it. You’re here when you can, and I know you love me. Don’t worry about me, and concentrate on your team. I’m fine. I promise.”
I pulled his hand away and kissed his palm. “You’ll tell me if something is bothering you.”
His eyes were heavy and full of carnal thoughts. “I will.”
I rolled him over and pressed him into my bed.
Naked, skin to skin, I was home with him.
I needed to be inside him once more, where all was right with the world.
Luca recharged my emotional battery that had been draining for the last ten days.
“I need you again,” I whispered. “I haven’t had enough. ”
“Have me,” he said, kissing my lips. “I’m all yours.”
Driving through my neighborhood, taking in all the decorations, I thought a holiday with candy and fun might be exactly what Luca needed. When he arrived that evening, he found me standing on the lawn staring at the front of my house. “Hello, love.”
He walked over and stood beside me, confused at my behavior. “Uh, what are you doing?”
I gestured to my house. “Looking at our house.” I dropped that little subliminal suggestion every chance I got. The more I said it, the more he’d get used to the idea. But he ignored me.
“Why? Is there something wrong?”
“All of the neighbors are lit up like Christmas with lights and blow-up things on their lawns. I’m lacking here, and I can’t have that. Even Karlsson has his house lit up. How did we miss this?”
I loved his smile. “Well, we can fix that pretty easily. You can order some stuff from . Problem solved.”
“No,” I scoffed. “I think we need to embrace the holiday spirit if I’m going to get the most out of my experience. You’ve done this, right?”
“I trick-or-treated a couple of times. What exactly does embrace mean?”
Only a couple of times? “When was the last time? I thought kids did this until they were teenagers.”
He looked around at the neighborhood. “They do, but I didn’t get to. Did you?”
“Yes. I went with my friends. Dressed up like a hockey player every year.”
Luca’s face split into a grin. “That was original.”
“I was manifesting, thank you very much.” I draped my arm over his shoulders and kissed his cheek.
“We’re going to decorate and buy candy and the lot.
Even costumes.” I raised my hand and waved it in front of the house.
“I want the dream house of Halloween, and mainly to outdo Karlsson. His house looks like a carnival. I want kids from miles around to talk about how cool the Hughes house is.”
Luca grinned. “Costumes? Really? You gonna break out of the mold, or are you going with the hockey player again?”
“Yes,” I said, taking him by the hand. “But we need to go now. The clock is ticking on our first Halloween together before I have to fly out Monday.”
I led him to the garage. We climbed into my SUV and backed out of the garage. “How much candy should we buy?”
Luca shrugged. “Don’t ask me. Maybe ask Karlsson. He’s been here a while.”
“Good thinking,” I said, dialing him up. When he answered, I cut straight to the point. “How much candy does one need to buy for Halloween?”
“Are you kidding, Cap? A fuck ton for this neighborhood.”
My brow furrowed. “And how much exactly is a fuck ton in quantity?”
“You know, a fuck ton. Like enough for three hockey teams.”
My brows rose. “Whoa. Okay. Thanks. Oh, one more thing, do you wear a costume when you distribute the goods?”
“Yeah, every time. The crazier the better. The kids love it.”
I turned to Luca. “See, I told you.”
Karlsson snorted. “I forgot you’re an American Halloween virgin, Cap. It’s the best night ever. Even for adults.”
“That’s all I needed to know.” Ending the call, I reached for Luca’s hand. “Where do we start?”
Excitement lit his eyes. “I have no idea, but I can Google it.”
As he searched his phone, I studied the side of his face as we sat in my driveway. His brows were furrowed in concentration as he furiously typed on his phone. It was a small, older version that I would replace. I mentally added it to my list.
“Okay,” he said. “Let’s start at the Halloween store.”
By the end of the weekend, I had filled the lawn with inflatable ghosts, pumpkins, and skeletons.
After looking at scads of lights, the helpful employee suggested I hire a lighting company to install LED lights.
It cost me a small fortune and some hockey tickets, but all I had to do was push a button, and we’d be ready for Christmas.
We stood on the front lawn the night before Halloween, proudly beaming at the obnoxious amount of holiday decorations. We were happy with how it turned out. “Holidays had never really meant anything to me,” I said to him, “but being with you gives them a whole new appeal.”
Luca turned in my arms. “Then let’s go inside, and I’ll show you something else that might appeal to you.”
Releasing him, I ran up the steps, stripping my clothes off as I entered the door to the sound of Luca’s laughter. I wanted to listen to that sound for the rest of my life.
Halloween night, I got another glimpse into a future I never allowed myself to consider. Luca had convinced me that if we wanted to go all out, we needed costumes. After much debate, he chose a big blue rabbit for me and a carrot for himself.
I looked at them, unimpressed with his selection. “Why?”
“We don’t want to scare the little kids.”
“But I want to be a dinosaur,” I pouted.
He was thoroughly amused with his choice. I didn’t care if it made him happy. “But it’s appropriate. Think about it. What do rabbits eat?” Luca raised a brow.
My eyes widened as the light bulb went off in my head. “You dirty boy.” Needless to say, I was a rabbit, and he was my carrot.
Dressed in our finest costumes, we encountered scads of kids running around, all of them delighted by a handful of candy.
Decker and Karlsson brought their kids by to check out our decorations and to laugh at our costumes.
Neither of them wore them. Assholes. I was sure photos were going to hit the team group chat.
Luca looked happy as he leaned down and spoke to all the younger ones, complimenting or asking questions about their costumes as he dished out candy by the handful.
They were as enamored with him as I was.
Karlsson warned me that the bigger kids would flock to my house now that the word was out that I lived in the neighborhood.
The Nighthawks’ social media team made sure we were plastered everywhere.
So we divided and conquered hours of the candy rush, and it was fantastic.
The happiness that radiated from him was priceless.
We followed suit with our neighbors and extinguished the lights when the night was officially over. It was chilly, but we stood on the front steps and listened to kids laughing in the distance. Luca stood on the step below mine while I wrapped my rabbit arms around him. “This was fun.”
Luca’s carrot body shook. “It was. Best Halloween I’ve ever had. I’m glad you wanted to do it.”
Standing outside on the steps, I had a thought. “How fun would it be to embarrass our kids one day with costumes like this? I mean, if you want kids one day.”
He turned in my arms, his handsome face beaming up at me. He was allowing himself to dream with me. “Maybe, but that’s a scary thought.”
“Why? You looked like you were having fun tonight with the littles.”
He looked out across the lawn as if he were seeing it. “I did, but I wasn’t in charge of their life, just their candy haul.”
I snickered. “True.”
He exhaled heavily. “It’s not something you consider when your own childhood was a nightmare.”
“I understand that, but wouldn’t it be good to change someone’s world? To take some little person out of a bad situation, and give them a better life?”
“Yeah, that would be great.”
Tightening my hold, I leaned into him. “I want that with you, Luca. I’m terrified as well.”
“Of what?”
“Being like my father. What if I’m not good at it?”
His carrot arms went around me. “You will be. I know it.” He rubbed his hands over my arms. “Have you ever talked to him about how you feel?”
I grunted a humorless laugh. “No. I’ve spent the last few years actively avoiding him.”
“Maybe you should hear what he has to say. Then decide how you feel. At least you’ll know. We can’t live our lives looking in the rearview mirror, because you’ll never move forward.”
“Maybe.”
“You’re not your parents, Axel. From what I’ve seen, you’re the best of both.”
I wanted to believe him. But what if he was wrong?