Chapter Twelve #2
“Yes,” Luca said firmly. “You’re a Moretti, but I care about you not only because of that. Because you’re Enzo.”
It was maybe the nicest thing anyone had ever said to him. And it meant even more because it was coming from Luca, who was notoriously close-lipped when it came to his emotions.
“Thanks, uh . . .I didn’t expect that.”
“And I’m sorry for that,” Luca said firmly. “Now, if you want that reservation, then I’ll make sure you get it.”
“Really?”
Luca returned to his meatballs, and the moment between them technically ended, but Enzo had a feeling the warmth of it would fire him for a long time to come. “Really.”
“I can’t believe you actually got us into Luca and Oliver’s place,” Will said, shyly glancing over at Enzo as they walked past the park. He looked really pleased, his hand squeezing around Enzo’s.
Enzo had never felt any particular desire to hold hands with anyone. But doing it with Will was nice. So nice he might want to do it even if they weren’t parading by where half the town could see them.
It was a cool-ish evening, and Enzo thought they’d passed all the biggest gossips in Indigo Bay—except his mother, of course.
“Luca and Oliver love you. You provide them with ice cream for some of their desserts. You don’t think they’d have gotten you in, if you’d asked?”
“Yeah, but the Lowcountry Bistro is . . .” Will waved his free hand around. “You know. Romantic. Meant for two. And uh . . .before you, I didn’t have two. I only had me.”
“You could’ve taken Kate,” Enzo suggested with a sly grin.
“Then it definitely wouldn’t have been romantic.”
“Guess you were just waiting for me, then.” Enzo paused, grinning. “Stud Muffin.”
Will laughed.
“Guess I was. The food though, it was so good. Different than what I expected, but delicious.”
“Luca would never tolerate less. Oliver, either.” It had been amazing, but that was exactly what Enzo had expected of his cousin and his husband. And they’d given them a nice private table. When Luca had shown them to it, the gleam in his eyes had told Enzo that this was entirely on purpose.
He’d given Enzo exactly what he wanted, deep down—privacy—but not what he’d claimed to need—a public display of their date.
“True. I’m still impressed.” Will shot him another one of those fond, affectionate looks that Enzo was beginning to realize weren’t fake in the least. “And you made it happen.”
“All I had to do was ask,” Enzo said modestly.
They turned the corner and they were already at the Inn. How had that passed so quickly? Enzo had deliberately been walking slowly. Knowing how he wanted the date to end. Also knowing how it should end. Will had drawn the line, and Enzo wasn’t going to cross it, unless he invited him to.
“But you asked,” Will said, squeezing his hand again. “How are we going to play this?” he asked, gesturing towards the screen porch. There were Giana and Joy again, sitting on one of the swings, chatting.
But as soon as they saw them, they clammed up, staring at Enzo and Will as they approached the porch stairs.
Great.
“I . . .I’m not sure,” Enzo said. He wanted to kiss Will, but he did not want to kiss Will if he wasn’t as into it as he was, and he did not want to kiss him just to convince his mother and Joy that they were wild about each other.
“I have an idea.” Will turned to him, voice and expression equally earnest. “Come upstairs with me.”
“What?” Enzo asked flatly, even as his whole body thrilled at the thought of it.
“It’s our second date. You look . . .” Will sounded flustered now. “You look like that. And you got us a table at the Bistro. I would not let you go home alone.”
Enzo understood what he was saying. He’d not have wanted to go home alone, either. If this was real, he’d have been trying hard to win an invitation to Will’s bed.
“I . . .uh . . .same,” Enzo agreed.
“Then, come upstairs,” Will said with a devastating smile that left him weak in the knees. “They’ll know exactly what’s going on. And if they don’t? Well, we’ll make sure.”
“You want to fake having sex?” Enzo asked.
Could he be excited and disappointed at the exact same time?
Will nodded, looking more the former than the later. And how could Enzo puncture all that with the hard reality of their situation?
“Oh yeah,” Will said. “Don’t you?”
Actually, I’d rather have it for real, but if this is what I can get, I’ll take it.
“Sure,” Enzo said. He slowed, pausing right out of what he hoped was his mother’s hearing distance. “How far are you wanting to take this?”
Will grinned. “How far are you willing to take this, Honey Bunny?”
The thing was, Enzo didn’t back down from a challenge. Even when it was a challenge he didn’t particularly want to win. “Oh, it’s on,” he said, and he tucked his head in between Will’s neck and his shoulder, murmuring with intent into his ear. “I think it’s time we took this upstairs,” he said.
Will’s skin was slightly damp with the heat, but he smelled so good Enzo wanted to bury his face into it and lick.
His arm tightened around Enzo as they walked up the stairs, fingertips digging into his waist, like Will was just as eager as Enzo to be alone.
He glanced over at his mother as they crossed to the front door.
“Hello and goodbye,” he called out. “See you later.”
Will was laughing under his breath when they walked into the Inn and headed towards the stairs. “You’re incorrigible.”
“But you love it,” Enzo said.
The stairs weren’t quite so wide across so Will was forced to let go of his hand.
“I kinda do,” Will said. “It’s fun. When I suggested this, I didn’t think it would be nearly as fun as it has been. I kinda thought it would be a chore.”
“Aw. You thought hanging out with me was gonna be terrible?” Enzo teased.
“The first time we met? Yeah, I might’ve. Of course by the time I suggested we fake it, I’d already figured out that your head wasn’t nearly that big.” Will shot him a smile as he unlocked his door.
“Maybe not the only part of me that’s big,” Enzo said with a nudge.
Will looked delighted. Sadly, it wasn’t because he wanted Enzo to drop his pants anytime soon and prove it.
“See, this is exactly the vibe we need,” Will said with absolute sincerity. “We need to make sure everyone in this Inn knows exactly what we’re doing.”
Enzo didn’t normally spend much of his time on regret, but he could fully admit now that he regretted convincing Will that all this over-the-top behavior was necessary.
He’d sort of imagined them coming up here.
Hanging out for an hour. And then he’d leave, pasting on his most satisfied smile as he paraded past his mother and Joy.
“How are we gonna do that?” Enzo asked, afraid he already knew the answer.
Will’s blue eyes twinkled with mischief.
“If we were dating for real, and we came back to this room, how would it go? I’d pin you to this door.
” Punctuating his statement, he smacked his hand against it, and Enzo nearly jumped.
Not really from surprise—though he was surprised enough—but from the way all his nerves drew tight and anticipatory.
Yep, he totally wanted Will to pin him to the door for real.
Instead, he nodded and pushed his body against the door too, landing against it with a dull thud, loud enough that he expected at least someone heard it.
“We’d be kissing then,” Will continued, “and moaning a little.”
“Loudly?” Enzo asked, trying to remember the last good makeout session he’d had, and if he’d been that loud.
“Not yet,” Will said, glancing over at him, heat in his eyes. “But soon.” He smacked the door a few more times, a little quieter than his initial impact, but enough that it wouldn’t go unnoticed.
Enzo’s skin felt too tight. This was fun yes, but it was also driving him more than a little nuts. He nearly opened his mouth and said, “fuck the charade, let’s do this for real.” What stopped him was what Enzo imagined Will’s inevitable question would be. Are you staying here in Indigo Bay then?
He didn’t fucking know. He didn’t want to. And he’d sworn he never would. Especially not for a guy.
But Will wasn’t just any guy, was he? He was Will. He had blue eyes and the brightest smile and abs that Enzo was desperate to lick his way down.
It wasn’t just the way he looked, either. It was how he smiled when he handed a little kid an ice cream cone as big as his head. And laughed. His kindness. His willingness to give to others. His patience with Giana, when she hadn’t really deserved it.
Ugh.
“I think now,” Will said. “Full confession. I’m a pretty good kisser, so you’d definitely be moaning now.”
Enzo wanted to moan now, for real.
“Who’s got the big head now?” he said instead.
Will looked slightly sheepish, but not even close to ashamed. “Just telling it like it is.”
“So I gotta moan now?” Enzo didn’t think he’d ever moaned, sexually, on cue before. Usually when he did it, he wasn’t thinking about it. Wasn’t thinking about anything.
“Don’t tell me you’ve got performance anxiety,” Will joked.
Enzo rolled his eyes, but maybe he did, a little. He let out a little moan, probably not nearly loud enough, but didn’t you have to work up to that? That was a good excuse. If Will called him on it, he’d just say it was a work in progress.
“Oh, yeah, that’s good, let me hear you, Honey Bunny,” Will said, his voice inching upwards. He sounded as hot and bothered as Enzo felt.
There was part of him that hoped, fervently, that Will was feeling this as much as Enzo was. That was also going out of his mind with how much he wanted—no, he needed—this to be real.
But he couldn’t ask and open that can of worms. Instead, they were going to have to plow through this.
Metaphorically.
He moaned a little louder then. And then again. Will did, too, and Enzo tried to pretend he wasn’t going to be hearing that noise an hour from now when he was finally alone and could wrap his hand around his cock and give in to the pleasure teasing him.