All I Believe (Firsts and Forever, #10)(22)

When we got to my family’s suite, Luca and I deposited Jessie and Nana in their bedrooms, and I told Fiona, “Take my bed. I’ll sleep on the couch.” She slurred a thank you in Italian, then wove her way to my room.

Luca picked up my hand and said, “How about spending the night with me instead?” He didn’t have to ask twice.

Once we were back in his suite, we stripped down to just our underwear and got under the covers. I put my head on Luca’s chest, and he took my hand. “Thank you for tonight,” he said, and I tilted my head to look up at him in the soft light from a little lamp on the nightstand. “It was perfect.”

“Even the part where you got felt up by my drunk eighty-year-old grandmother?” I said with a grin.

He grinned, too. “I really like Nana. What I wouldn’t give for a relative who’s so supportive of my sexuality.”

“Are you out with your family?”

“Both my brother and grandfather know I’m gay. I never really see my extended family, so their opinions don’t mean much to me. My brother accepts it, and my grandfather begrudgingly tolerates it. Given how he was raised, I always thought that was pretty good. But your grandmother is just as Catholic and grew up in the same era of intolerance, and she’s totally accepting. My grandfather’s attitude is, do what you have to do, but I don’t want to see it or hear about it. Which is bullshit.”

“It is.”

After a pause he asked, “Would you consider going away with me for a couple days? I know it’s selfish of me to cut into your family vacation, but I’d really love to spend some time with you if you’re willing.”

“God yes.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

“Terrific! I’ll make some plans for this weekend.”

He sounded happy and excited, and I looked up into his green eyes. All of a sudden, recognition dawned on me. I drew in my breath in surprise, then laughed delightedly and kissed him. When we broke apart, I said, “I kind of miss that chip in your front tooth. It was cute. Why’d you have it fixed?”

Luca looked confused as I sat up and ran my thumb over his collarbone. I slowly slid it out of the way, revealing three freckles in perfect alignment, which I hadn’t noticed earlier. My smile doubled in size as he asked me, “How did you know I got my tooth fixed?”

“Think back, Bruce Wayne. The celestial rodeo, remember? I still don’t know what possessed you to pull me into that cold fountain! When my parents found me dripping all over our hotel room, it was pretty hard to explain.”

Recognition lit his face, and he sat up and beamed at me. “That’s why you seemed familiar! I can’t believe it, after all these years!”

“You told me we’d find each other again. Apparently you really are always right about everything.” I brushed his hair back from his sparkling green eyes.

“You were my first kiss.”

“You were mine, too.”

“I thought about you a million times after that day,” he said. “I had this crazy idea that if it was meant to be, fate would bring us back together. But later on I thought, maybe that was it, maybe that one meeting was fate at work and I blew it by not getting your name and number.”

“I don’t believe in fate,” I told him.

“How can you doubt it after something like this? Here we are, a dozen years later, back in each other’s arms!”

“We’re creatures of habit. We’re staying at the same hotel our parents brought us to, and we came back to Viladembursa because we both have family here.”

Luca grinned and pulled me back to the pillow with him. “Fine. You be the practical one and I’ll be the hopeless romantic. It’s a good balance.”

I returned my head to his chest. After a while, I admitted softly, “I used to look for you, for years afterward. I’d scan faces in crowds, looking for that one person in seven billion. I knew it was crazy, but I did it anyway.”

“I did the same thing. But then when I found you again, I didn’t even know it.”

“I didn’t either at first, not until I saw something in your eyes.”

He hugged me tightly. “Meeting you today already felt like an incredible gift, Nicky. And now this! It feels like a miracle.” Secretly, I thought so too, even if I was too practical to admit it.






Chapter Five




Luca kissed me awake the next morning, and I pulled him into my arms. “I wish we could stay in bed all day,” he murmured as he climbed on top of me, “but I have a meeting this morning.” He made absolutely no move to get out of bed, and began kissing my shoulder.

“With the contractors working on your grandfather’s house?”

“No, though that’s scheduled for this afternoon. I have to drive to Syracuse and meet with a local art dealer who’s preparing to put some pieces up for auction.”

“Your job sounds interesting,” I said as I ran my hands down his back.

“It has its moments. I absolutely hate it right now though, because it’s making me get off you and out of this bed.” I grinned at that, and he told me, “I’ll be back this evening. Can I come by your suite at seven and pick you and your family up for dinner?”