All I Believe (Firsts and Forever, #10)(91)
Luca grinned at me as we continued to circle around the room, stepping over the huge dog, our stacks growing thicker and thicker as we gathered every note. “Yes, that probably should have been a tip-off.”
“Maybe it was something I had to grow into. I don’t think I would have been ready for medical school when I graduated with my bachelor’s degree at twenty-two. But I’m a much different person now, over four years down the road,” I said. “Somehow, after all I’ve been through, the idea of medical school doesn’t intimidate me anymore. Actually, when I think about it, I just feel excited.”
“Then that’s exactly what you should do.” Luca gathered up the last couple notes and came over to me. As he added his stack to mine, he said, “I want you to know I’m in your corner, one hundred percent. If you decide to do this, I’ll be right there by your side, helping out in any way I can. Kind of like your med school pit crew.”
“Are you sure about this? It’s going to tie us down to one place for a number of years. It’ll impact your life as much as mine.”
He took the thick stack of notes from me and dropped them in the trash can, then drew me into his arms. “All that matters to me is being with you. I don’t really care where we end up while you’re in school, as long as we’re together. Long term, I’d like us to come back to the Bay Area so we can be close to your family. But in the meantime, lead the way.”
I ran my hand around the back of his neck and kissed him before saying, “Thank you.”
“What are you thanking me for?”
“Being so easy-going, and sweet, and kind, and supportive.”
He smiled at me. “You’re welcome.”
We moved the plate aside and curled up in bed together, and I said, “I’ll probably have to begin the application process immediately, I bet the deadlines aren’t far off. We’ll know where we end up sometime in the spring, and then I assume classes will start right around this time next year. I guess the apartment we find should be a month-to-month rental, since chances are we’ll be moving out of the area. Assuming I get accepted somewhere.”
“You will. I need to figure out what I’m doing, too,” Luca said. “I need to make some changes, and I’m not sure what I’m doing next. I only know that it’ll involve you.”
“What kind of changes?”
“I don’t want to keep spending forty or more weeks a year in anonymous hotel rooms. I just can’t stand the thought of us spending all that time apart. I also don’t want to keep buying art for rich bastards who are only interested in its monetary value. A couple of my clients truly appreciate art and I wouldn’t mind continuing to work with them, but the rest, good riddance. That’ll cut my yearly travel time down to days, not months, and until medical school grounds us, maybe you could come with me on my buying trips.”
“I’d love to,” I said.
“Great. Now all we need is someplace to live before med school.”
I opened my computer to search for apartments. Luca put his arm around my shoulders as we looked at listings and ate our snacks. Every time an apartment caught my eye and I asked him what he thought, his response was, “Looks great.”
Finally I turned to him and said, “Don’t you have an opinion on any of these? You just keep agreeing to whatever I like.”
He paused for a moment before saying, “You told me the story once about your house in L.A. with the kitchen that meant a lot to you, and how you had to walk away from it when your relationship ended. I just…I really want to give you a home, Nicky. Whether this apartment is ours for a year, or longer if you end up going to school in the Bay Area, I just need it to be someplace you love, somewhere you feel good. That’s all that matters to me. So, you lead the way. If you find a place that makes you happy, then I’ll be happy too.”
I kissed him gently and whispered, “Thank you.”
We narrowed it down to a few places to follow up on, and I closed my laptop and returned it to the desk. Then took my glasses off and put them on top of the computer. Luca turned off the light, and we settled in and held each other close under the blanket.
Making all those plans for our future had gotten me thinking, and I just had to ask as I searched his face in the darkness, “Why me, Luca? You could have anyone. What do you see in me?”
He smiled and touched my cheek. “I see a gorgeous human being inside and out, one who has no idea how beautiful he is. I see someone intelligent and competent, who’s just starting to come into his own and realize what he’s capable of, and let me tell you, that’s a glorious thing to behold. I see a loving man with an infinite capacity for kindness, a man who cares deeply about others, and I feel so lucky to be one of the people you care about. I see the person I was always meant to be with, the answer to a prayer. I see what I’ve been looking for my entire life.”
I was so overwhelmed by his words that all I could do was whisper, “Thank you.”
“I need you to do something for me,” he said.
“Anything.”
“Never doubt I love you, not for a moment. You’re my forever, Nicky. Looking back now, I realize I’ve known that since the first time I kissed you.”
“The very first time?”
He nodded. “It all makes sense now. I thought about you a million times after that first meeting beside the fountain. You were absolutely impossible to forget. I was so angry at myself for not getting your name and keeping in touch with you. But everything unfolded just as it should have. We were always meant to be together, but we wouldn’t have been ready for this as teens, not by a long shot. We rediscovered each other at exactly the right time.”