Chapter 10
“The veil stays.” Gus was adamant.
“I promise. It’s just easier to get dressed without it.” Luca held it out to Gus, who took and caressed the silky whiteness with gentle hands. He loved the softness of it. It felt like it was made out of spun moonbeams, and the crystals were stars.
“It’s beautiful,” he mumbled and meant it, not caring if his thoughts contained more sugar than cotton candy. It was his wedding day, and he was allowed to be sappy. Besides, it would look amazing with the tuxedo he wasn’t supposed to see before the wedding.
The pants ended above Luca’s ankles, and the waistband sat low on Luca’s hips. Not low enough to show off Luca’s pubes, but enough for Gus’s eyes to be distracted by the sight and for his imagination to run wild. The jacket hugged Luca’s slender figure. He didn’t wear a shirt underneath it, and Gus could see a sliver of skin on Luca’s stomach in the gap of the jacket just above the waistband. The no-shirt-thing could have been tacky and tasteless, but the hints of skin were alluring and strangely decent at the same time. Gus had no idea how Luca could pull it off, but he did. It was perfect.
The enticing sight made Gus want to go down on his knees in front of his fiancé and lick the patch of soft, visible skin. And rip off the pants and—
“You wanna help me with the veil?” Luca’s amused voice interrupted Gus’s thoughts. He nodded, and Luca bowed his head, making it easier for Gus to reach.
“Wait,” Gus said when he remembered the lip gloss in his pocket. He took it out and handed it over to Luca. “You need this. All the kissing took away the…uh…” his voice tapered off. He gestured with his finger to his own mouth.
“Ah, of course.”
Luca pulled the wand out of the tube and duckfaced his lips. He swept the applicator slowly over them, winking at Gus, who couldn’t take his eyes off Luca. Gus licked his own lips, wanting nothing more than to kiss away all the cherry glossiness but forcing himself to not mess it up again.
Luca smacked his lips and said, “All done.” He bowed his head again, and Gus draped the veil over it, trying his best to make it perfect. When he was happy with the results, he took a step back and looked at his husband-to-be.
The sight before him took his breath away. The red glossy lips behind the sheer fabric were both sexy and virginal at the same time. Luca’s angled, masculine face was a sharp contrast to all the soft femininity. It made Gus’s heart skip a beat. His hand flew to his chest, and he blinked furiously to keep tears from falling.
His Luca. His beloved. He held out his hand, and Luca took it without hesitation.
“Are you ready?” Gus asked.
“I am.” 6: Is It Supposed to Be This Easy?
The walk back to the hotel was vastly different from the mad sprint away from it. This time, Luca held hands with his fiancé, walking toward their future together as husbands. Gus’s mere presence had given him distance to his mother’s hateful words. The moment he’d felt Gus’s arms around him back at the office, he’d vowed to not let her get to him again.
None of his mother’s predictions had come true. Gus had taken one look at him in the veil and hadn’t been ashamed of him. Instead, he’d seen that Luca was upset, and his immediate instinct had been to comfort. Not until he was sure Luca felt better had Gus paid attention to the veil, and his reaction had been what Luca had expected.
“Is it supposed to be this easy?” Luca hadn’t meant to ask, but the words just slipped out of his mouth as always.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean…” Luca hesitated, unsure how to explain his thoughts to Gus. “I mean, I run out on you minutes before we’re supposed to get married. But instead of getting angry, you chase after me, comfort me, and sweep me off my feet. You don’t demand answers or even ask me why I did it.”
“I swept you off your feet years ago.” Gus grinned like the cat who got the cream and winked at him.
“Hah, if I recall correctly, I was the one doing the sweeping.” Luca elbowed Gus in the ribs.
“Ouch!” Gus whined and rubbed his side and stuck out his lower lip in the saddest attempt at pouting Luca had ever seen.
“Don’t even try. You know I’m the pouting champion in our relationship.”
“Oh, I know.” Gus leaned in as if he wanted to kiss Luca, but wrinkled his nose and straightened. “On second thought, I don’t like the veil,” he muttered.