“You really think it’s normal, the fact that we spend the majority of our time togetherfighting?”
“Already told you my opiniononthat.”
“Foreplay,” I murmur. “I remember what you said. But is itnormal?”
“I don’t know. Never done this before.” He tilts my head up to look into his eyes. “Don’t have anything to compareitto.”
“Me neither,” I tell him in a starkvoice. “But—”
“Delilah.” He cutsmeoff.
“Yeah?”
“Why the fuck would we ever want to benormal?”
I can’t help the smile that spreads across my lips, any more than I can fight the urge to rise up onto my tiptoes and kiss him, in full view of dozens of strangers and all my closestfriends.
“What was that for?” he asks,eyeswarm.
I shrug. “Figured I’d make the most of our armistice while itlasts.”
“You know, it doesn’t actually havetoend.”
“And how would that work? We’d justget along? What a ludicrousthought!”
“Couldhappen.”
“Doubtful.”
“Delilah.”
My browslift. “Yeah?”
“Saw the look on your face earlier, when you were watching mewithZoe.”
I scowl. “Is thereanythingyou don’tnotice?”
“When it comes to you? No. Notreally.”
I sigh.Figuredasmuch.
“Point is, babe, I saw your face. Saw the hurt there, when I was hugging her.” He leans down to capture my gaze, so I can’t look away. “You know why she threw her armsaroundme?”
I shake my headwarily.
“The way we grew up — foster homes, tossed around by the system, no real family — it can make a person guarded. Hard to get to know. Zoe’s always worried about me ending up alone, because of that. Especially after she left.” His voice gets so soft I have to strain to hear him. “We keep in touch pretty regularly, even though she’s halfway around the world. She tells me about her adventures, all the places she’s been, and Parker; I tell her about my fights, new Knox Investigations cases, Boston’s current events, and… sometimes…aboutyou.”
“Me?”
He nods. “See, she knew, even before she left, that I was intrigued by you. Felt pretty sorry for me, too, considering until recently I was damn near positive my feelings were one-sided.”
“Luca…”
“But tonight—” His voice deepens. “Told hersomethingnew.”
My heart poundserratically.
He leans forward, until his mouth is at my ear. His whisper is meant for only me to hear. “I told her I’d met someone who makes me laugh like no one else and curse like a sailor, who breaks my damn heart every time she cries and heals it every time she smiles…. I told her I was in love with a beautiful, broken girl named Delilah…” He pulls back to scan my face, eyes gleaming. “She was so happy, she threw her arms around me. That’s the hug yousaw,babe.”