12. Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

Their date at Rudy's had been good enough, Enzo mused, but he needed something bigger, better, even more elaborate than a steak, a good bottle of wine and a faux goodnight kiss in front of Eliza's statue for this next one.

So he went to his cousin.

Five years ago, he'd never have considered Luca an expert on romance. In fact, he didn't think Luca would've considered himself an expert on romance. An expert on lots of other things, sure, but not romance. Not until he'd met Oliver.

When he took a break for lunch, Enzo texted Luca, and when he found out he was at the deli, he headed in that direction.

Found Luca in a T-shirt and an apron, gloves on, sleeves metaphorically rolled up, mixing up meatballs in a gigantic metal bowl in the back kitchen.

"Hey," Luca said. "You're lucky you caught me before I got my hands in this. What's up?"

"What are you making?" Enzo leaned in, sniffed. The mixture was raw, sure, but it looked and smelled delicious.

"A variation of Nonna's meatballs with ground chicken, roasted garlic, and blanched broccoli rabe," Luca said. "Gabe said he'd done one, as a special, at the food trucks in Los Angeles, and it was popular, so I thought I'd try it here."

"Sounds good." Enzo's stomach grumbled. "How long til they're ready? I'm starving."

"Been working all morning, huh? Give me twenty minutes and I can get them on a sandwich for you. You can be my first taste tester."

"Perfect," Enzo said. "And yeah. Just finishing up the outlines. I think tomorrow I'll be able to start on the actual paint. I'm running out to Charleston tonight, to get paint. You need anything?"

Luca shook his head. "It's coming along. I walked by it yesterday and I swear I can already feel the waves and the wind," he said, giving Enzo an approving smile. He finished mixing with one last flourish, and turned to the sink, meticulously scrubbing his hands. "So, you gonna tell me why you really came by? If you just wanted food, you'd have called the main deli line and ordered."

Enzo leaned against the long stainless steel counter and forced himself to relax. He'd told Luca about Will already. Talking about him more wasn't a big deal. After all, everyone was supposed to be buying into the show, not just his mother.

"I'm taking Will out on Monday," Enzo said.

To his surprise, Luca frowned. "Again?"

"Of course again . To hear the rest of the town talk about it, our first date was the greatest in the history of Indigo Bay."

But Luca was still frowning. "No, that's your mother who keeps saying that to anyone who will listen. I was convinced, after Rocco talked to me, that you were just doing it to get her off your ass. Not because you really liked him."

"I . . .uh . . .that's not true."

But his stuttering surprise at Luca's painfully pinpoint accuracy had probably ruined his denial.

Luca glanced over at him as he grabbed a metal ice cream scoop and began portioning out the meatballs onto a tray. "So you like him and all this is for real? You know he's—"

"I know he's staying, yeah. He has a business here. It would be hard not to know that," Enzo interrupted. "You did it with Oliver. Started something even though you didn't think it was going to be forever."

"I was lying to myself," Luca said steadily. "I don't think you're lying to yourself. You don't love it here."

It was true. He didn't. He never had.

He could admit that this visit was leaps and bounds better than every other one he'd had. It helped, of course, to have a purpose and a job to do—and one he was very good at, that he loved. But he had a feeling it was more than that, too.

It was Will.

But it wasn't just him. It was that Enzo had grown up, finally, and he could see this place more accurately, now that he'd been in so many other places.

His travels had given him perspective.

Maybe not that much perspective, but he could admit that he didn't think he'd ever returned to Indigo Bay, spent at least a week, or even a few days, and hadn't already wanted to leave again.

But he hadn't felt that way this time around. Not once.

"No, I don't want to stay, but . . ." Enzo hesitated. "I don't hate it the way I used to."

Luca rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me the power of love has changed your mind."

"Why not? Didn't it change yours?"

"It wasn't that I didn't want to stay. I didn't think I could stay," Luca said. "Will's a good guy. A solid guy. A friend. And I wouldn't be proud to call him that unless I warned you not to fuck with him."

"Trust me, I'm not."

But aren't you? Aren't you fucking with yourself?

"It kind of feels like you're doing something ," Luca said. "Rocco said you guys were calling each other ridiculous nicknames. Stud Muffin ." He frowned. "I know you, Enzo, and this isn't you."

"Maybe it's me, now," Enzo claimed. But he knew how weak his argument was.

Luca shook his head. "No, it's not. If this is some kind of elaborate scheme to get Giana off your back, I applaud it, but she's going to be pissed when the truth comes out."

"Maybe."

"Disappointed and pissed."

Enzo swallowed hard. "Okay, that's probably accurate." But he couldn't quit the charade now. Not when he enjoyed it so much. Not when the thought of stopping made him desolate in a way he didn't want to examine too closely.

"You know it is," Luca said pointedly.

"Okay, fine. The truth? Maybe I went out with him because I was curious, and to get Mom off my back. I'll admit that. But now . . ." Enzo took a deep breath. "I really like him. I do . There's nothing fake about that."

"And you want to keep this up?"

If Will didn't think they were faking it for the town's gossip mill, Enzo wasn't sure he'd want to keep hanging out. If he'd let Enzo continue to call him his Stud Muffin. And letting him touch him.

"We're in this, now," Enzo said.

"You know." Luca turned to him and put a hand on his shoulder, gaze sympathetic. Or maybe even empathetic. Because yes, while his situation with Oliver had been slightly different, there were similarities. "You can like him. You're allowed. But you know if you do, if you really let yourself go there, leaving is going to be wretched. For both of you."

Enzo swallowed hard. "Yeah. Probably."

He didn't want to say, But he's the guy. How could he not be, when I've never wanted to spend so much time with someone just pretending to like them?

Maybe he didn't need to, though, because the look on Luca's face made it clear he understood anyway.

"You want to have what you can, while you can have it." Luca nodded absently, his eyes distant, like he was remembering a time when he'd felt the same. "I get that. So you want to take him out on Monday. You want me to get you into the restaurant."

"You and Oliver run the nicest place on the coast. But it's booked up months in advance." Enzo made a face. "You guys need more tables."

"Then we'd be busier than we are, already, and that'd be no good, because I actually like seeing my husband," Luca said with amusement.

"Come on, Luca. Fit me in."

"You'll never be able to go back from this," Luca warned.

Enzo understood that he meant in multiple kinds of ways. If Giana heard that Enzo had begged Luca to fit him and Will in for a romantic date, she'd believe this was it .

And maybe if he took Will on a romantic date, he'd end up believing the exact same goddamn thing.

It wasn't like he wasn't already in deep. It had been two days since their skinny dip in the ocean, and it felt like Will was constantly in his thoughts.

He sketched something and wondered, what will Will think of it?

He painted on Will's wall and thought about him looking at it every single day as he walked by it.

He ate something and wanted to know what Will's face would look like if he tried it too.

He turned on a ridiculous, over-the-top romantic movie on TV and wondered if he could convince Will to re-enact any of the scenes with him.

He was haunting Cherry's, spending too much time in there, just surreptitiously watching the man.

It was becoming a real problem.

"I know," Enzo said, agreeing with Luca's assessment. Agreeing and wanting to move forward anyway.

"Alright," Luca said with a nod. "I'm proud of you, you know?"

Enzo cracked a smile. "I thought this was supposed to be the baseball bat talk."

Luca laughed. "Don't you think I'd be giving him that? You're my cousin."

But the cousin you didn't really like and didn't want, forever.

"I . . .uh . . ."

Luca did a double take. "You did think that I would." He paused and set down the ice cream scoop. Turned to Enzo, put both hands on his shoulders, and gave his most earnest, most soulful Moretti look. Luca didn't often use it. Of course he didn't usually need to. His hard-ass Moretti look worked better.

But not right now.

"You're a great guy, Enzo. You've grown up into a great man. If you didn't know I'm proud of you, I'm sorry. I'm not very good at showing it. Oliver tells me I need to be better. We didn't start out on a very auspicious foot, I'll admit, but you saw you needed to change, and you changed. You fought for every single change I see in you now. How could I not be proud of that?"

Enzo was speechless.

He didn't have a father. He didn't have brothers. He'd never had any family besides his mother, really, especially because the rest of the Morettis were all on the west coast. Even though he'd been brought into their fold during his time in San Francisco, he still hadn't been one-hundred-percent convinced that Luca even liked him, even though they'd mended their differences ages ago.

But this was more than like. Luca loved him, like he loved his father and his brothers and his cousins.

Like Enzo was one of the people Luca worried for and watched out for. And even when Enzo hated it, he could still appreciate that Luca did it out of loyalty and responsibility and yes , pure, unadulterated affection.

"Oh. Oh ."

"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.

"Oh, yeah, that's so good," Enzo called out. Will gave him an approving nod, and okay, maybe he was actually decent at this. "Give me more, Stud Muffin."

"Oh, baby, I got it all for you," Will said with a nice heavy moan as additional ammunition. He smacked the door again and then again.

Enzo risked a glance at him. And yeah, it was not full dark in the room—there was a light on in the corner—and Will was definitely hard in his slacks. Then there was the flush on his face, the brightness in his eyes . . .well, it helped but it didn't help, also, that Will was just as affected by this as Enzo was.

"I think," Enzo said in a low voice, "it's too been long since I've actually done this for real."

Will smiled, understanding in his eyes. "Uh, yeah. Me too. Though . . ." He stopped. Hesitating.

"What is it?"

"It's never been like this before," Will said. "And we're not even doing it for real."

Enzo wanted to squeeze his eyes shut and run away.

But he didn't. Because he was a goddamn grown-up, and it was partially his fault they were in this mess.

"Yeah," he agreed.

"Do you think we should . . ." Will gestured towards the bed.

Do this for real? Pin me to the nearest horizontal surface and kiss me like you mean it? Absolutely.

"Uh, yeah, sure. Yes." Enzo nodded and kept nodding, feeling unhinged as they pushed off from the door and approached the bed.

"More moaning," Will directed.

"You know, if you ever have to leave the ice cream business," Enzo said, adding a few loud noises for good measure, "you have a real future as a porn director."

Will laughed. "I think I'll stick to the ice cream business." He landed with a resounding thump on the bed.

Enzo laughed, too, because if he didn't, he was going to cry. Because then Will went up on all fours and made a fun growling noise.

"You're kinda killing me," Enzo said.

"I know." Will flushed. "I'm killing myself. But the sooner we get through this . . ."

Enzo nodded. When had this gone from a fun time to pure fucking torture?

Right around, I'm a pretty good kisser.

Or maybe when he'd stupidly convinced Will to get naked last week.

Or even before that, when Will's eyes had fluttered, the first time Enzo had called him Stud Muffin.

Enzo moaned again, slapped the wall hard, in conjunction with a few of Will's thrusts.

Yep. Cause now Will was thrusting and the bed was squeaking and it was all too much. Enzo started to laugh and couldn't stop.

"Don't stop now," Will cajoled, but he was laughing, too, under his breath. "Big finish!"

Enzo slapped the wall hard, three times, and let out the loudest moan yet, practically a scream, and Will joined him, the two of them sounding like yowling cats in heat.

And okay, it had been sort of torturous, but also pretty fun, in the end.

All until, their breath returning back to normal, there was a knock on the door.

"Oh shit," Will hissed under his breath.

The knock sounded again, louder this time and far more insistent.

"Shit, shit, shit," Will repeated. He looked around, eyes wild.

"Will?" Yep, that was definitely Joy's voice.

Will tore his shirt off, then his pants went next. Shoes. Socks. Enzo averted his eyes at the last moment, though it wasn't like he hadn't seen it all before, when they'd gone skinny dipping.

Grabbing a sheet, Will pulled it off the bed with a sharp movement and then wrapped it around his waist. "Get down," he mouthed to Enzo, who crouched low, on the other side of the bed, and then he opened the door.

Will told himself he was embarrassed. Humiliated. Flushed so bright a red that Joy would never believe that he and Enzo had actually been having sex in their room.

"Yes?" he asked.

She looked equally as uncomfortable, so that was something, at least. "Will, honey, there's been a few . . .uh . . .complaints from some of the other guests that you're being . . .um . . .loud. Too loud. Do you think you could keep it down?"

Will apologized to her silently. And to his own pride. "I'm sorry. We got uh . . .a bit carried away."

Joy's eyes twinkled with amusement. "I'm sure you did," she said. "Next time just try to get carried away quieter, okay?"

"Okay, will do," Will said and then shut the door.

"Phew," Enzo said from the other side of the room. "That was . . ." He trailed off.

"Yeah."

Will didn't know what else to say, twisting the corner of the sheet even tighter in his fist. Joy was right. He'd gotten carried away, one hundred percent. And then convinced Enzo to get carried away alongside him. Part of him had hoped, maybe, that if he pushed it, Enzo would break down and say fuck it . And kiss him for real.

But Enzo wouldn't, Will was beginning to realize. Because he'd said on their first date he didn't want to cross that line, and Enzo was clearly going to respect it, no matter how much it sucked.

Right now, Will's blood was pumping so hot and insistent under his skin he nearly turned to Enzo and said, "Let's do this for real." But he didn't. Because the second he thought it, he also thought of how much more he'd like Enzo if they did. If they kept doing it, and kept hanging out, and then in a few weeks, Enzo left.

Would it break his heart? Maybe not entirely, but enough that it was worth being smart about this.

No matter how much Will wanted to throw thinking out the window.

"So, what now?" Enzo asked, voice quiet.

Will was acutely aware of his still-subsiding erection. The desire still raging through him. And his unclothed state.

"I . . .uh . . .should get dressed," Will said.

This time it was Enzo's turn to flush, and he whipped around so fast he looked unsteady. "Oh yeah, of course," Enzo said.

"I was thinking . . ." Will let the sheet drop and picked up his boxer briefs and shirt, putting them on, but when he got to his jeans, he set them on a chair next to the dresser. He trailed off, because now that he'd started to say it, wouldn't this just be more torture? And didn't he want it—didn't he need it—to end?

And don't you want to finally be alone and wrap your hand around your cock? Get yourself off?

Oh, he did.

No. What he wanted was for Enzo to do it. His own hand could only provide a very temporary respite.

"Yeah?" Enzo's voice cracked. Like maybe he was thinking about Will getting dressed.

"Would you really go back to your place tonight? If we were . . ." Will swallowed hard. When they'd started this, when he'd suggested it, he'd never imagined it would feel like this. One breath away from the lie falling apart into tatters. "Falling for each other, would you really leave?"

Enzo turned around. His fists were clenched tightly. "I wouldn't let you out of my sight," he said seriously.

"Exactly." Will swallowed hard. What are you doing? "You should stay here. You wouldn't ever leave me. Not after . . .uh . . ."

Enzo's face creased into a fleeting grin. "Our bedroom gymnastics?"

"Yeah. And uh, after just one round," Will added.

Enzo's grin returned, much wider this time. "Oh yeah. That's what I'm talking about."

"If you don't want to . . ." Will trailed off.

"We said we'd do this, and we're doing it," Enzo said with determination.

Well, shit.

He'd wanted Enzo to leave, but he'd wanted him to stay, even more. Even if it meant lying next to him, without touching him the way he craved, deep down.

"Alright. I'm . . .uh . . .gonna get ready for bed." It was only just past nine, but they both got up early for work. Will, because there was always too much to do, and Enzo because he wanted to get as much work in before the heat of the day.

"Sure. I'll just be out here, doing the same." Enzo waved around him. Then his face split into a knowing smile. "Take your time."

Will was bright red by the time he made it into the bathroom, because of course Enzo had figured out what he was going to do. He was probably going to do the same.

That was all it took to make him hard as a rock again.

He shed his boxer briefs again, wrapped his hand around his dick, and thought of how Enzo moaned. His face as he'd fallen against the door. The tension in his face and body as he'd vibrated with desire. But what really pushed him over the edge was that knowing smile as Will had shut the door.

And what he was almost certainly doing on the other side of it.

Will heard a rustle and gasped under his breath. Imagining what Enzo would look like if he opened the door now. If he let Will look his fill. Because Will had a feeling he would.

A moment later, he was coming hard, in his hand, pulse after pulse, and even after it was over, he wished it hadn't happened like that.

That he'd stayed.

That things were different.

He took another few minutes. Washed his hand and the rest of him. Brushed his teeth.

Stared in the mirror and waited for the inevitable glow on his cheeks to fade, but that took even longer than the pleasure to dissipate entirely.

Finally, he didn't have any other choice but to open the door and walk back out into the bedroom.

Enzo was lounging on the bed. He'd taken off his pants and his shirt, and was only in his boxer briefs and a white tank. Will swallowed hard. He looked so gorgeous like this, all relaxed, bedroom eyes soft and blurred with the pleasure he'd just given himself.

Will imagined he might look like this after he'd just pleasured him.

"Come on, get in," Enzo said, patting the bed next to him. "You'll sleep better, now."

"Yeah." Will was tired but keyed up at the same time. Still, what else could he do but slide in next to Enzo?

You idiot, this was your stupid idea.

"See, that wasn't so bad?" Enzo teased in a low voice.

"Could've been better." Will cleared his throat.

"Eh. We said it would complicate everything. Or you said it. And I didn't exactly disagree because you weren't wrong."

And what's wrong with a little complication?

Will knew he was in trouble when his own brain had decided to play devil's advocate.

"Yeah," Will said. He leaned over, clicked the light off, and then rolled back over, staring up at the shadowed ceiling. It was easier than looking back over at Enzo, who no doubt resembled some kind of Renaissance masterpiece, with the dark carving out the hollows of his face.

"Well." Enzo let out a breath. "I think we did at least really convince everyone."

At what cost?

That question was still echoing through Will's mind as he fell asleep a few minutes later.