Sex & Mayhem 04 No Matter What by K.A. Merikan Page A

size,” he mumbled and quickly turned
around, leading Luca out of the kitchen.
    Luca looked
back at Nomad, who completely ignored them, too taken by his bowl
to care about silly humans leaving. Ghost’s shoulders were so wide
Luca just wanted to lean against that back and bury his face
between Ghost’s shoulder blades.
    “Yeah, I guess
we are,” muttered Luca.
    Ghost led Luca
up the stairs, along a wall of family photos. Baby Ghost on a big
black Harley in front of his dad. Ghost smiling widely next to his
parents on the day of his high school graduation. Ghost’s father
and mother at some biker party, with more leather-clad men.
    “Small, but
cozy,” Ghost said as he invited Luca into his room with a gesture.
It was as clean as a hotel room, and Luca found that slightly
disappointing. He expected more disarray, but it made sense. Ghost
was an organized guy, who had hoped to invite over the girl of his
dreams.
    The room was
decorated in gray and dark blue, and smelled of washing powder.
Luca couldn’t wait to drown in the safety of the fresh, blue
comforter. There was a desk to the side, with books neatly stacked
in a large case next to it.
    Luca closed the
door behind him and leaned back against it. It felt nice to know
Ghost was trying so hard to make Zara feel welcome. Of course, he
wasn’t the Zara Ghost expected, but Luca wouldn’t let that depress
him. He was free of Frederico, and Ghost still wanted him in his
life. That was all that mattered.
    “It’s very
you,” he said with a small smile and wiggled his eyebrows. “Clean
and proper.”
    Ghost snorted
and took off his soaked shirt, rendering Luca speechless. He’d
watched Ghost naked on webcam, but seeing his strong chest in real
life was something completely different. There was a layer of white
hair between his pink nipples, and Luca found it hard to look
away.
    “I don’t know
if that’s an insult or a compliment,” said Ghost.
    Luca rubbed his
lips, finally glancing into Ghost’s eyes. “I think that’s a good
thing. You take care of people. Makes sense for you to be so
organized and... careful,” Luca uttered, but his heart was already
beating faster. They were in Ghost’s room. Not a hotel, not a guest
space in a clubhouse, but somewhere Ghost slept and kept his
belongings. Luca was warming up to the clean but homely room
already.
    “I don’t do
that much anymore.” Ghost shrugged and unbuttoned his jeans. “I was
thinking about going into veterinary care or something along those
lines, but I don’t want a student loan. Anyway, it doesn’t matter
anymore.”
    “Why?” Luca
pressed back against the door, his eyes drawn to the zipper. Its
sound sent a shiver all the way down Luca’s spine, as if it were
parting the clothes on his own back.
    Instead of
answering, Ghost looked up at him, with his hand at the zipper.
“Sorry, is this awkward?”
    “Do you want me
to look away?” asked Luca.
    “I… don’t know.
I don’t know how to do this .” Ghost sighed and ran his
fingers through his wet hair.
    Luca turned on
his heel and pressed his burning forehead to the cool surface of
the door. There wasn’t anything even remotely threatening about
Ghost, even when he was undressing so close to Luca. There was such
gentleness to his blue eyes and the way he acted around Luca,
always trying to make him comfortable, made Luca think of all the
moments in his life when his well-being was the last thing on the
agenda. It hurt to even remember.
    “Sorry.”
    “I’d like to
say ‘it’s fine’, but it’s messed up what you did.” There was
rustling behind Luca’s back. “Did you talk to other guys like you
did to me?”
    Luca swallowed
hard. Guilt was hitting him in the chest over and over again. “When
I was younger... before my parents died. I figured it was a safe
way to flirt with people who also liked to play The Age of
Endless . But I never... you know, got close to any of
them.”
    “You can turn
around. Come, let’s get