Page 108 of Luca & Luna

I bid the two of them goodbye and gathered up my bread and the unburnt cookies before driving to Luna and Auggie’s apartment building.

The two of them were so excited to see me that it helped shake off a lot of my exhaustion. Luna wrapped herself around me, and Auggie passed me a freshly mixed drink, taking the containers of baked goods off my hands.

“The Thai food is hot and fresh,” Auggie announced. “And we’re ready to watch Dirty Dancing.”

Luna pulled me over to Auggie’s couch, settling me in one corner so she could snuggle up to my side. I slurped down some delicious tom yum soup while we watched the classic alpha and omega romance. It was impossible not to feel relaxed with Auggie and Luna. I listened to them critique the dancing, curse out various characters, and even attempt to replicate the dance themselves.

“I don’t know how you guys can do that when you’re full of pad Thai.”

“I’m fine as long as I’m not upside down,” Luna replied.

Not wanting her to face-plant if it all went wrong, I stood behind Auggie while she took a running leap toward him. He got her up in the air, her hips balanced on his hands, a triumphant laugh bursting from both of them.

She wrapped her arms around my shoulders, and Auggie maneuvered her feet back to the ground.

“Luca would be so fun to have on stage,” Luna said, looking over at Auggie.

“Arthur probably wouldn’t let him, given he’s a beta, but we could train him up anyway. Maybe Arthur would take pity on us and let him join.”

I let out a disbelieving laugh. “No one wants to see me on stage.”

“I want to,” Luna insisted. “Don’t insult my taste by saying no one else would want to see you.”

“I think it would work well,” Auggie added. “You’ve got that sweet innocent face and a pretty rockin’ bod. There’s nothing stopping you from being a performer. Maybe not to our level before your body starts to give you some grief, but you just need stuff that looks fancy even if it’s not hard to do. Kind of like pairs figure skating, where both people need to know how to do shit, but only one of them is getting flung through the air like a sack of potatoes.”

“As fun as it would be, I don’t think I can squeeze anything else into my schedule.”

Luna pouted adorably.

“I’m working on freeing up time,” I replied. “I’m going to give Lux my notice when I go into the gym again. I’ve been trying to power through, but I just can’t anymore.”

“I guess that means I can cancel my gym membership,” Luna commented.

“All the more reason you should fully take up pole dancing so you can stay buff.” Auggie gave me a playful smile and squeezed one of my biceps. “Can’t climb the pole with weak upper body strength. Also, you know, grip strength has useful applications elsewhere.”

Luna cackled and slapped at him playfully. “You shush about that.”

“I’m just saying.” Auggie held up his hands in a defensive posture. “Really, I’m looking out for you.”

“I’ll think about it.” I scooped Luna up and returned her to the couch.

Auggie refilled our drinks before settling back down himself. “You two need to stop being so fucking cute over there. I’m gonna start being depressed that the only ones who fuck me are clients.”

Luna tugged him down so we were in a three-stacked tier of snuggles with Luna between us. “It’s your own fault. Do you even go for anyone that’s not a client?”

Auggie huffed. “Regular people are work.”

“Aren’t clients literally your job?” I asked.

“Yeah, but I know what they want when a client comes to me. With a regular person, you have to figure out intentions and compatibility and all that bullshit. It’s a lot of space to make in my head. Clients are easy, but it doesn’t stop me from getting wistful once in a while.”

“Well, I can’t help you in that case,” Luna replied. “If I had to put myself out there to get a non-client lover, you have to do the same.”

“Stop being reasonable.” Auggie pouted.

“I’m not usually a reasonable one about this,” Luna replied. “Luca runs the reasonability department.”

“I’m going to let him keep that department to himself.” Auggie tipped his head to look at me. “I prefer to complain and let other people be solutions-oriented.”

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