Page 13 of Steady and Strong

He’d intended to tackle the housework today, but he’d had an uncharacteristically slow start to the morning, lying in bed until well after ten, something unheard of in his life. His alarm went off at five a.m. every weekday, and while he didn’t set one on the weekends, he was still up and out of bed by at least seven.

So the fact he couldn’t drag his ass out of bed told him last night’s events had bothered him more than he’d realized. After Conor practically sprinted out of the pub, he and Harper had remained for another hour, the two of them chatting easily. She was an interesting conversationalist, capable of telling very entertaining stories. She’d kept him in stitches as she shared some of her past experiences, discussing some of the catfights between models, laughing about practical jokes she’d played—and had played on her—then she described some of the more outlandish outfits she’d had to wear.

After a while, they’d wound up talking about some of their favorite vacations. While she’d adored Paris and Lake Como and Portugal, Luca’s travels had all been on American soil, as he’d been steadily working his way through seeing as many National Parks as he could. He admitted to his love of hiking and camping, while Harper looked thoroughly horrified by the prospect of sleeping on the ground and walking up mountains.

When Tony had shown up at the office a few months earlier, informing Luca, Gio, and Joey that they’d landed a job working on Harper Branson’s restaurant, Luca had quickly dibsed the role of project manager.

Because…it was Harper Branson. He, like half the men in the world, had fallen a little bit in love with her over the years based simply on that smile, which was even better in person.

Luca had lived in Philadelphia his entire life, so the opportunity to work with an actual celebrity, someone who was practically a household name, had been too exciting to pass up. And while Harper was incredibly beautiful, last night he’d become an even bigger fan, not based on her looks but her personality.

His plans to tackle his chores today fell apart completely when his brother Joey called and invited him to join him and his best friend, Miles, at a sports bar for a pitcher of beer, some wings, and the Phillies game. Before he could put his adulting hat on, staying in to do the laundry he was going to regret skipping come Wednesday when he ran out of clean boxers, he agreed.

Now, in hindsight, he could see it had been a mistake because his head wasn’t in the game—literally. Too many things were burrowing under his skin and bugging the crap out of him.

“All I’m saying is I thought we’d have more say-so on the guests.”

Luca listened with half an ear as Miles bitched about something regarding the show.

Joey had landed a gig as host of a cable show, ManPower, a couple of years earlier. The highly successful show was where he’d met Miles, the two men cohosting together. It had been a great pairing, not just in front of the camera but behind as well. Miles and Joey had become the best of friends, and sometimes it was hard for Luca to remember a time when Miles wasn’t around.

Luca, his brothers, and his cousins were very close—best friends in addition to relatives—and over the years, other men had cracked into their Moretti inner circle. Men like Tony’s roommate, Rhys, Aldo’s and Gio’s best friends, Kayden and Rafe, respectively, and now Miles. There were very few sporting events Luca watched alone, and he was grateful for that camaraderie.

ManPower was similar to Mike Rowe’s old show, Dirty Jobs, with each episode featuring a person who demonstrated how they built or fixed or created something cool.

The powers that be behind the show had scheduled some less than entertaining guests the season before, something that had driven Miles up the wall. He’d been pushing for more power in regards to selecting the guests, but with only moderate success so far.

Joey shrugged, clearly not as annoyed as Miles. “They’ve taken input from us before.”

Miles rolled his eyes. “We’re filming an episode with the executive producer’s brother-in-law, who makes birdhouses and catios for this season.”

“What the fuck is a catio?” Luca asked.

“A screened-in porch for a cat,” Joey responded.

Luca chuckled, then poked the bear, aka Miles. “I think that sounds kind of cool.”

Miles sighed. “So far, the only show they’ve planned that sounds moderately interesting is that family-run brewery in Northern Virginia.”

Joey grinned. “The brewery is awesome. I talked to one of the guys who owns it, Levi Storm. Said we’re going to be interviewing their brew master, Lou. If all goes well, this is probably where my hosting career will end because working at a brewery as a job? Yeah. Screw the show and the construction gigs. That’s gotta be the epitome of career choices.”

Miles smirked. “Your business would fail in a matter of months, due to you drinking all the profits.”

“I can see it now,” Joey said, ignoring his best friend, waving his hand slowly in front of him as if revealing an image of his future. “Me and my beautiful wife, Emma, would settle down on a little farm, making beer and babies and living the good life.”

“Still think you’re going to marry Hermoine, huh?” Luca joked. Joey was absolutely in love with Emma Watson and had been for years.

Miles groaned as Joey wiggled his eyebrows. Miles had a tendency to roll his eyes every time one of their gang of friends mentioned their significant others—real or imagined. Most of Luca’s relatives and friends had settled down in the past year or two, which meant he, Joey, and Miles—the last remaining bachelors—were forced to spend time with a lot of guys who were head over dicks in love.

“You and I can name at least twenty people between us who would be more interesting than the brother-in-law. We met him once, remember? The guy with the obnoxiously loud laugh.”

Joey winced. “Oh shit. Is that him?”

Miles nodded. “I vote we put together a list of serious guests and present it to the executive producers,” Miles grumbled.

“That’s a great plan. And let me just say, I think it’s cute you think we’re going to get a say-so.” Joey lifted the pitcher, filling up his mug and Miles’s, before starting to do the same for Luca. He frowned when he realized Luca hadn’t taken more than a couple of sips. “You okay, bro?”

Luca managed one nod before sighing heavily.

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