Page 16 of Cherry on Top

And God, the idea that Will believed that he needed his mother to get him dates?

A fresh wave of humiliation washed over Enzo.

Especially because, as Rocco had been so eager to volunteer more than once, Will was no-question-about-it, undeniably hot.

“Nobody expects you to settle down. You’re making bank and living such an exciting life, a new city every few months,” Oliver said, patting his arm.

“Just Giana,” Luca said dryly. “You know that was part of Will’s attraction. He’s here.”

“I’m not moving back home,” Enzo said firmly.

“We know that,” Oliver said gently. “But Giana might be still holding out hope.”

“Maybe I need to come back here more often,” Enzo theorized.

Rocco shot him a look. “If you did that, Auntie might lock you in a closet with Will.”

“Listen, I’ll talk to her,” Luca said.

It was just like Luca to want to intervene. To use his position as de facto head of the Morettis to take care of Enzo’s problem. Luca had been taking care of everyone’s problems forever. Enzo thought in some kind of sick way, he actually enjoyed doing it.

But Enzo shook his head. He was a grown adult now. He didn’t need Luca’s help. “No. No. I’ll talk to her, and I’ll talk to Will.”

“In which order?” Rocco teased.

Oliver smacked him. “Let your cousin alone. It’s bad enough that his own mother is making his life harder. You don’t need to add to it, too.”

“Fine, fine,” Rocco said, with a resigned expression crossing his face. “I’ll leave them alone.”

“Good.”

“I would like to paint the mural, still,” Enzo said. “Giana wasn’t wrong about the location or the building. It’s an ideal spot. But I guess I’ll have to convince Will now.”

“Maybe smooth it over with him first and then yell at Giana,” Luca suggested. “That way she can’t . . .well, interfere worse.”

That was Enzo’s plan. “Then maybe she won’t imagine me ‘smoothing it over’ means something else.”

“Don’t tell me you didn’t consider it, even for a minute,” Rocco said. “She could’ve been doing you a favor. Laying some important groundwork.”

“Rocco,” Oliver warned.

Even though Enzo wouldn’t admit it, and definitely not to Rocco, who’d never let him forget it, he had thought about it. For the split second after he’d turned around. When Will had been standing there, dazzling in the dusk, lit by a streetlight. Before he’d accused Enzo of vandalism and before Enzo had decided he’d been horribly insulted by even the insinuation that what he created was the same as defacing someone’s building.

Yeah, in that moment, he’d thought it. Had thought Will was freaking gorgeous, and even wondered why he’d wasted so much time not coming home when there was someone who looked like him in Indigo Bay.

“Maybe Will’s not Enzo’s type,” Luca said.

“Are you kidding? Will’s everyone’s type. All you need is eyes.” Rocco stood, stretching out his long, lean body. He was another chip off the Moretti block, and Enzo could see shades of his own face and also Luca’s in Rocco’s sculpted cheekbones and dark eyes. “But don’t worry, cousin,” he said, leaning down and giving Enzo a quick hug. “I’m not gonna move in on your guy. Oliver’s right. He’s not right for me. I just like looking. Now, I’m gotta take off. I’ve got an early shift at the bakery.”

Oliver nodded absently. He was holding hands with Luca, and Luca was leaning over, murmuring something in his ear.

Enzo almost begged Rocco to stay. That he didn’t want to be left alone with all this love in the air. That he was afraid it might be catching.

But that would be ridiculous.

He could spend some time with his cousin and his husband without wanting to crawl out of his skin.

Or without thinking about Will.

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