Page 103 of Cherry on Top

That they didn’t need to rush anything.

“Or,” Will said slowly, “we could just tell them the truth.”

Enzo’s eyebrows skidded upwards. “Are you serious?”

“Completely. It’s . . .I’m not just . . .” Will trailed off, clearing his throat. Enzo was still looking at him that way, almost the way he’d been staring at him from their first date onwards, when he’d supposedly been trying to prove he was head over heels for Will, and honestly, that realization was the reason he kept pushing forward. Kept talking. Because it seemed very likely that Enzo was actually crazy about him, that none of it had been an act, not from the beginning. “I’m serious about this. About you. I want this to work out. And it’s going to be challenging. I’m going to miss you, like a limb, when you go. And I hope you’re gonna miss me too—”

“Undeniably,” Enzo said quietly, seriously, reaching and squeezing Will’s hands.

“It’s going to be hard. I knew that when we made this thing between us real. I’m going to have to juggle my business and you. I hope that in a few months, I can come with you to jobs. And I hope you’ll take more, when you can, around this area. I want this so badly to work, because I . . .” You can do this, Will. It’s just three words. Admittedly, three words you’ve never said to anyone else before, but this is Enzo. “I love you. If I loved you less . . .maybe I’d be willing to play around more. To keep up this insane charade. But I don’t think I am. This matters too much to me. You matter too much to me.”

Enzo’s face softened, his dark eyes glowing. He leaned in, and his forehead touched Will’s. “And here,” he said in a wondrous voice, “I was worried you wouldn’t be able to convince anyone.”

“It’s easy because it’s not an act,” Will said.

“I know,” Enzo said and kissed him. Sweet and firm, like they had all the time in the world. And maybe, now, they did. After a moment, he pulled back. “I love you, too. Of course. I wouldn’t do any of this for anything less.”

Will had suspected it, but it was even more amazing than he’d imagined to hear Enzo say it. Wrapping his arms around his waist, he pulled Enzo in close, resting his cheek against his bare skin. Feeling the beat of his heart. The heart that belonged to him now. That he’d fight any battle to keep.

Including coming clean with both his parents and Enzo’s mom.

And no two ways around it, it was going to be a battle, but he’d do it, he’d face them, because he had Enzo by his side.

“So we’re decided then?” Will asked softly.

“Yes,” Enzo murmured. “Telling the truth is almost crazier than continuing the lie, but yes. You’re right. I don’t want to get married only because I told your parents we were engaged, same as I didn’t want to date you just because you’d told my mom that we were. I want to do it for real. I want to do everything for real.”

“You keep saying stuff like that and I’m gonna . . .” Will trailed off, eyeing Enzo again. All those tanned slender limbs. The hint of muscle that turned him merely attractive to a work of freaking art.

“You just came,” Enzo squawked in outrage. “I know, I was there. But you know, it’s a good sign that even at twenty-nine, you’ve got a decent recovery window. Maybe that means in fifteen years you’re still gonna—”

Before Enzo could finish that sentence, it was Will’s turn to smack him in the chest. Enzo laughed. “Okay, fine, fine. I guess we need to talk about how we’re going to be honest.”

“We should do it together. My parents. Your mother. Oliver. Luca. Rocco, even, if he’s not running around like a chicken with its head chopped off.”

Enzo shot him a doubtful look. “Are you serious? You want to tell everyone, together? You know what that means.”

Will knew. But he was also counting on the fact they were together and actually pretty goddamn happy about it to smooth over any hurt feelings or disappointment that they wouldn’t be heading down the aisle any time soon.

And if his parents met Giana, well . . .that was inevitable, anyway. Maybe it was better to do it on their terms.

“Your mom is gonna freak out.”

Enzo stood and started pacing again.

“And your parents won’t?” he questioned. “We just told them yesterday that we were engaged. We’re going to have to tell them why.”

Will winced. Yes, he was. And no, he was not looking forward to that conversation. Sure, the fact they were together now might placate all three of them, but the fact they’d felt the need to lie in the first place? Both times? That was going to be a much tougher part of the conversation.

“Yeah,” Will agreed. “We both will.”

Enzo flopped down on the bed, groaning. And not in the fun kind of way. “I know it’s the right thing to do, but it’s gonna suck.”

“Yeah, but in the end?” Will reached out and smoothed a curl back from his forehead. “I can’t be angry at myself that we’re in this spot, because we wouldn’t have gotten here, if we hadn’t been very stupid in the first place.”

“And desperate,” Enzo added hopefully. “We were stupid and desperate.”

Will laughed. “I’m not sure how that helps.”

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