Page 41 of Prince of Malice

Reaching the door to his room, Luca stuffs me through the cracked opening like he’s smuggling in a convict. Slamming the door shut behind us, he gestures for me to take a seat on his bed as he keeps his back turned for a moment to compose himself.

Slumping down, I look around at his bedroom, noticing the small details that he’s meticulously placed that speak volumes about him that must have faded from his consciousness a long time ago. Almost every item is placed to line up perfectly with the one beside it, all exactly level with whatever edge or corner nearest to it. Not a single thing is out of place; no clothes, shoes, accessories, or anything that wouldn’t be needed at a moment's notice is even in sight. If it wasn’t for the closets and cupboards around the confined dorm room, someone could easily be convinced he didn’t own anything other than what he’s wearing.

The entire room is decorated in vibrant monochrome shades ranging vastly from black and dark gray all the way to light gray and white.

Meticulous, dull, and painstakingly deliberate. This could only be Luca’s room.

Luca pulls his jacket off of his shoulders, places it directly on a coat hanger, and slots it neatly into his closet.

“So, uh, what did you want to talk about?” Luca asks as he sits down beside me on the bed, crossing his leg neatly over the other.

“I didn’t see you get out of there last night. I wanted to make sure you were okay,” I respond. This feels pathetic.

“Oh.” He seems caught off guard. “Was that really all you wanted?”

My brows narrow, and I look away from him.

“Well, I’m all good, Dominic. Are you going to run off now?”

“That’s your move, not mine.” I don’t even know if these words are meant to hurt.

He ignores my impulsive dig. “So, there’s something else you want?”

Looking at him, I see the slight gap in his collar exposing his neck. The call of his skin is almost irresistible to me. I grab the base of my shirt and start to tug it upward.

Luca grabs my hand to stop me from taking it off. “I’m serious.”

Pulling my hand away, I ball it up into a fist by my side. “What is this?”

“What do you mean? You’re the one who came here,” he fires back.

I stand up, flailing my arms in frustration. “I’m not talking about this,” I ramble while gesturing to the entirety of the room. “I meanthis.” I point between myself and Luca. “What is this?”

“Uh,” he drones, at a loss for words. “What do you want it to be?”

“That’s a cop-out answer. I’m being serious here,” I say, shutting him down.

He wrings his hands. “I don’t know,” Luca mumbles. “I don’t know how to explain it.”

Pacing the floor of his room, I can’t keep myself still as my mind races. I don’t even know how to explain this, but one of us needs to figure out how to define this. “Look, if this is something just casual, then we need to just stop,” I blurt out.

Luca stays quiet, thinking over his words carefully. “You’re right,” he begins. “If we’re just fooling around with each other, thenthat’s just stupid. We could mess up a lot of things.”

I can’t stop thinking about being buried to the hilt in his ass. Or mouth. Either way felt exquisite.

“Exactly.” I manage to lock myself into place, but my foot taps rapidly against the wood floor. “So is that all this is, then?”

“That’s what it seems like so far,” he replies. “We meet up, get in a fight, and then… you know.”

“You’re right. That’s all it’s been so far.”

“So far?” “What?” I exclaim. “You said so far, so I said so far.”

“Does that mean you want this to be more?”“Do you?” I fire back.

“I asked first,” he rebuttals.

“Well, I started this whole conversation,” I assert.

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