The Luck of Love (12 page)

“Are you offended?”

“No. But I thought it would be.”

Luke shrugged. “I never thought the day would come when it would be legal, so I never thought about it.”

“You’re ready, though, right? I want this, but I don’t want you to feel pressured into it.”

Luke grunted. “Are you serious? I love you, Josh. I might not always say it, and I know things deviated along the way, moving away from us and on to what we have with Gia, but I love you more than I did when I first realized my heart belonged to you.

“Can I say when the SCOTUS ruling came out, I didn’t think about it? Of course I did. But I was concerned it would hurt Gia. She’s younger than us, and yeah, she’s a tough little cookie, but she’s still a girl. I thought it would be important to her to get married. Now that I know it isn’t, I’m all yours.”

Josh’s smile was tender. “I asked her first, you know. I’m not sure if you believed me yesterday when I told you that.”

“Good. I’m glad. And I did believe you. You had no reason to lie to me.”

“This isn’t going to change what we have with her. But I need you to know what we have is stronger than ever. You’re right, we have deviated away from us, and that’s fine. What we have here, with Gia and Lexi, is far more than I ever imagined. Some days, I’m so fucking happy I could burst. And that’s because of you, Lexi, and Gia.” He sucked in a breath. “But I feel like this is my way of reminding you that it’s all happening because we’re strong together. What we have, the trust we have in one another, is incredibly fierce, enough that we can do this. Nothing can break us.”

Luke leaned forward to press another kiss to his lover’s lips. “I understand.”

“You do?” came the hopeful question.

“I do.”

“Good.”

The sound of the front door opening and slamming shut had them looking out into the hallway.

“That reminds me,” Josh mumbled, gaze focused on anything but his lover. “Lexi’s being homeschooled now.”

Luke froze. “You actually pulled her out of the academy? Saying is one thing, man, doing is another.”

“You should have heard the bullshit that goddamn bitch was spouting, Luke. I wasn’t having our little girl being taught by such a prejudiced dirtbag.”

Closing his eyes, he shook his head. “Didn’t you think to consult me before you made the final decision?”

Josh cleared his throat. “Well, it was mutual. I told the old bitch I was removing her, and then, well, she expelled Lexi.”

Luke frowned, but Josh saw there was a heated glow in the depths of his gaze. “She expelled Lexi?” His voice was low, dangerous.

“Yes.”

“The little girl who gets told off for saying please and thank you too much?”

Josh frowned but nodded.

“The little girl who is so goddamn polite she’ll let people pass in front of her often enough that she never gets a chance at the refill soda bank?”

Grunting, Josh nodded again.

“That fucking bitch. I’ll fucking report her to the highest goddamn schooling authority in the country. What did they expel her over? The fact that her family is unorthodox. I’m risking my fucking life for our nation, and that so-called fucking American dares to judge how we lead our lives?” He growled. “Pass me that fucking phone.”

Josh’s lips twitched. “You might need to do an Internet search on the ‘highest goddamn schooling authority in the country.’” He paused. “Although you needn’t bother. I’ve put Dana on it. I’m as furious as you are.”

Gia popped her head around the door. Her eyes widened at the sight of Luke’s naked ass and still-wet cock, but she only blinked, then blurted out, “No f-words, you two! Little ears.”

With that, she ducked back out. Luke looked at Josh, and Josh glanced at him. They burst out laughing almost as one.

Still chuckling, Luke bent to pull up his pants, amused that Gia hadn’t exactly batted an eyelid at his state of undress. Well, not enough to make a comment.

“The pitter-patter of furry feet too, if Lexi has her way.”

Josh’s groan had Luke grinning wider. “She’s after a dog again?”

“Yeah.” He grunted. “And dammit, I can’t say no when she asks me nicely.”

“Make sure she doesn’t know that. She’s cute as pie now, but when she turns into a teenager, she’ll use it against you. Mark my words.”

Josh wrinkled his nose, and the move was so similar to Lexi’s, Luke’s heart sighed at the sight. “I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.”

Luke clapped a hand on his arm. “You sure homeschooling is the best step forward?”

“No. But it’s the best option. I’ve had Dana look into the different routes we can take. I think, until Lexi’s older and wiser and a little more used to how unusual our lifestyle choices are, it’s the safest option. And I think she’ll be happier at home. She’s such a little bookworm, we might find she excels better here, where we can proceed more quickly with the subjects she likes a lot.”

Luke sighed. “That academy would have looked great on her resume.”

“Yeah, I know. But sometimes things work out, sometimes they don’t.”

Gia’s footsteps echoed down the hall, and Josh took a seat in his desk chair while Luke perched on the side of the desk. When she stepped into the room, she headed to Luke, kissed his lips, then bent and pecked Josh’s cheek. She yelped when he grabbed her and tucked her on his knee.

“Where have you been? I rearranged my schedule so I could be at home this afternoon.”

Luke knew that was in reaction to his deployment. It reassured him that Josh would be here for Gia more in his absence.

The look Josh shot over Gia’s head told him he sensed Luke’s relief.

Gia didn’t notice though. She was too busy blushing. “Running errands.”

Luke stared at her. “What kind of errands?” He wouldn’t have asked, but she was fidgety as hell, which always meant she was hiding something.

Or trying to.

Gia was not the world’s best liar. How she’d managed to keep her writing career secret still amazed him. In fact, he couldn’t get his head around it. Gia was as bad as Lexi at telling lies.

“What have you done? Apart from taking our daughter out of her school without discussing it with me first.”

“I did mention it last night,” she mumbled. “And don’t fib. Josh must have told you that she only expelled her because he made her cry.”

Luke gawked at Josh. “You made the principal cry?”

“Oh. He didn’t mention it.” She bit her lip, then peeked up at Josh, who only grunted.

“No, it wasn’t exactly my proudest moment.”

“What happened?”

“She kept on making excuses for the bullying, and I lost it.”

“He went all brigadier general on her ass. Started spouting his constitutional rights, declaring the reasons he’d fought and was still fighting for his country.” Her lips quirked up. “It was quite amusing, actually.”

Luke shook his head. “I knew I should have gone.”

Josh studied him. “You’d have been there if you could.” He tugged Gia tighter against him. When she was folded in his embrace, he murmured, “Luke got his briefing today, Gia.”

She froze a second in Josh's arms, her tension clearly visible from across the desk, and then, with a faint tremor to her movements, she climbed off Josh’s knee and slipped her arms around Luke’s waist. Standing there, connected, she burrowed her face into his shirt and took a deep breath. The gust of air seeped into his clothes, and he knew he’d miss these moments the most. When she just held him, touched him, loved him.

“If I didn’t know you two had just been fucking, without
me
, I could smell it. You have Josh all over you.”

Josh snorted. “Technically, I have
him
over me.”

She peered up at him, a question in her eyes. “That bad, huh?”

Luke frowned. “What do you mean?”

“You never take Josh, ever. Not unless something bad’s going on.”

“I can’t talk about it, Gia.”

“I’m not asking you to, dammit. I know you well enough to read between the lines.” She tightened her grip around his waist. “I wish you didn’t have to go, honey.”

“Me too,” he told her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

“There’s my confirmation,” she whispered. “I know how bad it is growlnow and you don’t have to say a word. You’re no coward, sweetheart. You’re the best, bravest, most decent man I know. Whatever goes on over there, I’m proud of you. Do you understand me?”

Throat tight, he whispered, “Yeah. I get you. Thank you, love.”

“Now, how bad, Luke? No details, just roughly.”

“Bad.”

She gulped. “Oh.”

His sigh said it all, but he replied, “What errands?”

She tensed at his question, but, with hesitance in her tone, murmured, “I spoke with your father. I wanted to confront him. I needed to. Lexi’s my baby, and I’m not having him hurt her. And now, well, your mom’s furious at him too.”

He blinked. “She is?”

“You didn’t think she would be?”

“M-my dad…he’s vocal,” Luke admitted, grimacing at the thought of just how
vocal
Robert could be.

“Well, I don't care what he says. Lou has our backs.”

His astonishment twisted into a relief so pure he felt like crying. “Really? You’re not just saying that?”

“Oh, love, why would I? I told them I’m not taking Lexi there again. Louise is welcome here, but…” Nervously, she licked her lips. “Robert isn’t. H-he said that we’re to blame. We shouldn’t be living like this and that we should have expected Lexi to be bullied over it.”

“That’s way too close to what you were saying yesterday, Luke.” Josh growled. “Have you been listening to him again? His bullshit?”

“He’s my dad, Josh. Of course I have.” Luke scowled. “What would you have me do? Blank him completely? I don’t want him to be right, but I know what we have together will always affect our daughter.”

Josh’s grunt said he wouldn’t mind the option of blanking Luke's father. “The man barely accepted me, Luke, and let’s not mention his reaction to Gia. I’ve no idea why it comes as such a surprise to us all that he hasn’t accepted Lexi.” He scrubbed a hand over his face, looking more tired than Luke had seen him for a while.

He tried not to feel guilty about that, but it was a war he’d never win. Luke would always feel split by what his father expected of him and what he wanted out of his relationship with Josh and Gia. He was used to the tug-of-war on his emotions, and it was only the added stress of the upcoming deployment that had fucked with his mind.

If Josh knew the things his father had said over the years, Luke had no doubt he’d go apeshit. Luke was a mediator through and through, which was why he’d always kept quiet, burying the hurtful things Robert said rather than discussing them. And regardless of the painful things he was capable of saying, Luke loved his dad.

He knew he’d disappointed him by coming out, and it was one of the reasons he was still in the service. Reaching lieutenant colonel, being the best at what he did, was his way of soothing troubled waters with his father.

Robert couldn’t be proud of Luke’s choices, but he could beam with pride at Luke’s career path.

Fucked-up
didn’t begin to describe it, but Luke couldn’t give up on him. He simply couldn’t. And despite himself, while he still felt enraged at how Robert had divorced himself from Lexi, he hoped things would change. That his dad would come to see how beautiful their baby girl was, and that, with time, he’d accept her.

It was a long shot, but Luke was hopeful Lexi’s nature would shine through and help his dad see the light. It was too much to put on little shoulders—
that
he knew—but he had to keep on hoping.

“What did he say when you said you weren’t going to bring her to see them anymore?”

“Not a lot.” She peered up at him. “Your mom says that we’re not to worry about your inheritance. It’ll go to Lexi.”

He frowned. “It will?”

“She says the money comes from her trust fund. She’s in control of it, not your dad.”

“Holy shit. I never knew that.” He blew out a breath. “Although, I guess that meant dad was lying. If it's mom's trust fund, then he has no say in it. Huh, I bet that freakin' kills him. Not that it matters. It was the principle of the thing.”

“I know. That’s why I had to go and see them. I had to get it out; otherwise, it would have only made me madder.”

At her earnestness, he sighed. “I guess you were trying to protect me and Lexi in your own way.”

“Just call me soldier, soldier.”

His lips twitched. “Leave the protecting to Josh and me.”

She scowled at him. “Hey, you’re my guys. And she’s my baby. I can protect too, you know. I’m not completely useless. I wasn’t going to let him get away with making you feel shitty about what we have here. Especially not with you leaving soon. I guess if you got your briefing, you’ll be leaving
real
soon.”

He nodded, then brushed his thumb over the still-quivering morsel. “Don’t be upset, honey.”

“But I am. How am I going to cope without you for nine months?”

“You’ll be all right, baby. Josh is going to step up, aren’t you?”

She nestled her forehead against the thick blend of his cotton tee. But Josh surprised her with some bluntness of his own.

“Of course I am.” When they stared at him, Gia pulling away from Luke to gawk, shocked at his ready answer, he grumbled, “You’d think I was a goddamn monster.”

“No, just busy,” she corrected. “You’re always…well, you’re always at the base.”

“I’ll have to make sure I’m home from now on for you and Lexi.”

She blinked, then smiled softly. “Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me. It’s my pleasure.”

Gia gazed at him with such warmth that Josh started to fidget. Hell, when a woman looked at you like you’d set the moon and the stars for her and her alone, it was a powerful moment. Luke didn’t blame him for squirming.

“You didn’t ask me what my other errands were,” she whispered breathily.

Josh cocked a brow at the change of topic. “What were they?”

“I went shopping for clothes Luke would drool over and that would make you come by ripping them off.”

He leaned forward, a hungry cast to his features. “Show me.”