Sicilian Escape with the Forbidden Tycoon - Chapter 7
WEST
The first thing West noticed in the morning was the bright sunlight streaming through the still-open windows, and he thought it was odd that Ryan had let him sleep in. The second thing he noticed was that Ryan wasn’t in the bed with him. He wasn’t on the balcony and he wasn’t in the bathroom, and dammit, his suitcase was gone, too. When West reached for his phone to call him, he found a text waiting: Grabbed an earlier flight.
West wanted to throw his phone across the room. Of all his stupid ideas, letting Ryan walk away was the worst one of all. He cursed under his breath and called Ryan. After two rings, it went to voicemail. He ended the call without leaving a message before angrily pitching his phone at the pile of pillows and fisting his hand in his hair.
The phone vibrated from somewhere in the pillow pile. Maybe Ryan was calling him back? He ransacked the pillows until he located his phone and was disappointed to see Matthew’s name instead of Ryan’s. Guilt surged through him. He shouldn’t think about his best friend that way. But this was a dire situation.
“Are you with Ryan?” West rushed the words out.
“I was about to ask you the same thing. What happened?”
West squeezed his eyes shut and huffed out a breath. “I messed up.”
There was a shift on the other side of the phone as Matthew said something to Heather. A door closed on the other side of the line as Matthew asked, “Does this have anything to do with the way you and my brother have been sneaking around all week?”
West’s stomach plummeted to the ground. He sank onto the bed and dropped his head. “He told you?”
“He didn’t have to. The two of you are not subtle.”
“And you’re not mad?”
“Well, I’m kind of mad you didn’t feel like you could tell me.”
“I’m sorry, Matthew. I know you told me to stay away. But—I think I might be in love with your brother.”
“West. I told you that over ten years ago. When he was just a kid. You are both adults. And clearly you like each other. The only thing I want to know is why my brother is at the airport and what you’re going to do about it.”
“I don’t know. He just…left.”
“I don’t want you to overthink this. For once in your life. No lists, no brainstorms. What do you want, West?”
West took a deep breath and let the last week run through his memory. Ryan’s kind smile, his bright eyes, the way he could bring West out of his shell with one look. Ryan getting him to dance at a wedding they crashed. Ryan filling every moment of the week with so much happiness. Ryan always brought so much and gave so much. West loved that about him. West wanted to do the same for him.
“I don’t want to this to be over.”
“Good. But you’re telling the wrong person. And his flight is in less than two hours.”
West felt a surge of panic at the realization that Ryan was gone—maybe forever. Two hours wasn’t much time. Two hours was practically no time at all. He couldn’t plan. He didn’t have time to make a list. He just had to jump. “I have to go.”
***
By the time West reached the airport, he’d missed the boarding call for his flight. His heart pounded in his chest as he sprinted through the terminal, narrowly dodging travelers who muttered complaints in various languages. But none of that mattered. Nothing else mattered except getting on that plane.
He reached the gate just as the flight attendant was about to close the door.
“Please,” he pleaded, breathless, his clothes rumpled, his hair in disarray. He must have looked like a mess, but he didn’t care. “Please, I need to be on that plane.”
The flight attendant gave him a long look, then sighed, holding out her hand for his boarding pass.
“Thank you,” he called as he rushed down the aisle, relief flooding through him. It hadn’t been pretty, but he’d made it. And that was all that mattered.
When West slid into the seat next to Ryan, the confusion in Ryan’s eyes was clear.
“West?”
West smiled, trying to sound casual, though he could feel the weight of everything pressing down on him. “What are you doing Friday night?”
Ryan blinked, looking slightly disoriented. “I’m moving to Los Angeles when I get back. I’ll be unpacking on Friday.”
West nodded. “I pushed back my meeting with Charlie. Turns out I don’t have any plans this week. And I’d really, really like to take you out to dinner on Friday.”
Ryan’s brow furrowed. “West, I told you. I’ll be in LA. Maybe in a week or two, I can come up, or we can FaceTime—”
“I know,” West interrupted gently, a smile tugging at his lips despite the nervous flutter in his chest. “I can come to Los Angeles, Ryan. I can go wherever you are.”
West took a deep breath, his gaze steady, and continued before Ryan could interrupt. “I was supposed to spend this whole week planning for my future. But then you showed up. And you reminded me of things I’d forgotten how to want. So, yeah. I’m willing to take a little extra time to see if there’s something here between us. If you want me to.”
Ryan’s expression wavered between hope and uncertainty, and West could see the emotional wall that Ryan had carefully built beginning to crack. The silence stretched, but it wasn’t uncomfortable—it was full of unspoken understanding. Finally, after a long beat, Ryan whispered, “You’re really coming to Los Angeles?”
West smiled softly, his voice full of warmth. “For you? Yes.”
Ryan shook his head. “I don’t understand…”
West’s smile softened, and he leaned in a little closer. “Close your eyes.”
Ryan furrowed his brow. “What?”
“I need you to close your eyes,” West repeated, his voice gentle but insistent.
Ryan hesitated, but then did it. Slowly, he closed his eyes, letting out a quiet breath.
West took his hands, threading their fingers together, feeling the familiar warmth of Ryan’s touch. He watched him, allowing the moment to settle between them before he spoke again, his voice lower now, tender.
“What can you feel?” West asked, his thumb gently rubbing over Ryan’s hand.
Ryan’s lips curved slightly, his voice soft and introspective. “The armrest digging into my forearm. The air from the vent above. Your thumb…rubbing against my hand.”
West couldn’t help but smile at that. “And what do you hear?”
“People getting settled,” Ryan murmured, his voice distant, almost as if he were savoring the stillness. “My heart. It’s racing.”
West held his breath for a moment, the weight of everything they’d shared hanging between them. He wanted to say it, but he needed Ryan to feel it, to truly know it.
“And hear me when I say this, Ryan Fuller,” West began, his voice steady now, filled with quiet conviction. “You are not too much. Not for me. I love the way you throw yourself into everything, the way you care about new people, new experiences. But I also love that you can sit beside me reading for hours. I love that you know how to ground me when I need it most.”
Ryan’s chest rose and fell slowly, his eyes still closed, but a small, contented smile tugged at the corners of his lips. He didn’t open his eyes yet, though. He just breathed.
West couldn’t help himself—he reached up, brushing away a single tear from Ryan’s cheek. “And I’m pretty sure that somewhere between crashing a wedding and icing your ankle I fell in love with you. I know it’s a lot. But I’m here for all of it. If you’ll have me.”
Ryan’s eyes flickered open at those words, meeting West’s gaze with raw intensity. West’s breath caught in his throat as he asked the next question.
“What do you see?”
Ryan blinked his eyes open. They brimmed with something soft, something like hope. “I see you, West,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “I can see us, together. Hiking in the hills of Los Angeles. Cooking dinner together. Sharing my tiny bed.”
West’s heart skipped a beat. The honesty in Ryan’s words, the tenderness, the vulnerability—it was everything West had been hoping for. He reached up, brushing a tear away from Ryan’s cheek.
Ryan’s voice cracked slightly, but his words were sure. “I see us, West. And I want to be there for you as you figure out what’s next.”
West’s hand tightened around his, and he leaned forward, his lips grazing Ryan’s, soft but urgent, as if sealing all the unspoken things between them. When they pulled away, West whispered, “I am completely uncertain about absolutely everything in my life right now. Except you. And I think I’m okay with that.”
West wanted to say more, but Ryan’s mouth was on his again, gentle but insistent. “I love you, too.”