All Chapters of The Wrong Kind Of Right: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

That afternoon, Serena texted with a list of suit options and a note that “We’ll do a fitting at the tower. Wear something neutral. No cologne.”She didn’t ask how he was.She didn’t ask where he’d gone the night before.Luca didn’t respond right away. He just stared at her message.Then he flipped back to his other chat, the one with Asher.The one that made him feel less like a groom being groomed.And more like a man alive.Luca:Are you really not going to ask what I left on the voicemail?Asher:No need. I heard everything I needed to.Luca:And?Asher:And maybe I’m not ready to forgive you. But I’m not walking away yet.Luca sat with that message for a long time.Then typed, one word, and sent it before he could overthink it.Luca:Stay.No immediate reply.And weirdly, that was okay.Asher hadn’t meant to type it.He really hadn’t.But the word sat there, flashing back at him from Luca’s message like it belonged in some other timeline. Some alternate version of them where thin

“I’m starving,” Luca said after another moment. “You didn’t happen to stock the fridge, did you?”“Do I look like a man who shops for groceries?”“No. You look like a man who eats protein bars and rage.”Asher rolled his eyes. “Fine.” He reached across the nightstand for his phone, swiping the screen. “What’s your poison?”“Anything with noodles. And no mushrooms.”Asher’s brows lifted. “You just had your mouth on places you swore never to touch again, and mushrooms are your line?”“Everyone has their boundaries,” Luca said, deadpan.Asher snorted and opened the food delivery app. “You’re insufferable.”“But I’m hungry,” Luca said, voice low now as he leaned closer, trailing soft kisses down Asher’s chest. “And you wore me out.”Asher glanced down, trying not to smile, failing. “You keep doing that, I’m going to forget the food.”“Just being affectionate,” Luca murmured.“I’ve seen barn cats show less affection than you’re trying to fake right now.”Luca laughed against his skin. “Who

Asher sat on the armrest of the couch, elbows on his knees, mind spinning.He didn’t want to wake Luca. Not with this. Not now.But tomorrow?There wouldn’t be a choice.Somewhere in the bedroom, Luca shifted again, murmuring something under his breath. Asher turned his head, half standing.He didn’t go back in.He sat in the quiet and watched the clock tick forward.Minute by minute.Knowing every second brought them closer to a reckoning he couldn’t stop, not unless he made a choice too.Morning light spilled across the hardwood floors in hazy golden streaks. Luca stirred first, blinking into the sunlight, eyes sluggish with sleep but face peaceful in a way that felt unfamiliar, earned, even.He reached for Asher instinctively, fingers brushing empty sheets.“...Asher?”No answer.The apartment was quiet, too quiet.He sat up slowly, sheets pooling around his waist, the chill biting into his bare shoulders.The events of last night came back in fragments, wine, laughter, lips agains

The next week blurred.Weddings were being arranged in real time, Serena, back in full force, orchestrated press appointments, curated menus, walked runways in bridal couture like it was all effortless.And Luca… Luca drifted through it like a man underwater.He showed up.He smiled.But the only place he breathed, really breathed, was when Asher touched him.In stolen hotel suites. In empty boardrooms. Once even in the Virelli villa wine cellar when the power flickered and the staff had cleared out for an hour.Every time they parted, Luca told himself it was the last.Every time he saw Asher again, that lie crumbled.“You ever get tired of running?” Asher asked one night.They were in Asher’s apartment again. This time, no wine. No takeout. Just them, lying across the couch like gravity no longer applied.Luca was shirtless, a light sheen of sweat on his skin. His chest rose and fell slowly, like it took effort.Asher sat up, tugging his shirt back on.Luca didn’t answer.Asher look

An hour in, Asher had stopped mocking the film.Somewhere between the sun drenched bike rides and stolen glances over breakfast tables, he stopped trying to act unaffected.His fingers were still tangled with Luca’s, and neither of them had spoken in twenty minutes.When the first kiss happened on screen, quiet and tentative, an electric touch in the silence of a hot Italian night, Asher felt Luca shift beside him.Not nervously.Just… aware.It mirrored them too closely.“I hated this movie the first time I watched it,” Asher said softly, surprising them both.Luca turned his head toward him. “Why?”“Because it felt too real. The wanting. The hiding. The pretending it wasn’t going to end in ruin.”Luca nodded, eyes on the screen but not really watching anymore. “I used to think I’d never get even that much.”Asher’s grip on his hand tightened slightly.“You still might not,” Asher said. “Not if I punch you next time you ghost me.”Luca laughed, low, breathy. “I deserve that.”“Damn r