“Forget it; I should never have said anything.”
“Well, I don’t want to forget it.”
Jesse groaned and stuck his head out of the shower, sliding one of the doors open. “Luke, seriously. It’s fine. I have the money. It’s just sometimes you act like everyone has multimillion-dollar endorsements.”
Luke felt a flush of shame and thought of Mike, slugging away trying to make enough money to pay off the mortgage on his house. “Yeah, you’re right. Sorry.”
“It’s okay. I’m just being bitchy because I lost in the second goddamned round.” Jesse shifted back under the water, closing his eyes.
“You and me, both. Christ, I hate clay.” The Rome Open was a big stop on the tour and good practice for the French. Not that Luke expected it to really make a difference. The clay slowed down his bullet of a serve, his big weapon. A teenager from Argentina who would probably go on to win, knowing Luke’s luck, had beaten him. Jesse had fallen to a Russian journeyman who had barely eked out a victory. Jesse’s chances were better than Luke’s in Paris, his game more suited to the clay.
“So now we’ve got almost a week to kill until Hamburg,” Jesse said. “Jeff wants me to pack up and be ready to leave in the morning for Germany since we’re not bothering with doubles on clay. Practice, practice, practice. Sucks, because I’ve never had the chance to just hang out in Italy. All I ever get to see are airports, hotels, and tennis courts.”
Luke opened up a towel and rubbed Jesse down when he emerged from the shower, making Jesse purr like a cat. Luke smiled and kissed his forehead. “Tell Jeff you need a couple of days.”
“To do what?” Jesse grinned.
Luke shrugged and tried to keep the smile from his mouth. “Nothing special.”
The lights of Venice shone across the Grand Canal and the gondolier pointed out various sights as they sailed along. Dinner had been spectacular, and the pasta was sitting comfortably in Luke’s stomach, the wine singing in his veins.
A four-hour train ride and they were a world away from the tour and all the stresses that came along with it. Luke was fairly certain the gondolier hadn’t recognized him, so he looped his arm over Jesse’s shoulders.
“This is, like, so much better than practicing.” Jesse snuggled close.
“I’m not sure Jeff would agree.”
“Well, what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. It’s not my fault I came down with food poisoning and missed my flight to Hamburg. And that I’ll have to be in bed for the next two days.”
“Mmm. These things happen.” Luke’s lips found Jesse’s neck.
They sailed along in contented silence until the Rialto Bridge came into view. “Wow. Luke, it’s amazing.”
Whistling softly, Luke agreed. “Let’s get out and walk across it.” He’d never been to Venice before either and wanted to take in as much as he could. He paid the gondolier and they strolled along the canal, looking in the windows of shops selling blown Murano glass and other specialties of the region.
They ventured into one store and tried on Venetian masks, brightly colored in hand-painted detail.
“Let’s buy them,” Jesse said.
“What are we going to do with carnival masks?”
Jesse plucked Luke’s from his hand and took it to the clerk along with his own. “Wear them?”
Luke’s eyebrow shot up. “Hmm, that could be fun,” he murmured.
Jesse grinned over his shoulder and indicated to the clerk that they didn’t need wrapping. “We’re wearing them now.” He collected his change and thanked the man in Italian.
Outside the store, Jesse reached behind Luke’s head and attached his mask. “Jesse, aren’t we going to look a little…out of place wearing masks?”
Jesse fastened his own and wound his arms around Luke’s waist. “The locals will just think we’re annoying American tourists. Annoying American tourists they can’t recognize.” He pressed their lips together and Luke saw the wisdom of his idea.
Holding hands, they walked to the Rialto Bridge. A few people looked askance at them, but most just went on their way. The bridge was made of steps that rose above the canal to a peak in the middle and then back down the other side. At the top, they looked out over the water, arms around each other. The night air was cool and crisp, and Luke felt utterly content.
“Don’t you wish it could always be like this?” Jesse asked.
“Well, we could always relocate to Venice to train.”
“You know what I mean.”
Luke glanced over, Jesse’s serious eyes peering back from beneath his mask. “I’m not sure I do.”
Jesse leaned in close and kissed him softly. “Like this. Out with you in public. Holding hands, being us.”
“Yeah, well, in a perfect world, it would be nice.”
“Sometimes I think maybe it’s us who make such a big deal out of it. Maybe people wouldn’t care as much as we think.”