Page 173 of Rookie Rules

Silence followed. Rowan let it. An answer given freely could not be managed toward him.

"What changes?" Luca asked.

The question was the test Rowan deserved.

"No rules made alone. Vale handles your formal reviews. He is present for anything beyond normal bench correction. If we fight at home, your minutes and your reads are not mine to punish. You can change mentors without asking me."

"And who knows?"

"We decide together. Finn suspects. I did not give him your name. I will not invent a date, deny you, or make you cover for me."

Something in Luca's face eased, though not enough.

"And your house?" Luca asked.

"You come through the front door. You leave things there. We have dinner when we want dinner, not only when the schedule makes it defensible."

"You hated my jacket on your chair."

"I hated that I liked it there."

Luca bowed his head. A tear slipped free. He wiped it away with visible annoyance.

"I will still get scared," Rowan said. "When I do, I tell you. I do not issue an order and pretend it is for your benefit."

"You practiced that one."

"In the MRI. It was worse the first six times."

Luca laughed once, broken at the edge. The sound gave Rowan no permission to move.

"I cannot come back to what we had," Luca said.

Pain opened beneath Rowan's ribs. He held still.

"I know."

"If I say I am willing to try again, that is not restoration. It is not forgiveness on demand. Those rules stay dead, and I watch what you do next."

Hope arrived so sharply it was almost another injury.

"Yes."

"And you do not get to turn me caring for you into evidence that everything is fixed."

"Agreed."

"I am not moving in because you cannot carry groceries."

Rowan blinked. "I did not ask you to move in."

"Good. Because that would be a terrible proposal."

The laugh escaped Rowan before he could contain it.

Luca's expression softened. "You really love me?"

"Yes."