Chapter 8 #2
"Drink. Bathroom. Sleep," Gio says.
Lorenzo goes for a hug.
"Aw, look at you, acting like someone's dad."
Then he squints at me. "Forget about me. You better fix things with your boyfriend so we can all get some fucking peace this week."
Gio smirks. I laugh quietly.
If only he knew. If he knew I was still hard just thinking about the way Gio moaned when I did… stuff to him. Lorenzo walks into the bathroom and Gio doesn't even wait a full second.
He launches himself at me. I lose my balance and go straight back onto the bed with a soft crash. Gio lands on top of me like a very heavy blanket.
"Get off," I say, laughing. "Lorenzo's gonna see us."
Gio laughs too and taps me lightly on the side of the head. "Get a grip. You think he's gonna go tell anyone? He's a freak, he'll want details."
Well. True.
We eventually calm down enough to stop wrestling and slide back under the covers like nothing happened.
My heart, however, did not get the memo.
We're staring at the ceiling.
"Well... goodnight again," I mumble.
"Goodnight, dick," he says instantly.
I whip my head toward him and smack his arm. "Tch."
He laughs under his breath. I turn back to the ceiling.
I have no idea how I'm supposed to sleep after this.
Next morning
I'm going to explode.
Gio is literally lying on top of me. His whole leg is thrown over my ass, like he's gatekeeping it from the rest of the world.
As if someone is going to walk in here at 3AM and try to steal my ass and he's just guarding it.
His arm is spread across my back.
He really said, "Rava won't be needing oxygen tonight."
I can feel his hair near my mouth. If I move even a little, I'm going to inhale it and die.
"Gio," I mutter. "You're heavy. Move."
"No," he groans, half-asleep. "I'm comfortable. Don't ruin it." From the other bed, I hear sheets rustling. Lorenzo stretches with a loud sigh.
"Told you," he mumbles. "He sleeps like a starfish. Takes up everything."
I grab Gio's wrist gently, peel his arm off my back, and toss it to the side so I can actually move. He makes this tiny annoyed noise.
Lorenzo groans again, rubbing his face.
"Man... last night was chaos."
Last night. My eyes snap open.
Everything hits me at once. Oh my God. Apparently I'm a dick sucker now. I can't believe I actually did that.
In real life. With my actual mouth. On an actual person.
And I did it with so much ease it's almost embarrassing. I didn't hesitate. Because I wanted it.
Now I'm panicking because what if he thinks I'm easy?
Which is not true. At all.
It was insane, though. Too good.
I can hear his sounds replaying in my head.
I also really didn't expect him to be that… pretty. Down there.
Like, I don't have anything to compare it to. I've never done this with a guy before. I've only seen whatever you accidentally scroll past on the internet and immediately exit out of, but holy shit?
I wasn't ready.
Plus, now I get why he has that much confidence. I used to think, okay, relax, Fontana, it's not that serious.
Now I've seen him naked and yeah. It kind of is that serious. He has every right to be cocky. I want it again.
I don't even know what I want, exactly.
More of that? Less? Different? Closer? Further? I just know I want something from him. Everything and nothing at the same time.
I squeeze my eyes shut and rub my face hard. It's too early for this. Too early for memories like that to be playing on repeat in my head. Lorenzo drags himself off the bed and shuffles to the bathroom.
I take the chance to sit up, at least I try to. The second I move, Gio makes a low noise and pulls me straight back down.
His arm curls tight around my waist.
"Seriously, Gio?"
"Mm-hmm," he mumbles into my skin.
"Shut up, Rava. Your heart's going nuts."
"It's called suffocation," I say. But he isn't wrong. My heart is beating like crazy again.
"You're very dramatic," he adds.
I roll my eyes. "Get up, Gio. We're meeting the clients today, remember?"
"Fuck you, why would you say that out loud?"
"Because it's true."
"Because you're cruel."
I grin to myself. "Because we can't go in like this."
That gets him. He drags himself out of bed. A tiny laugh slips out of me because his hair is a disaster.
Some strands are literally sticking straight up. I didn't even know hair could do that naturally. You can clearly tell which side he was sleeping on. One half of his head is completely flattened, the other is chaos.
I turn away fast so he doesn't see me laughing. I head for my clothes and start getting dressed. The faster we get out of here, the better.
…
We manage to all shower, get dressed, and drag ourselves to the car. It's funny how we each look like we're going to a different life.
Gio looks like he's about to rob a bank in style.
Lorenzo looks like he's on his way to a beach rave.
I look like I'm going to my first day at an office job.
If someone sees us together, they'll think we met by accident at a bus stop.
We get inside the car.
Ugh. Morning car smell is honestly one of the worst things on this planet. There are no words strong enough for how much it disgusts me right now.
Gio takes the driver's seat.
I sit next to him in the front. Lorenzo immediately collapses in the back like a corpse. He groans.
"Is the world always this loud?"
Gio smirks. "What the hell did you get up to last night?"
Lorenzo makes a noise that's half laugh, half death rattle.
"I went upstairs with… a girl and a guy. Ended up in someone else's suite. There was whipped cream. And maybe a harness? I'm not sure. I think they were influencers. Or cult leaders. Or both."
"That's my boy," Gio says, glancing at him in the mirror, proud. Lorenzo sits up just enough to rest his chin on the headrest between us.
His hair is a mess.
"And what about you two?" he says. "What did you get up to back at the hotel?"
Silence. The only sound in the car is Gio's fingers tapping on the steering wheel.
I stare straight ahead.
What are we even supposed to say? Neither of us answers. Gio keeps pretending he didn't even hear the question.
I rub my thumb with my other thumb.
The second I notice, I stop.
Lorenzo looks between us in the mirror, suspicious as hell.
I look out the window. "Nothing. Just stuff."
Lorenzo raises an eyebrow. "Stuff? Like the kind of stuff you were telling me the other night when you were drunk?"
I turn in my seat, shocked.
Gio opens his mouth. "Can I know what kind of st—"
"No," I snap. Lorenzo lets out an evil laugh. "You didn't answer me, though." His smile gets even bigger. "I get it. I get it. I just hope you didn't have sex on my beautiful bed."
"We didn't have sex!" I shout, a little too loud, a little too fast. Gio bursts out laughing. "God, I wish we could keep this beautiful conversation going," he says. "But we're here. So act like people. Lorenzo, get your shit together. You look like a drunk uncle. Don't embarrass us."
He pulls into the parking spot. Lorenzo is out of the backseat instantly. I'm still unbuckling my belt.
Gio leans over so fast I don't even process it and presses a quick kiss to my neck. Then he's gone, like nothing happened.
Cool. Very normal. Totally casual.
Just Gio Fontana leaving stray kisses on my throat when no one's looking. I get out of the car and follow them.
I think we're at a café or a restaurant. I'm not totally sure. It's one of those places that looks like it costs more than my existence anyway.
Huge glass building right in front of the sea.
It's stupidly beautiful. Honestly, that's the only part of this life I really like. We get to walk into places like this all the time.
Shiny, clean places. Lorenzo's on my left, running his finger along the metal railing the whole way like a five-year-old.
Gio's on my right. Sometimes his hand brushes against mine as we walk, but I pretend I don't notice.
I do notice. My body notices. My body is also on a very thin line between fine and hello boner, and I cannot afford the second one here.
"I'm taking the stairs, maybe I'll wake up," Lorenzo says. "I'll meet you up there."
"Don't fall and die," Gio tells him.
Then he grabs me and pulls me straight into the elevator.
The doors close behind us. He looks around immediately.
Up. Corners. Ceiling.
I do the same without even thinking about it. No cameras. There really aren't any cameras.
The second we both confirm that, he hooks his fingers around my throat and drags me in, crashing his mouth onto mine so fast I barely have time to gasp.
I'm pissed for a second because he catches me completely off guard, but my body doesn't care.
I kiss him back instantly, with zero hesitation. His hand is still on my throat. I like it way too much.
I want to tell him, harder. Press more. Hold me there. Don't let me move.
Instead, I grab his hair. My fingers sink into it, tugging at the back of his head as I kiss him, pulling him closer and making him tilt his face just the way I want.
His free hand finds my waist. My back bumps the wall of the elevator. For a second, it feels like the whole box slows down.
Then it actually does. The lift shudders and starts moving slower.
We break apart extremely fast. He steps back, running a hand through his hair, trying to fix the complete mess I just made of it. I straighten my shirt, smooth my collar, trying not to look like I was just making out with the driver.
He looks at me. I look at him.
A little laugh slips out of me before I can stop it. We step out of the elevator and immediately spot Lorenzo. Gio lifts his hand to clap him on the back and Lorenzo flinches away.
"No touching, please," he says.
"I don't trust where your hands have been."
My jaw actually drops. I choke on a laugh and immediately look away, because if I make eye contact with Gio or Lorenzo right now I'm going to lose it.
We head inside the meeting space. Yeah, okay. It's definitely a café. It's nice. We sit at a corner table and wait.
"They said they'll be here any minute," Lorenzo mutters, checking his phone. I nod.