13. Matteo
The universe was against me; no means no, but apparently I like a little dub con.
Milan wasn’t home, but it was as close to home as I was going to get. I wasn’t running away from my best friend—I knew I was lying to myself, but I decided that we wouldn’t talk about it. If I lied to myself, maybe I would believe that Levi and I were ok.
Vi left me confused and wanting to take her up on her advice to talk to Levi, but that wasn’t a conversation I was ready for or thought I was ever going to have. I didn’t want to ruin our friendship.
I sighed, rubbing my forehead as my phone pinged on the nightstand. Rolling over, I grabbed it, seeing Levi's name. He had tried texting me several times and each time that I responded it was always a curt response.
I know, I’m an asshole.
Levi: Hey, Vi is in Milan.
I sighed, annoyed, but a little interested as a text bubble popped up.
My feelings about Vi also confused me. The entire festival weekend had turned my life upside down, a threesome with my best friend who I’d been having thoughts about made me want to blame her for everything.
But it wasn’t her fault, I had made the decision to walk into that room and fuck her right alongside my best friend, who incidentally, I had confusing feelings about.
Levi: She’s wanting to go to Lake Como, but all hotels are booked. Do you think you can help her? No pressure. I thought I would help her if I could.
I grimaced. Did she really leave in the middle of the night and now was asking him for help?
Me: She messaged you just for that? Couldn’t say goodbye, but is asking for your help.
Levi: She apologized a few days after I came to Paris. We’ve been talking since then.
I rolled my eyes. What the hell was she doing?
Me: I’ll see if I can help her.
Levi: Thanks. How are you?
I stared at our conversation wanting to talk to him so badly.
“Matteo!” My sister yelled. “Are you almost ready?”
“Yeah!” I yelled back. “Just gotta put some clothes on.”
“Ten minutes!” she yelled. “You better be ready!”
“I will!” I yelled, getting annoyed.
I had my perfect excuse.
Me: Good, about to go out with Paola.
I set my phone down to get ready, choosing tailored pants and a button-down for dinner and the club Paola was dragging me to. My phone pinged again. The urge to pick up the phone was strong. I missed my best friend.
“You ready?” My sister said in Italian, standing at the door dressed in a sleek black dress and heels that looked dangerously tall.
“You look beautiful,” I said, putting my watch on.
“I’m always beautiful,” she said, spinning.
“Of course,” I said, spraying some cologne.
“Come on, we will be late,” she said, walking away.
Her heels clicked loudly on our floors. I grabbed my jacket to follow her.
Milan had some of the best nightlife. There was always something going on and my sister had managed to snag a table at a trendy restaurant that we had been dying to go to.
Paola also demanded we go dancing, it had been a while since we had gone out together and she preferred going out with me in case men got too handsy.
I was ready to lose myself in alcohol and someone else.
It had been weeks since I had taken someone home.
A good fuck would make me forget…at least that’s what I was telling myself.
Dinner was great. The food, the drinks and the constant chatter from my sister soothed me. She was loud and rambunctious as she told me about her trip to England and the Netherlands.
Once it was an acceptable time, we left the restaurant, heading over to Club 52. It was one of the newer bars opened by a man named Saint. He had been opening clubs all over Europe with his wife and they were stunning.
The music was loud as we walked into the beautiful club that had bars lit up in a very speakeasy way. The VIP section had velvet sofas with soft lighting that felt like it was meant for Mafia bosses to conduct dirty business dealings.
Paola grabbed my hand, leading me to the bar where an attractive woman was making drinks for half of the bar while her coworker worked on the other side. We flagged her down and as she walked to us her eyes lingered on me.
“What can I get you?” she yelled in Italian.
“My sister will have a Hugo and I’ll have a High West neat,” I yelled back.
Being away from home for too long, I always missed speaking Italian. The bartender winked, grabbing the liquor for our drinks. I caught Paola rolling her eyes, shaking her head. She and my mother consistently teased me about my constant flirting.
“I hope the drinks are free!” Paola yelled as I shook my head.
“Doubt it,” I yelled, looking around as I bobbed my head to the song.
The bartender handed our drinks to us and I handed my card to her. She swiped it, bringing it back quickly.
“Grazie, Matteo!” she winked again, handing me back my card.
Paola raised her brow at me.
“I can’t help it,” I said as she rolled her eyes, slapping my shoulder.
“Come on, chug and let’s dance!” She downed her drink, setting it on the bar, leaving me to shoot my whiskey.
I should have ordered tequila if I knew it was going to be a shot instead of a drink.
The burn from the alcohol was rough as I followed Paola to the dance floor.
She had her hands up and was moving to the music as I reached her.
The alcohol was enough to loosen me up to dance.
I wasn’t the biggest fan of dancing, but this is what Pao and I did.
We danced to a few songs; the music was perfect, the whiskey was making me loose and limber.
It was enough to forget about Levi and my weekend at the festival.
Paola and I stopped for another drink before going back to the dance floor.
My mind was numb, Dierniere Danse’s remix was playing and all I needed was a girl to lose myself in tonight.
A loud scream made me open my eyes. My sister was hugging another woman as they continued to dance awkwardly. They pulled away and my stomach dropped. Vi and I looked at each other in shock. She looked damn good with a dress that dipped low, showing cleavage.
“Matteo, this is my friend, Vi. We met in England,” Paola yelled in my ear, unaware that we knew each other.
Vi smirked as Paola said something to me. Memories of Levi, her and I together flooded my brain. I grew hard.
It was the alcohol, and that was my excuse. I grabbed her hand, bringing her to my lips to kiss them, leaning forward and whispered, “Hey, Vi.”
“Hey, Grumpy,” she said in English.
I almost smiled as I leaned back. Paola raised her brows like she was asking what the fuck was going on.
“We need drinks and for you to tell me how you know my brother,” Paola yelled in Italian, grabbing Vi’s hand.
We followed her weaving in and out of the crowd until we reached the bar. Paola ordered for us as we stood by her, awkwardly.
“When did you get to Milan?” I asked in English, getting a little closer than necessary.
“Two days ago, and you?” She leaned against me.
“A little over a week,” I said, getting a great view of her breasts.
“Here you go,” Paola gave us our drinks and she pulled Vi.
I had no idea what my sister was doing as she weaved through the crowd finding a corner that wasn’t as packed and just slightly less noisy.
“So how do you know each other?” Paola asked in Italian, taking a sip of her Hugo.
“I met Levi on Rendezvous,” Vi said first. “And Matteo hates me.”
I rolled my eyes, so fucking dramatic.
“Matteo hates anyone who isn’t his best friend,” Paola laughed.
“Wait, you know Italian?” I asked, a little shocked.
“Yeah, if you asked questions or paid attention. I know a lot of languages,” she said, taking a sip of her drink.
Her Italian was good. There was no accent and she spoke with ease.
“So, all of you hung out on this date?” Paola asked, her brows up in suspicion.
Vi laughed, “No, I met Levi in Paris and I happened to see them at a music festival last week. We had fun together. Honestly they made the festival better, I was getting to leave before I saw them.”
“Girl, festivals alone are awful,” Pao said. “I’m glad you found them. Festivals are dangerous.”
“Yeah, I was feeling that when I ran into them,” Vi said, glancing at me.
“So, what are your plans for Milan?” Pao asked and they started talking about Vi’s travels.
Pao was very excited to have her in Milan, suggesting a plethora of places, which would take weeks for Vi to do.
“What about Lake Como?” I asked.
I don’t know why I asked like I didn’t know she wanted to go. Her eyes immediately lit up.
“I want to go to Lake Como or Dolomites so bad, but everything is so expensive and only the very expensive suites are available,” she said, tucking her hair behind her ear like she was a little embarrassed.
“Girl! We need to go! Matteo, can we go?” Paola pleaded. “You’re not leaving yet, right?”
“No, not yet, but I don’t know if we can,” I said, knowing there was always a room for us, even during our busy time.
“That means yes!” Paola yelled.
“Paola,” I chastised.
“Matteo will make it happen. Are you doing anything tomorrow?” Paola asked, growing more and more excited as they talked amongst themselves.
I wanted to tell Paola it wasn’t possible, but I brought it up and a tiny part of me wanted to take Vi there. What the hell had I gotten myself into?
It was midday when we picked up Vi from her hostel.
I was a little shocked she would stay in such a place.
It looked decent on the outside, but who knew how horrible the inside was.
I debated telling her anything, relieved when Paola said that staying in hostels wasn’t safe. Hadn’t she ever seen the movie?
The drive to Lake Como was gorgeous as always.
I loved visiting out here, but for some reason I always put it off.
Vi looked like a kid at Disneyland, looking at everything in wonder.
I couldn’t help admiring her in the rearview mirror until she caught me looking at her.
It wasn’t just her who caught me. Paola smirked at me like she knew a secret I didn’t.
“Damn, how the hell did you guys get a reservation here?” Vi got out of the car, looking at the hotel with wide eyes.
“Our family owns it,” Paola said, threading her arm through Vi’s. “It’s been in our family for almost a century.”
“Oh my god,” Vi said, looking over her shoulder at me as I gave the valet my keys. “Damn, you could have told me. Is this what Levi means when he said he would try and see what he could do?”
I nodded feeling a twinge at Levi’s name, wishing he was here.
“Oh, Levi used to come here all the time with us,” Paola said, as they walked into the hotel.
The concierge grabbed our bags and I followed the girls.
“Matteo!” The day manager walked toward us speaking Italian. “Paola, you get more beautiful every year and who is this?!”
Dimitri had been with the hotel for years, always rambunctious and happy.
“Dimitri, this is our friend, Vi,” I said as I introduced her. “Vi, this is Dimitri, one of our day managers.”
“Oh, it’s lovely to meet you,” she said, holding her hand out.
Dimitri took her hand kissing it a little too slowly for my liking. “Oh, the pleasure is all mine, Gorgeous. You speak Italian beautifully.”
“Ok, Casanova,” I said, stopping myself from rolling my eyes.
Dimitri winked at Vi. “Ok, I have your suite ready and dinner reservations are in an hour and a half.”
“Great, thank you for doing this on such short notice,” he said, handing me the keys.
“Of course, I’ll send some refreshments in just a moment.”
“Thanks, Dimitri!” Paola hugged him and grabbed Vi’s hand, leading her to our suite.
“Thank you,” I said, as I followed the girls.
“Holy shit, this is so beautiful!” Vi said as we walked into our suite.
We had the most perfect view of the lake and mountains. She walked to the open door, taking in the scenery like it was the most beautiful thing in the world. Her wonder made my chest ache.
“Alright, let’s get settled in and we can have a drink before we head to the restaurant. You're in the room just down the hall from mine, Vi,” Paola said, taking her bag to the room she usually occupied.
“Ok,” Vi said, still looking outside in wonder.
“Come on, you have a great view from your bedroom too,” I said, grabbing her bag.
“Matteo, thank you so much for this,” she said, catching up to me.
She hugged my arm as we walked to her room.
“This was one of my dreams and you made it come true,” she said, softly looking up at me.
I glanced at her lips, wondering what they tasted like. Every time I thought about kissing her at the festival, something held me back.
“You’re welcome, I’m glad we could make your dreams come true,” I said, opening the door to her room.
“Oh my god, this is even more unbelievable,” she said, letting go of me.
I instantly missed her warmth.
“Ok, well get settled in and I’ll see you at dinner,” I said quickly leaving the room.
What the fuck was that? I shouldn’t miss her warmth or want to kiss her. Nothing was going to happen between us and the only reason it had was because of Levi. I would not sleep with my best friend’s Rendezvous hook up. That was weird right?