…
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 didyouget 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 onmybeautiful 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 beautifulconversation 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.
