She tilted her head, her grin widening. “Exactly. Which means I’m having fun for once. You could try it, too, you know.”
“I’m having plenty of fun,” I muttered, though it was a lie. Fun wasn’t the word for this. This was…something else. Something that felt too close, too dangerous.
She stepped closer, her hands finding my arm again. “One more dance,” she pleaded, her eyes wide and sparkling under the neon lights. “Just one.”
And there it was again—the way she looked at me. It made something twist in my chest, something I didn’t want to name.
She’s off limits.
She’s off limits.
She’s off limits.
If I repeated it enough in my own head, maybe my body would actually start to listen.
“I can’t keep saying yes to you, Lucia,” I said quietly, trying to sound stern, though I wasn’t sure if I was convincing either of us.
“Why not?” she asked, her voice softer now. Her fingers curled slightly, a small, almost hesitant touch. “I think you like saying yes to me.”
I swallowed hard, her words hitting too close to truths I didn’t want to face. “Because I know where it leads.”
She blinked, her smile faltering for just a second before it came back, this time with a different edge. “And where does it lead, Alexander?”
“Nowhere good,” I said, my voice barely audible over the music, but she heard me. I saw it in the way her eyes flickered, her expression shifting into something more unreadable.
“Maybe you don’t give yourself enough credit,” she murmured, stepping back just a little. “Or maybe you’re scared.”
I stiffened, her words digging deeper than they should have. She didn’t know—couldn’t know—how close she was to the truth. That I had been pushing feelings down for too long, for years. But she was off limits, and I was losing any semblance of control around her. She was too close, her body lining up with mine, in a dark and loud room. I could just lean down and kiss her; no one would even see. But she was drunk, and damn it all to hell, if I was going to kiss her, she was going to be fully present and know full well it wasn’t just some drunken decision.
“Let’s go,” I said, my voice sharper than intended as I broke the spell, stepping back from her touch.
For a moment, she didn’t move, her gaze locked on mine. Then, with a small, resigned shrug, she nodded. “Fine.”
I ignored the flicker of disappointment in her tone as I reached for her hand, leading her toward the exit. The warmth of her fingers in mine sent an electric hum through my body, one I tried desperately to ignore.
I needed to get her back to the hotel. Away from this place. Away from me. Because if I let myself stay in this moment any longer, I wasn’t sure I’d want it to end.
The ride back to the hotel was pure chaos. Matteo was sprawled out in the private car, alternating between belting out snippets of songs he didn’t know the words to and recounting wildly exaggerated stories from their childhood, switching from Italian to English a hundred times. “Did I ever tell you about the time Lucia tried to sell lemonade but drank it all before anyone could buy any?” he slurred, grinning like it was the funniest thing in the world.
Lucia, curled up on my other side, just groaned. “That was when I wasseven, Matteo,” she muttered, her voice thick with exhaustion.
“Yeah, but it was entrepreneurial, or an attempt anyway,” he shot back, pointing a triumphant finger at her.
I couldn’t help but smirk, shaking my head at the two of them. Matteo might’ve been loud and obnoxious, but Lucia had gone quiet, leaning heavily against me, her head lolling onto my shoulder.
When her breathing slowed, I realized she’d fallen asleep.
By the time we pulled up to the hotel, Matteo was still talking to no one in particular. “I’m gonna raid that minibar. Those chips are calling my name. You think they restock ’em every day? They should. I am an athlete, I need the fuel. Fuel in the form of cheesy chips.” He stumbled out of the car with my help.
“Yeah, yeah, let’s go, chip boy,” I muttered, steadying him as we made our way inside. “Room’s this way.”
Lucia didn’t stir as I carried her out of the car and through the lobby. Matteo, thankfully, managed to stagger to his own door without too much help, though not before declaring, “I think all chips should be cheesy, don’t you?”
I nodded, humoring him, before steering him inside. “Go to bed, mate.”
“Chips first,” he mumbled before disappearing into his room.
Once Matteo was settled, I turned my attention back to Lucia. Her room was just down the hall, where Anna had been watching over Gia. When I unlocked the door and stepped inside, Anna greeted me with a tired smile. She glanced at a sleeping Lucia in my arms and smirked.
