Lucia hummed. “Nothing about the way he looks at you seems harmless.”
I went still, heartbeat stuttering, and tried to let out a fake laugh. “You’re imagining things.”
“Hmm,” she hummed to herself with a smirk.
I took another long sip of my drink, willing the bubbles to settle the war going on inside me. This thing with Matteo—it was nothing. Temporary. ‘Burn it out of our systems’ kind of thing.
But the way my body reacted when I saw him? The way he looked at me when no one else was paying attention? The way Ifeltwhen I was around him?
Not. Nothing.
Lucia finally looked over, sunglasses sliding down her nose. “Just…be careful, okay?”
I offered her a dry smile. “When am Inotcareful?”
Lucia laughed, tipping her glass toward me in a silent toast. Before I could sip again, a splash of water slapped against our loungers, soaking the bottom half of my dress.
I jolted upright. “What the?—?”
That was no tiny splash from Gianna.
I glanced toward the pool just as water settled from a large cannonball. My swim cover dress clung to my thighs, soaked and wrinkled. With a resigned sigh, I stood and pulled the damp fabric over my head, revealing the swimsuit beneath.
I felt it before I saw it—heat on the back of my neck. A weighty stare that dripped down my spine like honey.
I lifted my gaze slowly.
Matteo was in the pool, water lapping at his waist, skin glistening in the sun. His curls were slicked back, droplets tracing the lines of his abs. A hand pushing into his hair, smoothing back the wet strands in what felt like slow motion. But it was his eyes that hit me hardest.
Locked on me.
My pulse skipped. I forced myself to roll my eyes and turned back toward Lucia like his gaze didn’t just ignite a full-body flush.
“Your brother is a menace,” I muttered.
Lucia hummed knowingly into her straw. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
15
MATTEO
Nicola Moretti was a knockout.
Not that it was new information, actually something that played over and over again in my head every time I saw her. And yet, it still hit me like a punch every damn time, made my world spin.
One second, I was horsing around with Gia in the shallow end, trying to convince her to let go of the pool noodle and race me to the edge. I had jumped into the pool to earn another giggle, and it worked. The next, I looked up and she was there—standing at the edge of the chaise lounge chair, peeling off that soaked little cover-up.
Andfuck. It took everything in me not to drop my jaw like a cartoon character. Her bikini was a shade of blue that made me wonder how I could convince her to wear that color every damn day. Made me think blue was my new favorite color. Every inch of her was golden and glowing in the late morning sun, legs endless, curves carved like art, eyes hidden behind those oversized sunglasses that did absolutely nothing to hide her attitude. Or the flush crawling up her neck.
She knew I was watching.
She always knew.
And instead of pretending not to notice like a normal person, I just stood there in the pool like an idiot, water swirling around my waist, staring like I’d never seen a woman in a swimsuit before. She finally turned her head toward me, giving me a perfectly unimpressed look. One brow arched above her sunglasses. My brain short-circuited.
I smirked, mostly to cover how wrecked I already felt. “You trying to kill someone, Moretti?”
She rolled her eyes, like I was being dramatic. “It’s a bikini, Matteo. Grow up.”
