“I did not,” Zale’s voice carries through the phone. “It tried to trip me.”
I laugh. “Put me on speaker.”
“I amnotputting you on speaker,” Gabriel mutters.
“Z!” Zale shouts, suddenly much closer to the phone, and I suspect he must have snatched it from Gabriel. “Are you coming back already?”
“No,” I say, grinning. “Actually, Gabriel is coming here.”
There’s a moment of silence before he speaks again.
“Oh, absolutely not.” I pull the phone slightly away from my ear as Zale’s voice rises. “I am not staying here alone with your weird European coffee machine.”
“It’s an espresso machine,” Gabriel snaps, further away.
“If he’s going, then I’m going.”
There’s shuffling, like they’re wrestling over the phone and I bite my lip to keep from laughing.
“You are not coming,” Gabriel growls.
“I am,” Zale argues. “I came all the way here to see my sister, and I’m not about to get left behind so you two can have your little Italian romance.”
“Zalea,” Gabriel says, voice strained. “Tell him he’s not coming.”
I hesitate because the idea of them being trapped in a car together for three hours is either going to fix everything or end up in disaster…but I’m hopeful everything will work out.
“Gabriel,” I say carefully, “It’s just one night, and we can get him his own room.”
He groans. “I cannot believe you’re siding with him.”
“You’ll survive,” I tease.
“I won’t. He’s such a backseat driver. You have no idea.”
“Well if you didn’t drive like you’re trying to qualify for Formula One all the time, then I wouldn’t have anything to say,” Zale fires back.
“Okay, okay,” I cut in, giggling. “You can both come, but if either of you ruins my peace, I’m sending you both back to Florence.”
“You hear that?” Zale says triumphantly. “I’m invited.”
“You were not invited,” Gabriel mutters. “You forced your way in.”
“Same thing.”
There’s a long exhale on Gabriel’s end of the line.
“Fine,” he finally says. “But if you touch the radio, you’re walking back.”
“Oh, I’m absolutely touching the radio. That’s what passengers are for.”
“Don’t.”
“Watch me,” Zale says in a sing-song voice.
I press my hand over my mouth, smiling so hard my cheeks ache.
“Text me the hotel address,” Gabriel says again, voice softening when he speaks directly to me. “We’ll leave here in ten minutes.”
