“Come here,” he said, running his fingers under her chin, setting off sparks. He leaned down to her and kissed her again. His lips were soft despite the rough edges of his stubble and he moved them so slowly over hers, savoring. She melted—almost too much, and stumbled backward. “Whoops, hey now, it couldn’t have been that good a kiss.” He smiled.
“It was,” she said. “Do it again.”
“Okay, well hold on this time,” he whispered, and drew her into him. Her feet left the pavement for a second as he gently leaned her against the wall behind them. Breath left her chest as his fingers grazed from her waist and down the sides of her hips. She grabbed a handful of the material in the middle of his shirt and pulled him down, bringing his mouth to hers, and drank the freshwater taste of him.
The jingle of a dog collar along with a set of footsteps reminded them that they were not those two kids under a Ping-Pong table in Piazza dei Pescatori, but were, in fact, in the middle of downtown Chiavari. “This is probably not the best place to do this,” Cris said, dropping tiny kisses on the side of her mouth.
“Well, maybe, but is there a good place to go? I can’t believe what I’m about to say, but we can’t go back to my place because my parents are going to be home.”
“We can’t go back to my place because my whole family is there. And some of yours.” He laughed.
“We’re doomed, don’t you see? For one reason or another, fate does not favor us. I knew it would be imposs—”
DING.
“It must be you,” said Cris. “My ringer is off.”
Ellie pulled her phone out of her pocket and saw that it was a text from her mother.
DO YOU HAVE A KEY?
As usual, Ellie wasn’t sure if the all-caps meant “this is urgent” or “Mom forgot her reading glasses.”
Yes. Why?
Are you locked out?
NO.
WILL BE LATE. NEED TO WIN TIE BREAKER.
DAD IS FALLING ASLEEP ON COUCH HERE.
Ellie showed Cris the message. He grinned.
“It looks like I stand corrected.”
The walk back to Corso Buenos Aires was quick, but it was not without several pauses to draw into each other’s arms when they found themselves alone on the streets. In truth, it didn’t matter who saw them—all of the important pairs of eyes in their life were either on a set of playing cards or somewhere dancing above Portofino. But the game of stealing kisses was too delicious to stop playing all the way home, and each pause raised the stakes. Cris pulled her under a portico on the corner of Corso Millo and Viale Arata, licking a trail of heat up the side of her neck. Ellie leaned against him near Piazza Torriglia,running her hands up under his shirt to feel the warm skin of his chest and belly. He growled and grinned, then got her back at the corner of Vicolo Argiroffo when he wrapped his arms around her from behind and traced his fingers from her neck, down her sternum to her belly button, then lower, where a heat was growing stronger by the second. She gasped and turned her head up to meet his lips again.
“This is indecent,” she whispered against his cheek. “We have to get home.”
“If you insist,” he said, licking along the perfect spot under her ear and making her shudder.
Ellie’s hand shook as she unlocked the apartment. It was dark inside except for the light her mom always left on in the entryway, but still, she tried to listen in case there was any last-minute change of plans by her parents. She dropped her keys on the table at the entrance and turned to face Cris.
“I don’t know how much time we have, but I don’t care,” she said, touching the waist of his jeans.
“Me either,” he said, smiling. He ran his finger under the strap of her tank and let it fall down her arm. He leaned in to kiss her again, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Cris walked them back to her bedroom, never taking his mouth off hers. She reached to close the bedroom door as they went through and expected them to tear into each other as soon as they were safely locked away. Instead, Cris slowed them down, backing away from her. He pulled off his shirt, and the contours of his muscles stood in relief in the lights from the street that flooded the room. She remembered overhearing some of the spectators whispering when he was introduced on the pool deck and ambled over to stand with the rest of the team. He looked inhumanback then, like a statue. She stepped toward him, running her hands over his chest and shoulders. Here in this room, he was a man only, stone becoming warm flesh under her fingers.
Cris held her hands and sat down on the bed, standing her body between his knees. He tipped forward, leaning his forehead against her stomach, and put his arms around her. She wrapped hers around his shoulders and closed her eyes for a beat. It was silent except for the buzzy hum of a scooter whizzing by outside. A warm current of air pulsed through the room, carrying the heady jasmine scent she would have designed for this moment if given the chance. It was rare that she was aware the present moment was going to be something she would come back to over and over. She would remember this and file it away with the other snapshots of memories she had of the two of them together. Only this one seemed to mark a whole new page in the album. He lifted up the hem of her top and kissed the spot right above the waistband of her skirt. A bloom of fire broke out under his lips and spread down to her knees.
“This is going to ruin me,” she said. Cris turned his face up to hers, pausing. She raked her fingers through his hair.
“We can stop right now if you want to,” he said, a crease forming between his brows. Ellie ran her thumb over the furrow, erasing the question, and shook her head.
“No way.” She slid onto the bed next to him and he curled her into his arms as they lay down, her own dark form reflected in his eyes against the light from the window beyond. “It’s not a bad thing. Sometimes, I think I need it.” It did feel good to let it all go. It felt good not to think, plan, consider, configure. It felt good to thinkRight now, I do not care,and just shut up and maybe be ruined. She took his hand and opened the fingers, kissing his palm. He shifted his hand to cup herface, leaned in and brushed his lips against hers again. She slid her arms around him to pull in tighter, the heat of his skin amplifying her own.
“Just so you know,” he said, breaking the kiss and leaning his forehead into hers. “I feel it, too.”
