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Well, danced might be generous at first. He spent the first few minutes looking as though he'd rather be cleaning horse stalls, while Dex made it his personal mission to embarrass his twin.
But then Jude relaxed.
And smiled.
And somehow, every time the music started again, I found myself reaching for his hand.
Not because I needed someone to hold me up.
Just because I wanted him there.
Now, back at the hotel, Lexy announces that we absolutely cannot spend a night on a Sicilian island without a bagno di mezzanotte.
A midnight swim.
Which is how, twenty minutes later, I find myself wading into the Mediterranean in my bikini, following a group of adults who apparently have the collective maturity of twelve-year-olds.
Dex is already waist-deep, attempting to convince Lexy that the water isn't cold.
She's not buying it.
“You said that last time!” she shrieks as he splashes her.
“And I was right last time!”
“You were absolutely not!”
Matteo takes one look at the two of them and decides to carry Chiara into the sea.
My sister's scream probably wakes half of Sicily.
“MATTEO! PUT ME DOWN!”
He does.
Straight into the water.
I double over laughing as she comes up spluttering, her dark hair plastered across her face.
“Oh, you're dead!”
She launches herself at him, and the two of them disappear into a tangle of splashing limbs.
I turn towards Jude.
He's standing a few feet away, watching the chaos with an expression of quiet amusement.
“You know,” I tell him, “for someone who claims not to like people, you seem to be enjoying yourself.”
“I like some people.”
“Really? Who?”
He looks at me.
“Still deciding.”
I gasp. “Rude.”