Hell freaking yes.
Let’s do this, Lorenzo. Put me on the back of your Vespa and let’s go.
From the looks of it, Noah’s not the least bit impressed with him.
Lorenzo holds out his hand for Noah, and Noah accepts it and introduces himself, but not very enthusiastically. It’s fine. I have enough excitement for the both of us.
“Your knee needs tending to,” Lorenzo tells me after we shake hands too. “I have a first aid kit I can get for you. Let me show you all to your rooms first.”
I grab ahold of my luggage again, but Lorenzo is right there to act the part of a perfect gentleman.
“Here, let me.”
He reaches out to take the hefty duffle bag off my shoulder, and his fingers graze my bare skin for the briefest moment.
ROMANCE! my body screams.
Clearly, I’m starved for it.
There’s been a dry spell as of late. Since Jeff and I broke up last year, there’ve been no sexy dates, no lusty phone calls, no late-night Tinder swiping.
I sort of hoped there would be someone for me here in Rome. I’ve daydreamed about it even. Nothing too specific, just a summer fling with an Italian named Leonardo who helps run his family’s restaurant. At first, he’s reluctant to take things too far because of the language barrier, but his attraction to me is impossible to ignore. We have passionate sex in an olive grove and he cries at the airport the day I fly home.
…just something like that.
Lorenzo heads up to the front of the group, beside Noah, and together they lead us around a side hallway on the second floor, toward the dorms. With them side by side, I have to fight the urge to compare the two men. It’s impossible not to.
Lorenzo is handsome, but Noah is something else entirely. The way, in movies, the devil always takes the shape of your most worshipped human form, so does Noah. His looks are deceiving, and I constantly remind myself of that.
“You all will have this block of rooms to yourself,” Lorenzo tells us.
My students waste no time. They immediately fan out like they’re in some kind of unspoken competition, clinging to their friends-turned-roommates.
“Isaiah, let’s get this one! It has a sick view!”
“Kylie! Here! It’s closest to the bathroom!”
Since there’s an odd number of students, Zach claims his own room and immediately starts bragging.
They’ve forgotten Noah and I exist.
Soon, the hallway empties, doors slam, and I’m left to shout, “Find a roommate and get settled in, freshen up, and meet down in the courtyard in an hour for lunch!”
My instructions are met with halfhearted groans. I turn to see Lorenzo watching me with a curious smile. He inclines his head back toward where we came from.
“The teachers’ rooms are on the same floor, just on the other side of the courtyard.”
My eyes widen.
I don’t remember reading that in the information packet.
“That far away? Shouldn’t we sleep nearby in case they need us?”
Or, more likely, in case any of them tries to sneak out.
“A security guard patrols the school at night,” Lorenzo assures us.
Pfft. Like that’s enough?
“Middle schoolers can be sneaky.”
“Yes, but in Europe, we give children a bit more freedom than you all do in the States. The children will get into mischief one way or another. You can’t keep track of them every second of the day.”
Watch me.
I turn to Noah to gauge his feelings on the topic, and he shrugs. “Let’s see how far the rooms are and then make up our mind.”
“Come. This way.”
Lorenzo walks beside me, and Noah takes up the rear.
“Is your knee okay?” Lorenzo asks.
“Oh…it’s nothing.”
He frowns. “Like I said, I have a first aid kit. I’ll get it for you once we set down your things.”
We walk down the corridor and loop back to where Lorenzo first found us near the central staircase. We continue past, along the hall that faces the balcony, and I make small talk with our host.
“How long have you taught here?”
“Seven years now. I teach English to the students at the school, but my true passion is history. It’s why I like to do this summer program. I love to teach people about my beloved city.”
We round the corner toward a hallway that looks identical to the one where we just dropped off the students. Marble floors and plaster walls with doors spaced equally apart on either side.
“This is where you two will stay. Not all of the faculty rooms are open for the summer. The school’s only given me half a dozen keys, but you should both be able to take a room for yourselves. Trinity faculty are already set up down there, but here, Audrey, this room is vacant,” he says, leading me toward a door along the outer wall of the corridor. Boo. I was hoping for a view of the courtyard, and at first, I’m slightly disappointed. Then, he pulls a key ring out of his pocket and unlocks the door for me, and right away, I see I’m being treated to a room with a private view that looks down on our neighbor’s garden. It’s beautiful and lush with cheerful red poppies, pea vine, and garden roses. Along a back fence, there’s a row of lemon and orange trees planted in thick clay pots.
Lorenzo walks into the room to drop off my luggage then points to the window.
“If you open it, you’ll be able to smell the jasmine.”
I’m tempted to try it right then, but I’m hyperaware of Noah’s presence at the door. I don’t invite him in any further.
I’m the picture of awkwardness, but not him. He always seems so perfectly in control of his body, every breath, every subtle movement. He shouldn’t be. He should be a bull in a china shop.
He steps back out into the hall, and Lorenzo snaps his fingers as if he just remembered Noah needs a room too. “And Noah, you can stay here, right across the hall from your friend.”
Friend.
I’m surprised Noah doesn’t snort.
Lorenzo unlocks the door, and I peer in because I just can’t help myself. Our rooms are mirror images of each other. There’s a small desk under the window facing the courtyard, and his twin bed is just as miniscule as mine. At night, I’ll lie awake smiling, knowing how uncomfortable he is with his knees bent up in the fetal position and his head hitting the wall.
Lorenzo disconnects our keys from the others on his key ring as he apologizes for the modest accommodations. Noah shrugs it off.
“It’s great.”
I eye Noah with skepticism behind Lorenzo’s back. He turns and sees me, his brow quirking.
“So? What should we do? Stay here or move to the other side of the building?”
Lorenzo holds up his finger. “I should mention, if you two want to stay near the children, you’ll be sharing their communal bathro—”
He doesn’t even need to get the full word out before my hand shoots into the air to stop him. “This is fine. We’ll take turns checking in on them at night or something.”
Lorenzo laughs. “Good. Now let me go get you that first aid kit.”
He disappears down the hall, and I’m standing at Noah’s door.
The energy changes in an instant.
We’ve never been left alone like this outside of school.