Page 35 of American Royals II: Majesty
“Venice?” Nina blinked, startled. “That’s whereI’vealways wanted to go.”
“Because it’s the city of romance?”
“You’re thinking of Paris.” She leaned onto one hand, tracing the waffle pattern of her blanket. “I’ve always been fascinated by Venice. The whole city issinking,settling down into the water one centimeter at a time. There’s nothing anyone can do to stop it, so they just keep going about their business as normal. As a tourist you feel lost in it all, but it doesn’t really matter because every road in the city leads back to the piazza. And eventually you’ll find your way back there, to sit at a café and watch the sun set over the water…”
“I didn’t realize you’ve been to Venice,” Ethan said slowly, and Nina felt her face grow hot.
“I haven’t. I’ve just read about it.”
A knock sounded on the door: their pizza delivery. Nina answered it, then turned back to Ethan, the box in one hand. “You might as well sit over here,” she surprised herself by offering.
“Sure.” Ethan flopped easily onto the bed, then shifted so that he sat facing her, the pizza box balanced picnic-style between them. Nina almost groaned aloud as she bit into her slice.
“I told you that you wanted pizza.” Ethan sounded inordinately pleased with himself. He’d already inhaled his first slice and was grabbing a second.
Nina tried, and failed, to conceal her amusement. “I hate to contribute to your oversized sense of self-importance, but yes, you were right.”
She hadn’t expected it to feel so natural, sitting here with Ethan, on herbed.
“So,” he asked, “why didn’t you go to school in Venice, if you’ve read so many books about it that it sounds like youhavebeen there?”
“I don’t know. Maybe…” This was hard to admit, but Nina forced herself to say it. “Maybe I was being cowardly. I’ve never traveled that far from home before.” She folded her pizza over on itself so she could take another bite. “It’s okay. Venice isn’t sinking all that fast; it won’t have changed much by the time I get to see it.”
“But that’s not the point of studying abroad,” Ethan argued. “You don’t go to Venice becauseit’schanging; you go becauseyouwould change, living there. When you came home you would see everything in a new light. You would notice things—and people—that you hadn’t paid attention to before.”
There was a significance to his words that made Nina wonder if he was talking about the two of them. If he noticedher,now, even though he hadn’t before.
She set the half-empty pizza box on the edge of her desk. “That was…surprisingly profound, for a late-night pizza conversation.”
“Pizza and philosophy, my two specialties.” Ethan grabbed her pillow and placed it behind his head, then leaned back with a contented sigh.
“You can’t steal my pillow!” Nina cried out.
“I need it more than you do. My head weighs more,” he argued. “It’s full of beer and profound thoughts.”
She tried to pull at the corner, but it didn’t budge. “A gentleman would never do this,” she scolded, laughing.
Ethan’s eyes were still half-closed. “Sorry, I used up all my gentlemanliness walking you home.”
“Give itback!” Nina tugged at the pillow, just as Ethan yanked it from behind his head and threw it at her.
“Oops,” he said cheerfully.
Then they were whacking each other with the pillow, just like when they were little and would all chase each other around the palace, shrieking with delight, with Sam always in the middle of the melee, leading the great girls-versus-boys joust of pillows.
Eventually they leaned back, both of them breathing heavily. Nina felt almost sore from laughing so hard. The laughter was still fizzing through her, dissolving into a bright, heady afterglow.
Suddenly, she realized how very close her face was to Ethan’s. Close enough that she could see each freckle that dusted his cheeks, could see the individual lashes curling over his deep brown eyes.
He reached out to tuck a loose strand of hair behind herear.
Nina’s entire being centered on that point of contact, where his skin touched hers. She knew she should move, should remind Ethan that this wasn’t fair to Jeff and they needed to call it a night. Yet she couldn’t bring herself to say Jeff’s name, and break the magic that seemed to have spun itself around her and Ethan.
Ethan’s touch grew firmer, his hand moving to trace the line of her jaw, her lower lip. The air between them crackled with electricity. Very slowly, as if he wanted to give her time to change her mind—which she didn’t—he brushed his lips against hers.
Nina leaned deeper into the kiss, her grip tightening over his shoulders. She felt heat everywhere they touched; his hands seemed to singe her very skin.
Ethan abruptly pulled away, his breathing ragged. “I should get going,” he muttered, sliding off her bed.
