Page 28 of Keeping My Girl

She flashes me a toothy grin and then disappears into the house. A few seconds later, I see Renato climbing out of the water and running after her, and I can only laugh. He’s like a lost puppy when it comes to that girl.

I stay in the pool for another hour, enjoying the hot sun and warm water until my skin starts to turn a bright shade of pink. Not wanting to get sunburnt, I climb out of the pool, water sluicing down my body as I walk over to where the towels are. Quickly, I dry off my legs and arms before using the towel to get the excess water out of my long hair. My swimsuit is still pretty wet when I walk inside the house, but I plan on hanging it up and jumping in the shower anyway when I get back to my room. As soon as I turn the corner, I run smackdab into what can only be described as the hardest chest in the history of chests.

Firm, gentle hands catch my arms, holding my elbows before I go stumbling backwards. And then I look up into the familiar, steel gray eyes I’ve grown so accustomed to.

When I glance down, I realize I’ve soaked the front of Nico’s white t-shirt with my wet bathing suit. My eyes roam over his muscular pecs and rock-hard abs, which are now visible through the damp material, and I swallow hard.

“I’m guessing you were just in the pool,” Nico muses as his lips tilt up into a strained smirk.

“Sorry,” I manage to whisper.

After my nightmare last night, Nico stayed with me. He slept on top of the blankets, never once trying to cross any boundaries. He was there to help me, to comfort me. Just as a friend…

But the heat I’m feeling from his body now and the way his hands are gripping my arms makes my heart skip a beat. Something deep inside of me awakens, and it’s hard to place the exact emotion since I’ve never felt it before in my entire life.

When I woke up this morning, Nico was gone, and I half wondered if I dreamt about him too after the nightmare. However, when I rolled over, I could smell him on the pillow; his scent of citrus and sandalwood warming my soul.

I didn’t leave my room this morning, too embarrassed to run into him at breakfast and reliving the way that I asked him to stay with me last night like a desperate child afraid of the monster under her bed.

“Is everything okay?” his deep voice snaps me back to the present, and I stare up at him.

My lips suddenly feel dry, and my tongue darts out to lick them. Nico’s eyes darken as he watches the movement. My stomach clenches as warmth races down to my core, and I suddenly feel too close, too hot, too…I don’t know. Stepping back suddenly, I pull out of his grasp. “I-I’m fine. I’m sorry again about your shirt,” I tell him as I wrap the oversized towel around me and cinch it tight, desperately needing the barrier between us.

“It’s fine. I’m on the way to the gym to work out with Renato anyway,” he explains.

I simply give him a nod, unable to speak with the words sticking in my dry throat.

“I’ll see you later, Lina,” Nico promises.

And as he walks away, I know what the foreign emotion is now that I was feeling. It’s desire.

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