Games We Play - Round 1: Never Have I Ever (18+ dark mafia romance)

Chapter 31 & 32 (Valentina)

Valentina

Chapter 31

Capo d'Orlando, Sicily – July 21st, 2020

Isabella and I spend the rest of the day by the pool until the sun starts to set on the horizon and it gets too cold to chill in a bathing suit.

"I want to order pizza."

I look up from my book to where Matteo is sitting by the edge of the pool, his legs in the water.

"Yes, please." Isabella groans. "I'm so hungry I could die. Where are you ordering from?"

"I know a place."

Matteo and I make eye contact for a moment before his eyes drift back to the screen. A few seconds later he starts talking to someone in Italian, so I zone out and try to focus back on my book.

The pizzas arrive twenty minutes later, and we sit down at one of the tables on the terrace.

"What time are people arriving tomorrow?" He asks me with his mouth half full.

"I don't know, I guess around seven or eight. Might be sooner."

We eat our pizzas in peace after that, deciding to watch a movie before going to bed. We're all tired from sitting in the sound all day, and tomorrow's going to be a busy day.

As I get into bed with Isabella that night, my skin feels like it's glowing.

"It was okay, right?" She asks me in the darkness after we've done our going-to-bed routines. We would set a speaker in the bathroom as we took turns showering and doing our skincare, before getting into bed. There are guest rooms she could sleep in, but she preferred feeling 'at a sleepover vacation'. I agreed.

"Was what okay?"

"Matteo being here."

My throat goes dry as flashbacks fill my brain. "Yes, it was alright. He's...fun."

"I'm happy you two are getting along."

I turn on my side to look at her. "Really? Why?"

"Because it's the first time one of my close friends actually liked him and didn't end up sleeping with him."

A feeling settles in my stomach, and I'm not sure whether it's guilt or sorrow.

"I used to get along with Allison before they began dating. And I also liked Ariana before she stopped being the person I knew."

I don't want to lie and tell her that I'd never sleep with him. "He's okay."

"Happy birthday!" she says out of a sudden, before showing me the screen of her phone. "You're twenty now!"

Capo d'Orlando, Sicily – July 22nd 2020

I wake up after Isabella the next morning, judging by the fact that she's not in my room. She's talking in Italian to someone downstairs, and I remember that Matteo is also here.

My morning routine goes on for longer than usual because I'm procrastinating on going downstairs.

Finally, I emerge in the kitchen after I got bored upstairs.

"I drank your coffee." Is what Matteo says when he sees me.

"Great, thanks." I sarcastically answer. I walk over to press the button on the machine.

"Happy birthdaaay." Isabella sings, coming in from the garden. "I made us birthday Mimosas."

The love I feel for her in this moment is the only confirmation I need for my 'should I ever even consider sleeping with Matteo or not' dilemma. I would never do anything to ever hurt or lose Isabella, so the decision not to do it is fine for me.