Sway Me (book 1)

Chapter Twelve- On the Yacht

12. On the Yacht
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It wasn't that bad! It wasn't that bad! At least Giovanni was still somewhat clothed, and well... Laura was a woman. We had the same features. I see myself every day. It was normal, right?. I was desperately trying to convince myself as I walked back to where Giulia and I were once seated.

"Hey! That was quick," Giulia remarked as she noticed my presence. "Are you okay? Your face is red," she added, and my eyes widened. Damn my pale skin!.

"Yeah, yes, I am fine. I lost the urge to pee," I quickly formulated a lie. Well, it was not so much of a lie. I truly lost the urge to pee the moment I saw Laura and Giovanni in that position. So much for my bladder wanting to burst.

"Okay then, I made a little drink for you, no alcohol," she said as I sat down, passing me the drink.

"A mocktail," I pointed out as I took a sip. "You should have led with that."

"I was trying to be more... You are right, I should have," she laughs, causing me to laugh as well. I had almost forgotten the scene in the bathroom until I heard Laura's voice from the side.

"What are we laughing about, girls?" she asked. My eyes were immediately on her as the image of her being naked flashed in front of me, causing me to fidget a bit. She noticed it and gave me a wide smile. Strange.

"None of your business. You should be with my brother. Is he boring you? I don't think he should be. He is perhaps the most interesting thing going on in your life at the moment," Giulia frowned, but Laura still held her smile.

"I just wanted to spend time with the girls, you know we girls should stick together, isn't that right, Emily?" she said as she turned her attention to me. Was that why she came up here?, was she trying to tell me not to inform Giulia about what I just witnessed?, I was not even planning on doing that, I could not even tell Giulia about Florentina and that was a much detailed scene. They were engaged for crying out loud, so I don't think Giulia would be able to complain about a thing she already knows about.

"And girls should not stab girls in the back and use their fellow girl to get into that girl's elder brother pants," Giulia fired back. She stood up from her seat, walked off, and then I heard a splash. She jumped into the water.

"Well..., Giulia is who she is," she smiled brightly and walked off, leaving me alone. I rushed over to where I heard the splash, and Giulia was just spiraling around in the water close to the yacht.

"You can come aboard now. She is gone," I suggested, squatting at the edge of the swimming platform.

She frowned. "She is still on the yacht. Same thing."

"Are you not scared of sharks or something?" I asked, trying to reason with her. She pouted before climbing back on the boat.

"She didn't have to come and talk to us. Why would she feel she can do that after what she did, after betraying me?" she ranted as Stefano handed her a towel, and she accepted it, mouthing a thank you. "To think, she has never tried to properly apologize. She is just trying to brush it off like it was nothing, like what she did was nothing."

I have betrayed you in my dream also,I voiced internally. I was completely speechless as I watched her aggressively wipe her body. Her ranting was already in Italian now. What if my dream was not actually a dream? Then Giulia really meant it. She would have been ranting because of me. Stay away from Giovanni, physically and in your dreams!, my brain warned.

The abs. My mind immediately created the image of Giovanni in the restroom. I could feel the blood immediately rush to my cheeks. I might have seen him that night with Florentina, but that was somewhat in the dark. It did not have the glistening of the sun on his skin. Not the Twilight book kind, though. But the light made everything look so toned and so good. What if I could run my hands— Stop it! Stop it!, My brain screamed, the same brain that just gave me that thought. What did it want from me? Telling me to stay away yet literally giving me a wet dream about the same man.

"Hey Em! Emily!" Giulia's voice rang in my ear, dragging me out of my thoughts. "What's on your mind? Are you not feeling okay?" she asked, her face contorted with worry.

"No! I'm fine, just zoned off a bit, nothing of importance," I answered, because I would not make the issue one of importance. Giovanni had to leave my thoughts, whether I liked it or not.

"Okay," she responded and we walked back up the flying bridge, and we sat on the lounge chairs.

****

Giulia had fallen asleep, and I was tired of reading the book I had just started thirty minutes ago. It was an interesting one, though, about a woman who died and found herself in the 19th century in another girl's body and about to be wedded. But my head was not there at all; it was nowhere to be exact. I was just feeling restless.

I looked down to the hatch of the boat, and Giovanni and Laura were not there. Maybe they had gone to finish the business that I had unintentionally disrupted. I stood up and went down to the part Giulia had jumped out of — the swimming platform, sitting on the edge with my legs submerged in water. Some much for warning Giulia about the sharks, you should listen to your advice, my brain mocked.

"Would you like a drink, miss?" I heard Stefano ask from my side. I turned to him.

"Sure! And my name is Emily. I already know yours, Stefano, and it's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, Emily," he responded back with a smile. He looked really young, maybe my age as well. He had that hot next-door neighbor look like Cole, but Stefano looked more exotic in a way. He had curly brown hair with a bit of blonde highlight, and his eyes were a strange color of blue, a mix of blue and silver. "Do you want alcohol or no alcohol?"

"No alcohol for me," I said swiftly. There was no way I was going for alcohol. My head needed to be the clearest it could be when Giovanni was near me.

"Okay then, I'll be right back," he responded and walked away into the cabin. He came back shortly with a mocktail, similar to the one Giulia gave me. He handed it over, and I took a sip. It was quite different from the one Giulia gave me, but it was really good. "This is nice, for real," I complimented.

He chuckled. "I made it a bit different from the one you had earlier."

"Thank you," I smiled as I took another sip.

"You're not Italian," he said, but I wasn't sure if he meant it as a question or a statement.

"I am not," I responded, opting for the question choice.

"American then. You look and sound like one," he pointed out.

I chuckled this time. "Yeah, you didn't have to ask since you already knew, though."

"Ah, I was trying not to be too forward. Wouldn't like to offend a pretty girl," he said, and I knew in that moment that my cheeks would be red. I didn't do well with flattery.

"Thank you, Stefano," I smiled back. "You look quite young, though," I said out of curiosity.

He chuckled. "I'm twenty-four, and you must be?"

"Twenty-three," I responded.

"So, are you—" he began.

"Stefano!, come," the command came from Giovanni cutting Stefano off from what he wanted to say. I turned to see him a few feet behind me. He had a frown on his face. Maybe the sex wasn't that good? My mind asked, but how could it not have been? Giovanni and Laura seemed to be quite experienced, I think.

"Of course, Mr. Marino," he answered. "I guess I might have to see you some other time, Emily from America," he said with a cheeky grin.

I giggled. He winked before walking away. I turned back, watching him walk away, but Giovanni still had a frown on his face. Had something gone wrong, or was it something else?

Giovanni gave me a final stern look before walking away with Stefano ahead of him.