ELISA BELLA ROSSI seems like the life of the party, always ready for a wild night out. But beneath the surface, she's battling her own inner demons. One fateful night, she meets CHRISTOPHER NUÑEZ AGNELLO, a man with a turbulent past who has found hi...
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Tonight's a good night. One of those nights you want to remember. I usually keep things close to the chest, but with Chris, it just felt so easy. Even though it made me a little jittery, I liked spilling a bit of my story to someone, instead of sticking to the shallow stuff like I always do. Not that I'm going to tell him everything—some things stay locked up—but even sharing a little felt good. Chris doesn't strike me as the judging type, not with his own history.
I step back from the edge and plop down next to Chris. I turn my phone and snap a selfie of us.
"A little heads up, maybe?" Chris says, half-smiling.
"Preserving memories. Holy cannoli!"
"What?" Chris asks, jolted by my sudden outburst.
"I look like Casper!" I scream, staring at the photo I just took.
Chris bursts into laughter.
"Nah, it ain't even funny!" I protest, still in shock as I zoom in on the picture. "You could've warned me!"
"Elisa, you jumped into icy-ass water, what did you expect?"
"So did you, and look at you!" I retort, zooming in on his face.
"Yeah, I gotta admit, even though you gave me zero warning, I don't look half bad. The flash is messing with you though, 'cause you're naturally pale," he tries to reassure me.
"Yeah, right... No wonder you're not jumping my bones!" I blurt out, immediately regretting it.
Oh. My. God... why the heck did I say that!
"What?" Chris asks, squinting.
"What?" I reply, trying to play dumb as I feel my cheeks burning.
"You said what?" Chris asks again, with a teasing smile.
"Nothing."
"No, I heard it."
"Then why you keep asking?" I say, completely embarrassed.
Chris laughs, clearly finding my embarrassment hilarious.
"Stop!" I punch his arm and hide my face with my hands.
"I don't even get why you'd say something like that," he says, still chuckling.
"Oh really...?" I say, rolling my eyes.
"Yeah, really!"
"Considering what happened earlier at the lake, it's pretty obvious I'm not your type. And don't worry, I get it now."
"Pfft," he laughs again.
"I don't see what's so funny," I say, my embarrassment growing by the second. "It's not like I always look like this. The thing is, you've only seen me in bad circumstances. First, all beaten up, and now so pale I could pass for a ghost. I mean, I'm naturally fair-skinned, but not ghostly pale," I try to justify myself for reasons I don't even know.
