Tuesday night
Matteo said we'd have to wait until nightfall.
He didn't tell exactly what it is we're doing but I can infer from the devilish glint that's been shining in his eyes since lunch that it's going to be fun.
And possibly illegal.
➳ ➳ ➳
It's not until we reach some town in Nevada and the bright blue day sky has faded into an ocean of black ink that Matteo orders me to park the car at a hotel.
"What are we doing here, Matty?" I ask, obliging.
He ignores my question, tells me to stay in the car while he hops out and goes around to the trunk and starts rummaging through it. He returns to me, holding a stuffed drawstring gym bag with a small smile on his lips. "C'mon," he says, taking my arm and yanking me out of the car.
Checking my phone while he drags me through the hotel's fancy revolving doors, it's almost 10 p.m. The lobby of the hotel is surprisingly full with people (not too bad, though), but considering we're close to L.A., I suppose it's not all that surprising.
Since there are so many people, we easily blend in as Matteo smoothly guides us through the bustling bodies to the hotel's elevator.
"What the hell are you doing?" I hiss under my breath, even though I probably don't need to over the buzz of the room.
"Shh, you'll see." He whispers back, hitting the button to go up the elevator. I've never seen him like this, so sure of himself and overall sneaky. I kinda like it, it's intriguing, though much more frustrating than the shyer, gentle Matteo.
"Dude, you have to have a key for that."
"It's not like I don't know that," His grip tightens on my arm when I just huff. He then turns to a man beside us, who's sitting in one of the lobby's cushioned chairs.
"Uh, excuse me?" He speaks up, playing a broad, bright smile with a confidence infiltrating his voice, "We left our key in our room. Can we borrow yours to get upstairs?"
The man doesn't respond, only shifts in his seat to fish out a crisp blue hotel key card.
Matteo takes it, nodding in thanks, before swiping into the elevator's key lock and handing it back to the man.
He then shoves me into the elevator and punches the button to lift us to the top floor.
Once the door is shut, I yell, "WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK ARE YOU PLAYING AT, GRYFFIN?"
He just shoots me a sly, but sincere, smile as the doors reopen and he pulls me through the hotel's long hallways, to a heavy gray door, and up a short flight of stairs.
At the top of the stairs, Matteo pushes the last door open to reveal the empty hotel's roof, a stone fence lining the edge with intricate design carved from it. A small, shimmering pool is to one side of the roof, with a few lounge chairs scattered around. There's also nobody up here, just us and the stars.
"Wha--oh." My breath catches. The view from the terrace is incredible, a vague city skyline with the occasional bright, colorful lights beaming and fading off into the dark night.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" I hear him say beside me, and he begins shuffling around me to the side of the pool, tugging his shirt off.
I quickly begin doing the same and as soon as I've slid out of everything except for my boxers, a force slams into me from behind, throwing me into the pool. The water submerges me and I just see a flurry of bubbles around me. As soon as I break the surface Matteo appears in front of me, laughing.
"You little shit!" I yell, but it just dissolves into laughter too as I flick a splash of water at him. His blonde hair is now a light brown and plastered across his face, and his lip ring is gleaming with water.
He responds by slapping a wall of water at me - but just as he's doing so I duck under and grab him by the legs, then rushing back up, hoisting him as well, so that I'm holding him up, like a reverse piggy-back. His legs instinctively wrap around my waist as he grins and grips my shoulders with his hands, looping them around my neck.
Then I can't help but notice the way the water droplets collect and shimmer on his lean, pale body and the feel of his warm skin, despite the cold water, against mine. Suddenly my arms are too weak to carry him so I just shoot him a smirk and drop him back into the pool even though something in me wants to keep holding him.
➳ ➳ ➳
I glance over at the boy laying beside me. He's gazing up at the sky, his eyes wide with awe and a small smile teasing his lips that he doesn't know is there.
We'd swam for a while, then gotten out and gotten dressed again - that's what was in the bag he was carrying, towels and a spare set of clothes - and laid down on two of the lounge chairs to stargaze.
Matteo turns to me, his eyes twinkling just like the stars above us.
Matteo's eyes are a striking gray. Not a storm gray with steel blues, or a dull metal gray like a machine. No, they're a light gray that fades into a slightly darker shade around the edge of the iris, then with veins and flecks of silver like constellations hidden behind his black, large-framed glasses.
"What?" He whispers when he notes me staring.
I just shrug turn my gaze back to the sea of stars in front of me.
I feel Matteo smile and can practically see his lip ring flashing in my mind as he shuffles his chair closer to mine.
YOU ARE READING
Caraphernelia
Teen Fiction"MAKE U-TURN," the angry Australian voice yells, and it is then that I realize that driving across the country for a girl who may not be on the other side while holding her brother's hand may strike you as a bit odd.
