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“I told you I’m a fountain of knowledge of the best places to visit in Rome. Including where to source the best gelato.”
“Yeah,” she scoffs and then carries on licking the cone as we walk.
After the initial eye rolls, huffs, and bursts of displeasure at me catching her up in the street, we’ve had an amicable time. We’ve been to the Spanish Steps, the Sistine Chapel, and the Colosseum. Maddy wants to see the Trevi Fountain, but it will have to wait until after the Vatican tour. Maybe it’s because we’re busy and she’s distracted, but her dislike for me hasn’t been voiced as passionately as usual. Or maybe she’s tired. Either way, I’m enjoying the reprieve.
“Such a fountain of knowledge, and yet, you’ve never been inside the Vatican.” She smirks.
I shake my head with a smile. She took great delight in the fact I’ve not made time to visit it properly before. But that changes today. I booked a ticket online as Maddy was gazing at the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel.
“Maybe I was waiting for the right bitchy woman to go with. Inspiring, historical places just aren’t the same if not viewed with a side of loathing. Adds to the atmosphere.” I lick my mint-choc-chip cone as Maddy fights back a smile.
“I can definitely provide that for you.”
“Like no other,” I muse as we walk into Vatican City. We finish our cones and join the end of a long line.
“You know this is the smallest independent country in the world?” Maddy says.
“Am I expected to tip the tour guide at the end?”
She tuts. “The best thing you could give me right now would be personal space,” she says, stepping away from me.
“In case you didn’t notice, the rest of the world seems to be visiting the smallest independent country at the same time as us.” I step closer to her again as I’m forced forward in the queue by a group of excited female students all wearing Sapienza, University of Rome sweaters and snapping selfies together.
“You can wait outside if you like? Or go back to the house?”
Her expression is hopeful as she looks at me. One of the students steps on my foot, then I look further down the queue and catch eyes with a guy whose friend is busy eye-fucking Maddy.
Heat flares across the back of my neck. “And miss tour guide Mads’ private one-on-one service? I’m good.”
Her face falls and she folds her arms. The movement pushes her breasts up beneath her blouse. I look back at the two guys. Eye-fuck’s friend has the sense to elbow him as he sees me watching them.Yeah, fucker. I’m onto you.Drew would be too if he were here. But he’s not, so I must be the biggest cock-blocking asshole there is for him. It’s what friends do for one another.
I glare at the two guys for another few minutes, making sure they don’t look our way again. When I’m satisfied that they will not carry on, I turn my attention back to Maddy. She’s got her earbuds in, but frowns as she pulls them out and shoves them into her purse.
“Something up?”
She chews on her bottom lip. “No. I thought they were broken, but they’re playing the guidebook I downloaded just fine.”
I nod as we move ahead in the line. Eventually it’s our turn and we make it inside. Maddy walks through the space in awe, her head tilted back looking at the painted ceilings. She gets this look of wonder on her face as she sucks in small gasps of delight. It’s kind of cute. Makes a change from her usual glaring and retorts.
We follow the group we entered with up and through winding tunnels and staircase after staircase. Then we walk across a narrow mesh-enclosed walkway that places us high in the roof space, looking down over the tourists filing in.
Maddy stops suddenly to stare at the intricate designs on the ceiling and the group of female students from the queue bump into the back of me with a giggle.
“It’s amazing.” Maddy grins at me, oblivious to the pile-up, then turns and carries on.
“This is getting narrower,” I say as we turn the corner and face yet another long, stone walkway that slopes upward.
“We’re climbing to the roof; it’s going to be narrow. And people were smaller when this was built.”
“Yeah.” I duck to avoid hitting my head on the low stone opening. “Fuck me, it’s getting warm.” I tug at my shirt collar as Maddy glances back at me, her eyes flitting over my suit.
“Wishing you’d gone back to the house?”
“Not at all. It’s all counting toward my cleanse.” I wink at her.
“God,” she groans. “You’re something else.”
“That’s what I’m told.”
