Page 73 of XOXO

“You are not afraid to ask for help, either,” Matteo said, walking with us. “Things are different and you don’t have to suffer alone.”

“Plus, you don’t need us, you already made yourself an appt with the therapist and that's half the battle,” I said, leaning against him.

“I told her she doesn’t need to worry, but⁠—”

“She wouldn’t be your mom if she didn’t,” I finished his sentence.

“Yeah, I just wish she didn’t,” he sighed.

“At least she is with her girls,” Matteo said. “You know they won’t let her worry too much.”

“Yeah, I’m glad she has them and I have you guys,” he said softly.

“Same, dude,” I said.

“I agree, but it's hot as hell today,” Matteo said, pulling his shirt away. “We should hit the beach before we go home.”

“Yes,” Ru groaned.

“There’s a beach close to where we depart,” Matteo said, taking more pictures.

“Have we seen enough?” I asked, hoping they said yes.

“Yeah, I’m good,” Ru said.

“Let’s go,” Matteo said.

“Great,” I said, leading them back to where we got on our boat.

It didn’t take much time for us to get back to our car and drive half a kilometer to park and walk to the beach. We quickly changed into our swimsuits, grabbing our bag we packed full of towels and sunscreen.

“Damn, the water looks great,” I said, as we found a place to sit that had an umbrella.

“Last one to the water buys dinner!” Matteo shucked off his sandals running to the water.

I dropped our bag, kicking off my sandals, shoving Ru out of the way.

“Cheater,” he yelled, catching up to me.

I thought I had run ahead fast enough, but he was on my tail quickly.

“How the hell are you so fucking fast?” I yelled, as he shoved me, getting ahead.

“Sucker!” he laughed, as I caught up and pushed him, hoping to gain the upper hand.

We fell into the water together, laughing.

“I think it was a tie,” Matteo walked up to us all wet, throwing his head back.

Sometimes, I swear, this man lived to tease me.

“I think I won,” I smirked, dipping my head in, enjoying the cool water.

“Hell no.” Ru splashed water towards me. “It was a damn tie.”

“Lies!” I tackled him into the water; that turned into each of us trying to push each other down.

I laughed more than I had in months as Matteo attempted to dunk Ru, but to no avail. Matteo wasn’t strong enough and to be honest, while Ru was strong, he couldn’t win when teamed up against him.