Page 26

Then I feel his lips brush the top of my head.

“Eleonora?”

“Mm?”

“If I tell you something, will you promise not to run away?”

I laugh. “That depends.”

“On what?”

“What you're about to say.”

His chest shakes beneath my cheek.

Then he goes quiet.

I tilt my head back.

He's rubbing his thumb slowly over the back of my hand. He takes a breath, lets it out, then finally looks at me.

“Damiano?”

Those blue eyes find mine, and something about the uncertainty in them makes my stomach flip.

“I think I've been in love with you for a while.”

For one long second, I forget how to breathe as the lake, the wind and the city around us seem to fade away until all I can see is him watching me, waiting for an answer.

“Say something.”

I blink.

Once.

Twice.

Then I feel my lips curve upward.

Because suddenly every moment makes sense. The Vespa rides and the bookstore. Dancing with him in the park. The way he says my name and the way he looks at me. How I can miss him after only one day apart and how my entire world seems brighter whenever he's in it.

I reach up and cup his cheek.

“You think?”

He groans. “Eleonora.”

I laugh, but then my eyes fill unexpectedly as the truth hits me all at once.

Like sunlight.

Warm.

Certain.

Everywhere.

“I love you too.”