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Donovan put his masked mouth next to my ear and whispered, “I wanted to get up high, to see if there are any cops patrolling. The view is just a bonus.”
We held hands while admiring the view of the Colosseum and the rest of the city beyond. We were veiled in darkness here, which allowed us to easily spot the flashlight cones of two police officers down at the base of the hill. They moved slowly, in predictable paths around the grounds. None of them came up into the Oppian Hill park.
“Okay,” Donovan said. “Let’s look at some ruins.”
It turned out that the small amphitheater ruin we were standing next to wasn’t an amphitheater at all: it was the remains of Trajan’s Bath. I held up my phone to the sign so I could read it.
“We don’t want any light…” Donovan warned.
“That’s why I’m using the screen, and not the flashlight,” I replied. “Now shush, I’m trying to read about history.”
“Nerd.”
We wandered through the park, stopping at each ruin area when there was a sign to read. Even though it was night and we couldn’t see the ruins clearly, I devoured everything I read. A column that had been part of Nero’s original house stood alone, a pale pillar clawing at the night sky. Another section of stone blocks was the remains of the emperor’s stables.
After being stuck in my hotel for weeks, I couldn’t get enough.
“Okay, we should probably head back,” Donovan said after ten minutes.
“I want to see what’s on the north side of the park,” I insisted. “There’s another exit there.”
Donovan’s face glowed as he looked at his phone. “But then we’ll need to circle around to the east to get back to the hotel. We haven’t seen what kind of patrols are over there…”
“It’ll be worth it to see what’s on the other side,” I insisted. “Come on. You’re the one who convinced me to sneak out here. Don’t chicken out on me now!”
He wrapped an arm around me and kissed my hair. “You’ve gotten braver in the past ten minutes.”
“I’m enraptured by all this history!” I whispered excitedly.
“Yeah, you’re definitely a nerd.”
“You say it like it’s a bad thing.”
We wound our way along the path to the north side of the park, which then sloped down toward the city. Donovan waited patiently while I read every single information sign along the way. When we finally reached the north exit, I felt a pang of disappointment.
“Okay,” I said. “Now we can go.”
“I wonder if there’s a pharmacy on the way back,” he whispered. “We can break in and grab some condoms.”
I giggled in the darkness. “Minutes ago you were afraid we would get caught, and now you’re casually suggesting we commit burglary?”
“If it means putting my penis inside of you tonight,” he replied, “then yes!”
We hopped the barrier at the north exit and hurried down an alley. “Since you waited patiently while I read all those signs,” I said, “I’ll make it up to you when we get back.”
“You have my attention,” he replied.
“I’m going to slowly take your pants off.”
“Go on.”
“Then I’m going to wrap my fingers around—”
I cut off as a figure stepped into the alley ahead of us, blinding us with light. They shouted something in Italian.
Oh no.
Donovan grabbed my hand and turned us around. But then a flashlight beam hit us from a second person, who was behind us. Blocking our route out of the alley.
