“What’s going on? Who is he?” She pulls in another deep breath, then bites her bottom lip. “Mauro.” “Mauro?” I ask, attempting… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“You really didn’t see me trying to push him away?” “You did?” Darren scratches along his jawline. “I guess I was too… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“Chiara! Pippas! Where you go?” “To sleep! You can handle it on your own.” Chiara shouts something else to him in Italian… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“Overwhelmed with the need to touch him, I reach out and trace along his sharp jawline, stopping just before his lips. I… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“We stop at the gate to the apartment, but Bruno’s still hanging on to me. “The key,” he says, swaying his hips.… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“Our lips touch until the last possible moment when the doors of the train threaten to close at his stop in Manarola.… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“Going?” I smile and wait for her to remove her hand before I answer. “Just meeting up with a friend.” Friend. There,… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“There’s nothing else inside the envelope. I turn the photo over and we read the note on the back written in small,… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“Quietly as possible, I unzip my backpack at the foot of my bed and feel around for my journal and the tiny… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“Darren just kissed me. As many times as I’ve imagined him kissing me, the shock of it as a reality sends a… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“I should probably head back for Luca’s birthday dinner. They want me to lead the ‘Happy Birthday’ song to him in English… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“Well, I just wanted to say hi.” Darren blows out his candle and tosses it behind us into the box with the… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“The weekend arrives and I’m on edge, especially working at the trattoria. I’m hyper-aware of everyone around me, twitching at the sight… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“I stop at the image of me between Darren and Nina, the Colosseum stretching up behind us. It’s such an iconic structure,… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“Bruno, this is my friend Pippa. Pippa, my cousin Bruno.” Bruno. The in-with-the-wrong-crowd Bruno. Divinely and supernaturally gorgeous Bruno. And he just… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“Don’t you have your suit on?” he asks, pulling off his shoes. I nod and wait for him to get distracted again… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“I want to make this work, Pippa. I knew we met for a reason.” His breath is warm on my face as… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“Pippas,” he nearly whispers. “I tell you something that you do not know.” My heart picks up speed and I nestle deeper… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“I was sitting here for, like, an hour before you even sat down.” “Why?” he asks, observing our surroundings with a sweep… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“I didn’t even know you looked at him like that.” “Well, things feel more forbidden when you keep them secret, don’t they,… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“Are you writing in your diary?” Even through the whisper I can tell he’s laughing. “No.” I feel in the dark for… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“The short pieces of his black hair are spiked out every which way. The poor lighting from the singular bulb on the… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“Chiara points to the ceiling and my eyes follow the lead. There it is. Right. Up. There. The most famous painting I’ve… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“Darren spreads out the beach mats and drops his backpack on top of one. As soon as he crosses his arms and… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“When I called and heard your voice mail greeting this morning, something inside me just clicked. I had to see you. Today.”… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“Do you want me to get your back for you?” Cringe. “No, I’m fine.” “Okay, then could you get mine? I don’t… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“I open my makeup compact and set it on the table next to the vase of flowers and let my mechanical pencil… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“Oh, well…they’ve been a little relaxed because of Gram’s passing, but I’ve been assured once school starts my life will be all… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“Darren,” Tate calls from the door behind me, “this train is about to leave.” Darren looks over my shoulder and nods, eyebrows… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“My eyes are sort of greenish,” I say through a nervous laugh. “Am I that scary?” He looks at me and we… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“We’re in Florence.” He looks at Tate and Nina with wide eyes. “We have to go. Now!” They all scramble to gather… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“Were you spying on someone?” Darren asks, finally sitting in the chair next to me and pointing at the open compact on… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“Within several minutes, we’re at the front of the line. I assume we’re going to keep walking, but the young English couple… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“I thought you’d be here,” calls a rough voice over my left shoulder. I turn to find Darren only inches away, holding… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“Darren’s face comes to mind again, and I imagine his jaw dropping in reaction to my transformation. I shake my head to… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“Still gripping my hand, Bruno says, “Pippas, this is Mauro.” He continues on in Italian, telling him that I’m an American. Bruno’s… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“Tell me about your summer program. Are you loving it? The digging part, I mean.” I nudge him with my elbow. “Are… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“The pen touches the paper again at the bottom of the page and I freeze as he draws a slow, thick line… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“Well, whatever his name is. I still don’t like him.” His voice is rough and his bright brown eyes pierce straight through… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“Did I really write to them from a fake e-mail account, posing as my mother to get out of it? My face… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“I’m Darren, and this is Nina,” he says to me when she stops next to him. Nina looks me over. “Hi.” Her tone is… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“Pistachio?” Sure, this place doesn’t have as many options as Della Palma, but there are at least twenty, the rest of them all a… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“Just the idea of seeing the ruins of Pompeii in person makes me ache deep inside. Then there’s Darren, no longer off limits. When… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“You try this before?” he asks. I shake my head. I’ve had versions of it back home, but the sight and aroma of this… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“I stare at his relaxed face, pale in the dim light. Nearly asleep, he looks vulnerable. Like I could tell him anything I wanted… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“ Ciao, Bruno! ” someone calls from a boat puttering slowly into the marina. A hard line sets Bruno’s jaw for a split second… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“ Benvenuta a la Via dell’Amore,” he says, poking a bright pink lock with Ashlee + Jake written on it in white paint. “What… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“Do you want me to get your back for you?” Cringe. “No, I’m fine.” “Okay, then could you get mine? I don’t really want… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“There’s nothing else inside the envelope. I turn the photo over and we read the note on the back written in small, careful handwriting.… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“ Goals update: Don’t get arrested Don’t make a fool out of myself in public--FAILED Get my picture taken at the… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“I think I may cool off in the water for a few minutes. Do you want to come?” He stands and brushes the sand… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
“I sit at an empty table after the lunch rush and turn to the last assignment in my journal. This one’s the worst yet.… — Kristin Rae Copy Share Image
