Matteo and I headed over to Vito’s and he helped me pack stuff for the beach, since I really wasn’t sure what to bring with me. He found shorts and a shirt in my things and passed them to me. Telling me to change quickly. 

“That should be everything you need. Nikki probably has sunscreen, so you don’t get a sunburn, and I have our drinks. This is going to be great!” Matteo said, with an infectious joy in his voice.  

I was oddly excited about this. 

In the car, with Matteo and Nikki, I gave Matteo the front seat, and Nikki kept looking in the rear-view mirror. Our eyes kept meeting. To stop that, I looked out my window and watched the trees pass by. The car ride was quicker than I expected, and Matteo was the first one out of the car when Nikki parked. 

Matteo opened my door and smiled. “I’m so excited for you to experience the beach with us.”

“Me too.” I said, a part of me wishing Vito had been here too. 

I offered to help Nikki with some of the stuff he brought, but he refused, carrying everything. He set up our spot on the beach and sat down. I watched him unpack his bag, and he pulled out sunscreen.

“I brought sunscreen. I figured neither of you would have any.”

“Told you he would have some.” Matteo laughed. 

“You did.” I said. 

Matteo told us he was going to look for seashells before he took off. Nikki cracked the lid on the sunscreen and gently took my arm, dropping some on the exposed skin. 

“You don’t come outside often. The last thing you need is to be sunburnt the first time you spend over ten minutes outside. Plus, I doubt Matteo would save me from his father’s wrath. As it is, he is trying to serve me up to him on a platter.”

He started rubbing it in, and I spoke. 

“You know what Matteo is up to?”

“Haha, yes. I caught on to the looks Vito was giving me when I touched you before, and now Matteo wants just the three of us to spend time at the beach. I’m not as dense as he thinks I am.”

“Sorry?” I said.

“Are you though? I wouldn’t be. He’s left you touch starved for how long?” He said. His hands were moving over my skin, and strangely enough, I didn’t ask him to stop. Even though I wasn’t completely into it. Nonetheless, he wasn’t Vito.

He completely covered all my exposed skin in sunscreen and spoke again. “You’re not my type, and I’m not yours, but if you need a quick release, you know where I am.”

“What’s in it for you?”

Nikki shrugged before he spoke again. “I just want to give Vito a proper reason to glare at me.”

“I swear you Mihails are a few brain cells short, the whole lot of you.” I hissed. 

“We like to live dangerously.” Nikki chuckled and whispered. “Plus, I want to see what makes you tick. Ilya Russo.” I cringed at him using my last name. 

Matteo came back to see Nikki’s hands under the hem of my shirt. They had been there since he finished coating me with sunscreen. 

“Hands off him, Nikki. Vito will gut you.” 

“I don’t doubt that for a second.” Nikki chuckled before he removed his hands and stood up, pulling his shirt off, turning to me. “Don’t forget what I said.” He said, flashing a smile and heading to the water. 

“Whatever it was, don’t take him up on it. My father would mutilate that idiot for sport.” 

“Probably.” I muttered. “He knows why you invited him, though, Matteo.”

“And he’s ok with it?”

“Seemed like it. He wanted to give Vito a proper reason to glare at him.”

“All them fucking Mihails are the same.” Matteo groaned. 

“Your brother is one of them, too.”

“Don’t fucking remind me. I know all too well.” Matteo whined. 

Matteo showed me the few shells he found before he pulled me out of the water with him. It took a few minutes of him working me into the cold water. But I felt ok in the waist deep dark blue water. Matteo and Nikki were diving into the water to bring up stones they were finding in the sand. I slowly lowered myself into the water until it was around my shoulders. 

“What do you think, Ilya?” Matteo asked. I looked at the stone in his hand. “It’s a cool black and shiny stone.” I said.

“Not the stone, though it is pretty cool. I mean, what do you think about the beach?”

“Oh! Haha. The water is cold, but it’s fun.” I said, enjoying the cold water on my skin and the warm sun on my skin. “Could I have that rock?” I asked. He passed it to me. 

“What do you want it for?” Nikki asked. 

“I want to keep it. To remember our trip to the beach.” I said and tucked it into my pocket in my shorts. Nikki bribed us back onto the dry land with the talk of snacks. He brought them out after we all sat down and dried our hands off. Nikki was feeding Matteo and me all kinds of strange snacks, weird flavoured chips, candies, and pepperoni sticks. 

I laid out on my towel after we ate, or rather filled up on ‘junk’ food. I was soaking up the warmth from the sun like a lizard. Matteo stayed on his towel, or close by the whole time. At some point, I heard him on the phone with Caio, discussing what to do for dinner when we got back. 

Nikki got back from his last swim, and he clicked his tongue as he looked over at me. 

“You look a little sunburnt. We should head back now. I’ll stop by a pharmacy on the way and get you some after sun lotion.”

He shook his head when he looked at Matteo, who was pretty sunburnt, too. I heard him muttering something about Matteo being an Italian lobster, and I snorted. Matteo and I helped Nikki pack everything back into the car, and he was adamant about us stopping for dinner, too. Matteo agreed, saying something about needing some good, greasy pizza. 

“Let’s go for that then.” Nikki said, closing his car door and turning back to me. “Is that ok with you, Ilya?”

“Sure, I like pizza.” 

Nikki backed the car out and drove into town. He stopped somewhere and Matteo got out and went inside.

“Matteo is just running inside to grab a couple to go pizzas.”

“Alright.”

“I’ll swing by the pharmacy after that and grab you some after sun lotion. Both you and the lobster are going to need it.” He laughed, and I laughed along with him.

Matteo came out with two boxes in his hands, and opened the door, before sitting the pizza on his lap. “Off to the pharmacy for aloe lotion, and then home.” Matteo declared.

I nodded and sat in the backseat as Nikki drove to the pharmacy. He wasn’t in the pharmacy that long. He returned and got in the car, passing a bottle to Matteo and one to me, too. “Both of you have a cold shower and coat yourselves so you don’t get a peeling burn.” Nikki said, making sure we both heard him before he started the car and headed back to the complex.

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I could really use some cold water after this heat! But also pizza.” Matteo said.

“Yeah, you two are both looking a little more red now.” Nikki said, sighing.

“Thanks, Nikki. I appreciate it.” I said, politely. Truthfully, my skin was a little tight, and felt warm, but nothing really that bothersome. I spaced it the rest of the ride to the compound, Vito taking up my thought space.

I wondered what he was doing right now, and how his shopping trip had gone, and if he had remembered my ice cream I wanted. I shook my head when Nikki parked in a free spot, and we headed inside to his wing. Being inside and near Maddox’s complex made me uneasy. As far as Maddox trusting me went, he didn’t.

Nikki opened his door, and spoke, “I’m kid free again. I normally blame Creed and Alexi for that, but this time, it’s my mom.”

Matteo frowned, but hid it when Nikki looked at him and said sorry again. Matteo just laughed and brushed him off, asking for plates for the pizza. Nikki grabbed plates, flicked on the Tv to some show, and Matteo opened the boxes.

“Drinks are in the fridge. Help yourselves.”

I ate my few slices of the pizza before I looked at Matteo. He was typing on his phone, annoyed. “My dad wants you to come back now, your late for your medication, and something about Viktor.”

“Ok, I’ll head out then.” I sighed before looking back at Nikki and Matteo. “Thanks for today. I enjoyed it.”

“Matteo’s still eating, so I’ll walk you back to the front of Alessio’s house. That way, at the very least, I can make sure you got there.” Nikki said, and I felt he was up to something, much like his shithead cousin’s little brother.

He walked me to the door of Alessio’s complex and made sure I had the lotion. His fingers brushed my cheek. “Dont forget to put some here too, you're pink.”

“Thanks.” I said, turning, and seeing Vito, Nikki saw him too, and I thought the kid had a damn death wish. “Remember what I said, Ilya, if you need anything, anything at all, let me know.” He said, winking before he took off.

Vito grabbed me lightly and pulled me behind him, muttering in Italian the entire way. I caught some of his words, like he hated Nikki, and less friendly words. Inside his wing, I paused in the living room as he stomped around.

“Vito, can you help me with something?”

“Huh?”

“Sorry to cut your angry ranting short, but can you rub this on my sunburn?” I hummed, wanting to use this to distract him, but also I wanted to use this as the perfect excuse to have his hands all over my skin again.