Enemies & Lovers - Christine Zolendz Page 0,1

as one crawled down the side of his face until he wiped it away.

I ran my hands down the front of my thighs and sucked in a quick breath trying to tame the material. Vaughn leaned back, gaze still locked on my knees and thighs, his fingers fisting tightly at his sides.

“That’s a nice one,” Chloe giggled with a click and sharp flash of light to my left. “No, don’t move!” she laughed from behind her camera phone when I started to squirm. “Your hair is crazy wild, you don’t mind if I post it, do you? You look stunning.” Chloe was our social media queen, forever showcasing her impeccably charmed life. God, I loved her. I spent the last few months longing to see her again and running to our special hiding spot to gush about boys and books and things that you could only ever tell someone you made a sister-squad oath with when you were seven. My stomach was a knot of twisted-up nerves trying to figure out how I was going to tell her I might be in love with her brother. She knew we messed around, but love—we never talked about love.

“Chloe, take a few more,” Matteo said, coming up behind me. The palm of his hand was clammy against my forearm, and when he crouched down closer to me, the smell of bitter champagne sweetened his breath. Chloe kept snapping pictures until Matteo slapped his wet lips over my cheek for a kiss. The color drained right out of Chloe’s face, and her phone and hands immediately fell into her lap as she quickly looked away.

I needed to ask her about that later—if there might be something there between them—something I didn’t know yet. She had mentioned in her emails how she had a huge crush on someone she shouldn’t. Matteo fit that bill; he was their maid’s son, and lived in the small apartments on the outskirts of their estate. Her parents wanted her to only date boys who attended Ivy League schools and had a bank account a princess could envy. Matteo was not one of those boys. He got bused to public school every day while the twins attended a private school that rivaled in cost with Matteo’s mother’s monthly salary. We heard our mothers talk about him once, how shameful it was the poor boy didn’t even know who his own father was—probably some drifter from one of the local bars his mother took up with. Chloe and I never spoke about it after. We loved Matteo all the same. He belonged here with us all summer, an integral part of our quartet. Without him, each of us would be lost. I secretly wished they would find feelings for one another like Vaughn and I had.

“Hey, I have something for you,” Vaughn said, jumping past the fire and pulling me from Matteo’s grasp. The heat of the flames danced dangerously close to us, almost to the point of pain along the bare skin of my legs.

Chloe stood up with us, shoving me forward, tickling my ribs. “Hurry up, though, and Vaughn, you can only have her for yourself a few minutes,” she whined, “then you two boys need to leave us be for the night so we can catch up properly.” She gave me a leveled look to demonstrate how serious she was about the matter.

Matteo clucked his lips. I snuck a quick glance at him and caught him rolling his eyes.

“Chloe, we have the entire summer to be together. You don’t get to hog her all yourself the very first night she’s here.” Vaughn reached down for my hand and slid his fingers through mine. My cheeks flamed and my stomach burst into wild flutters.

I looked to Chloe and smiled as Vaughn pulled me along the path that led around the stone garden. She bit the bottom of her lip trying to stop herself from smiling back. She must have known; Vaughn must have told her how we felt about each other. Her smile was her blessing, I bet she was looking forward to the day we could officially be sisters-in-law. I giggled and gave her a low wave. I hoped she could be my maid of honor one day and I could be hers.

Along the walkway, trees branched up and curved overhead. I glanced back once more and watched Chloe slide into the seat next to Matteo and the smile that lit up his face as she pulled