Free Kiss Me Goodnight in Rome (The Senior Semester Series Book 2) by Gina Azzi Page A

I point to the salad listed on the menu.
    “That’s all?” Pete asks, furrowing his brows. “You sure?”
    “Oh yeah. I’m not too hungry.”
    He shrugs. “Okay. Thanks.” He turns, handing our menus back to the waitress.
    She repeats our order and walks back into the restaurant.
    “So…” I start “…for the project …”
    Pete leans forward, snaking his arm across the table and placing his hand over mine. “Relax, Mia. I promise, we’ll get to the project. But for now, let’s just take a minute and hang out. Enjoy all of this…” He gestures around him “…We’re in Italy.” His voice is laced with excitement.
    I laugh, his enthusiasm contagious. “Yeah, you’re right.”
    His hands rest on the tabletop. “Do you miss home at all?”
    I tilt my head to the side, thinking over his question seriously. Do I miss home at all? “Not really,” I answer honestly and then blush. “Does that make me terrible?”
    “Not at all. I don’t miss it either.”
    I laugh. “I miss my friends a lot.”
    He nods. “Yeah, I miss some of the guys from my baseball team. And my brother.” He laughs. “My sisters, not so much.”
    I smile. “You play baseball?”
    “Yeah, that’s why I had to study abroad in the fall. No way could I miss the season, especially senior year.”
    “I bet that’s tough to balance.”
    He shrugs.
    “What position do you play?”
    “Short-stop.”
    “That’s cool.”
    “Do you play any sports?”
    I groan inwardly and consider telling him about dance. But really, what’s the point. I shake my head. “Not anymore.”
    His brow furrows again, and I can tell he’s going to ask a follow-up question so I lean forward and latch onto his gaze. “When are you heading to Scotland?”
    He smiles back, his face warming and opening immediately. Wow, he has an incredible smile. His parents must have spent a fortune on braces. I mentally slap myself. Get a grip. If Lila were here she would be hysterical at the turn of my thoughts.
    I scoot my chair closer into the table and listen to Pete as he shares his plans to travel to Scotland soon to visit his family in Glasgow. He also plans to see a friend in Germany. He gestures broadly as he speaks, his excitement palpable.
    And before I know it, we’ve enjoyed an entire lunch and not once did we discuss anything for our partner project.
    Fail.
    * * *
    My classes are in full swing and the semester is officially underway as the heat of summer dissipates into cool autumn breezes. Each day, my Italian grows stronger as I converse with Paola and Gianluca. And of course, with Lorenzo.
    I see him nearly three times this week when I stop by Angelina’s for a caffé latte and a study session. Through my conversations with him, I even pick up some Roman dialect to add to my Italian notebook.
    Lorenzo is kind and sweet and funny. Behind that handsome face and deep blue eyes is a bona fide player. I can tell by the way other girls react to him, how they giggle when he approaches their table to take an order, the flip of their hair, the smack of their lips, the wide-eyed gaze of their eyes. It’s obvious by the way that he swaggers, how he flashes his dimple and winks casually, how he addresses everyone—from the staff at Angelina’s to random customers—with a general familiarity that he has no problem getting girls to fall at his feet. He’s intoxicating, and I look forward to my afternoon breaks at Angelina’s more than I should. I tell myself it’s for the caffé latte, but mainly it’s to see Lorenzo’s face light up when he sees me, always greeting me with an endearment: bella, bellezza, carina. The list goes on. Lila would already be engaged.
    Now that I’m truly a local, the days seem to pass by in a flurry, blurring together as I adjust to my classes and everyday life in Italy. Finally, I’ve settled into a routine of sorts: morning run, classes, lunch at Angelina’s, studying, hanging out with Lexi, dinner with Paola and