Free Kissing in Italian by Lauren Henderson Page A

from a gap in the hedge. I stifle a gasp, biting on my lip harder.
    I can’t believe I’m thinking this, but I wish it had been a boar.
    Because what I’m seeing, unmistakably, is Luigi and Kendra, tightly linked together, their arms around each other’s waists. That’s what caused all the rustling: the gap in the hedge is big enough for one person, but not two, unless they’re wrapped around each other so closely their shape is like a two-headed beast. As they emerge from the hedge, they stop and turn to each other, Kendra’s arms winding around Luigi’s neck as they kiss passionately.
    I don’t move. Not a muscle. If it were a boar prowling the lawn for stray bits of food, I couldn’t stay any more still.
    Kendra is wearing a pale dress and Luigi a white shirt and jeans; the light-colored clothing shows up against the hedge, a black background in the shadowy night. I see her hands running up and down his back, her face pressed against his. I wonder if Luca and I, kissing in the river, looked like this, wrapped up so tightly in each other’s arms that we were utterly oblivious to anything else around us. The memories of that night flood back so vividly that my eyes close as I remember the feel of his bare chest pressed against me, his bare arms around my waist, his wet skin so close, his skin slippery with river water.…
    My eyes snap open. I mustn’t do this. I can feel my body melting just at the thought of Luca, and it’s much more dangerous to give in to these feelings in the warm, dark, romantic Italian night. I do understand Kendra and Luigi sneaking around, having a secret rendezvous by moonlight; what’s more, I have to admit I’m jealous, because I would love to do that myself. I know where they’ve been—set into the retaining wall of the lawn below is a curving alcove with a marble seat inside it, a perfect place for a couple to sit together and make out, with a spectacular view of the valley below by day and the stars in the sky at night. If Luca had asked me to sneak out and meet him there … if we were free to be together … I’d do it in a heartbeat.
    Kendra and Luigi are still kissing passionately, so absorbed with each other that they haven’t even taken a moment to look to see if there’s anyone around. They’ve stopped just by the hedge, where they’re sheltered from the main terrace, but there are windows along the side of the villa, and gardens surround them, stepped on levels up and down the hillside. They could be spotted from so many different angles that the recklessness of what they’re doing makes me terrified for them.
    The gravel border of the lawn is barely a foot away from me. I sneak my hand out, pick up a handful, and scatter it lightly as I slip down a couple of steps so that only my head emerges at the level of the lawn. They won’t be able to see me; I just hope the gravel noise did the trick, reminded them that they’re not alone out here in the moonlight. And that if they’re caught by Catia, or Elisa, they’ll both surely be in major trouble.
    It works. From my low vantage point, I see them start and pull apart. Their whispers are soft; I can’t make out any words, but they must be asking themselves what that sound was, if anyone saw them. Luigi ducks back into the shadowy gap in the hedge. Kendra disappears briefly too, presumably for a last kiss goodnight, before emerging once more onto the lawn, smoothing down her skirt, strolling around the house with the aplomb of someone who has just been out for an evening walk alone, with absolutely no intention of meeting an art teacher who must be more than fifteen years older than her.
    Only the occasional quick turns of her head give her away. She’s trying to see if there’s anyone else out here too, who might have spotted her and Luigi. But she’s looking much too high to see me kneeling on the fourth step down, and in a minute she’s looped around the side of the villa, presumably to go in by the