Chapter 16

—“Have sex. That’s the best way.”

Dante’s phone vibrated just as he was stealing glances at Rhys’s back, waiting for the boarding announcement. When he tapped the notification, he found a message from Lazzaro. Dante had previously asked him how to seduce Rhys again, and this one-dimensional response was the brilliant solution he had received.

Lazzaro was heterosexual, but he did have a track record of successfully getting back together with his exes multiple times. Not that Dante had expected any profound wisdom from him anyway. Dante knew all too well how differently men and women thought, and Lazzaro was an Alpha to boot. Since Lazzaro’s love life involved accounting for pheromones, cycles, and whatever other incomprehensible territory Dante couldn’t begin to understand, their romantic experiences were bound to be worlds apart.

Still, Dante hadn’t expected him to offer this absolute shit as advice. Staring at the screen with a faintly contemptuous expression, he typed out a reply.

—I was an idiot for asking you.

—Good thing you finally realized there’s no brain in your head, Lazzaro shot back instantly.

Having lost all motivation to keep the conversation going, Dante closed the messenger app. Spending this time staring at Rhys’s neat, upright back across the terminal would be far more worthwhile. Dante sighed, about to slip his phone into his pocket, when it vibrated again. And again.

He wanted to ignore it coolly, but a stubborn trace of hope stirred in his chest. Harboring the foolish thought that Lazzaro might have come to his senses and sent proper advice, Dante checked the screen.

—My friend, listen to my sincere advice, the text read. —If this were someone who didn’t know you, you could at least push through with your face. But your ex-boyfriend knows your pathetic true self far too well, doesn’t he?

Dante regretted not kicking Lazzaro’s shin at least two more times when they were at the bar on Sunday. Grinding his teeth, he decided right then and there that he wouldn’t buy his friend a single souvenir.

—You’re not getting a souvenir.

—What? Are you really at the airport? Lazzaro replied. —Impressive. I thought maybe you were bluffing, but I didn’t think you’d actually go. I suppose you need that much courage to join the Navy.

So, Lazzaro had been lying when he enthusiastically told Dante to go on the trip in front of Lucy. Deciding he would expose everything to Lucy the next time he saw her, Dante also resolved to inform Lazzaro just how off-base his assumptions were.

—-Not the Navy. Coast Guard. Different branch. How many times do I have to tell you? And yeah, I’m at the airport right now, and Rhys is here too. We even talked.

He deliberately chose not to mention that Rhys had frowned the exact instant Dante spoke to him. He also conveniently omitted the part where Rhys had gotten angry and demanded he leave the moment Dante sat beside him.

—They say lovesickness can make a person lose his mind…

Dante had known Lazzaro wouldn’t believe him. To refute his infuriating friend, he quickly opened his camera app, zooming in on Rhys, who was seated three rows ahead of him. The screen perfectly captured a pair of well-proportioned shoulders, a long, straight neck, and neatly trimmed hair.

That man radiated handsomeness even without showing his face, and that man was Dante’s. Forgetting for a moment that they had broken up, Dante gazed at the screen with satisfaction, not even considering that he was doing something wrong. Taking pictures of Rhys had always been a natural, everyday occurrence for Dante back when he was his lover.

The moment he pressed the shutter button, however, Rhys turned around. The shaken camera screen caught Rhys glaring directly at him, looking frighteningly intense. His beautiful, golden-brown brows were drawn tight, shooting Dante a cold, sharp look. Intimidated by that blazing gaze, Dante slowly lowered his phone. Even so, a slight, secret anticipation bloomed within him. Maybe Rhys would be angry enough to come over and confront him the way he had earlier.

But the moment Dante lowered his phone, Rhys snapped his head away. As Dante continued to stare at his back with longing, regretful eyes, his phone vibrated once more. Assuming it was Lazzaro, he glanced down, fully intending to ignore it—only to snap wide awake when he saw the name on the screen.

[Notification: message.png] Fiorellino Mio♥

The nickname Dante had never even considered changing after the breakup appeared clearly across the screen. The instant he saw it, his heart rate began to climb. Rhys, who had ignored every single one of his messages for two whole months, had contacted him first? Dante bent over his phone as if he meant to climb straight inside the screen, hurrying to open the message.

—What creepy thing did you just do?

Dante hadn’t expected a warm greeting, but this was worse than he had anticipated. His thick brows, which had been curving upward with joy, drooped into immediate dejection. After staring at the screen for a few agonizing seconds, Dante confessed honestly.

—I was taking a picture of your beautiful back to commemorate going to Rome. Are you… angry?

—You know taking pictures without permission is a crime, right? Delete it.

Before, Rhys had never said a word, even when Dante photographed him while he was sleeping or eating. Forgetting their current reality, Dante typed back sadly.

—You never said anything before.

—That was when we were dating.

At that precise correction, realization hit Dante late. Ah. So once you really break up, you aren’t allowed to take photos anymore? Since this was his first time attempting to win back an ex-lover, Dante hadn’t known such rules existed. But even friends took pictures of each other, didn’t they?

—Still, we still know each other, so isn’t this much okay?

—After a breakup, we’re strangers.

—Plenty of people stay friends, Dante pressed. —You don’t like that?

From that point on, Rhys didn’t answer. The silence had barely stretched past thirty seconds before Dante grew profoundly anxious. He had thought that after being ignored by Rhys for so long, he had built up some sort of resistance, but apparently not. He stared at Rhys’s back until his eyes ached, but Rhys didn’t turn around. Desperate to keep the conversation going somehow, Dante sent one more message.

—I’m sorry, Rhys. I’ll delete the photo.

To keep his promise, Dante hurriedly switched over to his chat window with Lazzaro. Unable to endure even that short interval of silence, Lazzaro had already sent another message designed to piss him off.

—Did I hit too close to home? You’re not answering.

Dante tapped the attachment button and selected the topmost photo of Rhys. Because Rhys had turned around right as the shutter clicked, the picture was slightly blurred, but that only made it feel more vivid, like a piece of art photography. And he really had to delete this?

Even now, there was still no reply from Rhys. Dante was so ecstatic to have exchanged messages with him for the first time in months that he couldn’t shake off his lingering attachment. He sent yet another text. At this point, he could feel himself slowly losing his mind.

—Rhys, did you block me again?

There was no answer. It seemed Rhys had indeed blocked him. Dante spent several minutes staring at the brief exchange they had just shared. They said insults were better than indifference; even though he had only been scolded, he was still happy that their message history had been updated. Just as Dante was thinking that his condition probably qualified as a severe case of delusion, Lazzaro replied. Dante’s face, which had brightened at the notification thought of Rhys, cooled instantly.

—You ran it through an AI, didn’t you? Your skills got better fast.

—Mention AI one more time and I’m blocking you, Dante threatened.

—Okay, okay. I believe you. So are you two going to Rome together as planned? Sharing the hotel too?

They hadn’t agreed on that part yet. Dante had barely been permitted to board the same plane.

—I don’t know what’ll happen with the hotel. I’d like to share it.

—Make sure you do, Lazzaro advised. —That way, the odds of getting turned on and having sex go up. If that doesn’t work, drink together no matter what.

Lazzaro’s constant harping on sex made Dante uncomfortable. Hadn’t the guy confidently claimed to specialize in relationship reunions? Was all of that a lie? Whatever else might work, seducing Rhys with sex felt entirely impossible.

—Why do you keep suggesting only primitive methods?

—Because they’re the most effective. Don’t you know ex-lovers usually get back together because of bodily attachment?