The night air was hot and thick; the kind that lit a fever in any two young, attractive people in close proximity. You’d been playing hard to get for weeks on end, brushing his shoulder with your hand and his ear with your lips only to slip from his grasp like a stubborn eel the moment he thought he could get his hands on you.

But the Ministry-wide dinner party had been dreary. The stars called you, and Terzo as well. Not even thirty minutes in, he’d nodded toward the door and you’d followed him without question. This night, on which you would have rather done anything else than listen to Nihil’s droning speech, you finally succumbed to his charms.

He wasn’t crude. He was a gentleman, and took you up to his bed to give you a proper first night with him. The bed was soft, the sheets like satin on your skin as you were enveloped by both him and the luxurious fabric. His voice was the only sound you could hear, the only words you could register.

…But no person with a heart could ignore that tiny cooing sound. “Fratello?”

In an instant, you wrapped the sheets around your body, and Terzo’s boxers were pulled almost to his shoulders with how forcefully he yanked them. A wrinkle formed in his forehead despite his youth. “Copia—” he hissed, then sighed. “What do you need, angelo?”

Copia blinked wetly, wiping his nose as he sniffled. “You said you would sleep over with me.”