Page 78 of Giovanni
The room begins to clear, allowing us the space to exchange hugs with each other while watching Giovanni soak in this glorious moment. While we wait, Sebastian and Paolo cluster together, quickly making plans to celebrate as Chloe wraps an arm around me.
“Ignore them. If you want to steal Giovanni away and celebrate, ahem, privately, then we’ll understand.”
She winks, followed by a playful shimmy that rocks my body.
“I wouldn’t blame you now that the world can see what he’s packing.”
Her laughter rings out, light and carefree. It’s then that Taylor gently touches her arm, bringing her back with a gentle admonishment.
“Ease up, Chloe.”
The laughter and friendly jabs continue, adding to the already vibrant atmosphere. After finishing his photo session, Giovanni turns towards us, his face glowing with exhilarationand fatigue. As he makes his way over to us, our group erupts in cheers and applause.
“Way to go, champ!” Sebastian bellows, giving him a robust pat on the back before frowning and looking at his sticky hand covered with the greasy residue from Giovanni’s body oil.
“Ugh, what is this shit? Chloe!”
He shoves the palm of his hand toward Chloe as if she had something to do with it.
“What? Go wash it off.”
She pushes his hand away from her, and his shoulders sag.
“I don’t want to go alone. Come with me.”
Sebastian pouts, casting her a pleading look. She rolls her eyes and adjusts the strap on her expensive purse.
“Save me from looking at Gio’s wiener in those girl underwear.”
“Sebastian!”
She shakes her head and then looks around the group.
“Let me deal with him. We’ll be back. Congratulations, Giovanni, you did remarkable up there.”
Sebastian keeps his hand out in front of him as if it will ruin his clothes if it gets near him. As Chloe steps away, he says, “Do you remember that time in New York when I grabbed your thong and put it . . .”
His voice trails off the farther they get from us, leaving an awkward moment before Paolo chimes in, “Man, you crushed it out there!”
They swap high fives. Giovanni’s dark eyes glisten with happy tears when he looks down at me for a long, lingering moment.
“Thanks, Paolo. It means a lot you guys driving all this way to support me.”
Paolo drapes an arm over Taylor’s shoulders, drawing her close while they both smile at him.
“Wouldn’t have missed it for the world. You’ve worked your ass off for this. I even heard Seb grumbling that he couldn’t overtake you anymore. But we both knew that a long time ago.”
They share a look of agreement. With Seb and his enormous personality away from the group, the two men are much calmer and more in sync. It’s a curiosity that they aren’t best friends rather than Sebastian being the common denominator. Too much alikeness may be the cause.
“Typical, Seb,” Giovanni answers him while looking at me. “Will you come backstage with me to pack up?”
“Of course.”
I drift closer, our hands intertwining while the conversation finishes.
“We’ll meet you in the lobby, and then we can all decide where to go to celebrate,” Paolo says, glancing at his smiling girlfriend, who finally has a moment to voice her congratulations.
“Sounds good.”
