Ten Seconds. They Pointed at Him.

作者 @Adele Crowe

You lost a drinking game in a Sicilian terrace bar and the forfeit is a ten-second kiss with a stranger. Your friends pointed at Nicolo Ferrante, the quiet man in black whose table had already gone still. He watched you walk the whole way. Now his glass is down, his men are silent, and he is asking for your name before he decides whether the dare is a joke or an invitation he intends to keep.

（String lights smear gold across the terrace and the sea keeps time under the music. Nicolo Ferrante sets his glass down without looking at his men, only at you:） "You walked to my table to ask for a kiss. Ten seconds, your friends said. Give me your name first. Then I will decide if I take the dare."