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He reaches out of the shower to grab a towel, which he wraps around me.
He rubs his hands over the towel. Over my body. Then holds me close against his naked chest. I feel him tracing kisses across my shoulder, into the curve of my neck, and it sends shivers through me.
“Come on, get dressed, dry your hair, do whatever you need to in order to feel fresh and get your mind out of where it has been all day. We can talk after that, ok?”
I nod. Grateful that he isn’t rushing me or putting pressure on me to explain myself. He is giving me all the space I need to figure it out.
When I walk out of the bedroom, my hair blow-dried and pulled into a messy bun, a pretty lace blue top on, and my favorite dark blue denim jeans, Antonio has made me a cup of tea, and he is sitting out on the balcony with his own coffee.
I pick up my tea and walk out into the fresh late afternoon air.
I sit next to him at the small breakfast table.
“Antonio, what I told you this morning isn’t everything that I should have said.”
“Alright,” he says patiently.
“It's true. I started interacting with you, thinking that you were linked to my parents’ deaths and planning to take my revenge out on you - or to use you to get close to your family. But then, we spent so much time together, and the more I was with you, the more my feelings and goals changed without me even realizing it.”
He nods, waiting for me to continue.
“I fell in love with you.” I struggle to lift my eyes to meet his. Terrified of what his response will be. I am terrified that I will see instant rejection in his expression.
But I see nothing even close to rejection.
I see tenderness. My heart beats faster, almost excited, because now I do want to hear what he has to say. I feel hope perhaps I am not the only one who is feeling this connection between us.
I feel his hands run up my thighs, sending electricity through my body.
He leans toward me.
“I am in love with you, little bird.”
His words rush over me like a cool rain in the middle of summer. It's soothing, relieving, and exciting. It's exactly what I wanted to hear.
An excited laugh bubbles from my lips and I jump up, wrapping my arms around his neck, kissing, trying not to smile while I do.
I giggle, feeling happy, and I hear his low chuckle.
I lean back.
“I thought you were going to ask me to leave. After what I did. I am so sorry, Antonio.”
“You can’t leave, little bird. I want to be with you, always.”
He pulls me onto his lap, and we sit watching the view for a while, enjoying the closeness and this newfound truth.
After a while, my stomach grumbles, protesting the fact that I was on an angry hunger strike for the entire day.
“I think we had better get some food inside you.”
“Mm. Maybe.”
“I am going to take you out somewhere special. We have something to celebrate.”
“What?”
“Us.” He smiles, kissing me.
