Who could refuse an offer like that? See you soon
Drive carefully, wife
With a few taps on my phone, Maluma’s infectious reggaeton music fills the kitchen through my bluetooth speaker. I let the birds out so they can hang out with me while I cook. Hermes goes to his toys to play, Daisy flits around making her cute chirps, and Tink immediately flies to my shoulder, doing little tippy taps with accompanying head bobs to the beat of the music. I’ve discovered that this bird is a tiny dancer, she LOVES reggaeton.
I can’t help dancing with her a little as I grab the dough, pickled veggies, and cheese from the fridge. The pork is falling apart on the stove and smelling absolutely incredible. Forming the dough into arepas before cooking them off, I start to find peace in the rhythm of it all. Dancing around the kitchen with my adorable bird, while making my favorite meal for the woman I like, is probably the most fun I’ve had in a long time.
This is the scene she walks into when she gets home, her bemused face lit by the sun drenching the kitchen in golden light. Without a word, I impulsively take her hand and give her a twirl, leading her into a basic step. She wobbles but quickly starts to follow me, huffing a laughas she watches Tink fly to the nearby perch next to Daisy before continuing to bop along with us.
“Didn’t mean to crash your dance party,” she says wryly.
“You’re joining it, not crashing it,” I say as I twirl her again. “How was the diner today?”
“Uneventful, but decent tips. I almost have enough saved up to get my non-profit off the ground,” she says, a hopeful gleam in her eyes that makes them look almost blue.
“Fuck yeah,” I tell her, letting go of her hand to turn to the stove and flip the arepas currently cooking.
“It smells great, just like the ones at the bar,” she remarks.
Giving the pork a stir, I grab a spoon to scoop some up before bringing it to her lips.
“Here, tell me what you think,” I say, my voice going a little husky just looking at her.
She hesitates, looking at me speculatively before closing her mouth around the spoon. Her eyes damn near roll back into her head as she tastes it. Watching her mouth pull off of the spoon, followed by her reaction to trying my food, is the single most erotic thing I’ve ever seen in my life, and I have to fight a groan. She’s slowly killing me.
I want to see how she’ll react to me doing the same thing, so I take another spoon to try the pork, holding eye contact with her as I taste it. Her eyes go to my mouth and throat as they work, a little color stealing into her cheeks as her mouth parts. Yep, she’s affected by me, and it makes my heart go into a sprint.
“That’s pretty tasty,” she says, her voice a little strained.
“Delicious,” I agree as I remove the finished arepas from the stove. “You hungry?”
“Starving,” she replies.
I don’t think we’re talking about the food.
Her eyes are pure smoke as they bore into me, before she shakes her head a little to seemingly clear it.
“What are we doing?” she almost whispers.
“I don’t know what this is, Celeste, but I’m curious to find out. Are you?”
She swallows hard.
“Curious and terrified,” she says.
“Same,” I reply as I huff out a laugh.
“We’re still messes. At least I am. That hasn’t changed since the last time we danced around whatever the hell we’re feeling,” she says, her chin lifted almost defiantly. It’s as if she’s daring me to contradict her or skate over the fact that we both have work to do.
“Maybe we can help each other navigate the mess. Do it together?”
My dad’s words float back to me like I can actually see them in my mind’s eye. “You can’t be so scared of what may happen that you lose enjoying the wonderful moments with her,” he’d said.
“I don’t want to let being scared make me miss out on something that could be amazing. You’re amazing, Celeste,” I tell her baldly.
Her eyes flash before she laughs with zero humor whatsoever.
“There is nothing amazing about me, Gage. It’s been pretty well beaten into me how useless and angry I am. Use your pretty words on someone who deserves them.”
