A set of uncontrollable giggles escaped me. “I’m not sorry!” I gasped for breath, thrashing on the bed.
Easing off, he kissed my neck and nibbled on my earlobe. “You had to push me to get what you wanted. It’s admirable.”
“You had my tongue down my throat at the skating rink, but your head remained in your ass, so—”
He tickled me again, and I laughed until I cried. Then he took me in a tight wrap-around hug and kissed my tears as I regained my breath.
“It’s supposed to be perfect weather today for a walk. So we’re going to Central Park.” He grinned and I squealed in delight.
I was out of bed and pulling on thick socks in no time.
An hour later, we stepped out of the subway and into the chilly Manhattan air.
Marin turned around and reached for my hand with his.
I looked up to meet his gaze, not suppressing the grin spreading on my face. Maybe it was my romantic heart, but it beat so fast at the thought of holding Marin’s hand in mine. It was so much more than holding onto him not to get lost in a crowd, or pretending to be drunk to grip his tentacle.
“Woo me,mein Schatz.” I intertwined my fingers with his.
“I thought I did last night. And the one before.” He feigned a shocked expression.
“Then romance me.”
“My little devil.” He kissed me briefly on the lips, then my cheeks, and the side of my neck. “You smell so good.”
“We can always go back home.” I squeezed his hand.
“No. I want this trip to be magical for you, not only because of my bedroom skills.” He waggled his eyebrows comically.
“They are pretty magical.”
His rich chuckle filled my chest with warmth.
The park was a winter wonderland in itself, but with all the lights on the snow-dusted trees, it turned into a fairy tale. Or maybe it was my rose-colored glasses, as I walked next to Marin as my lover, my temporary boyfriend, or whatever we currently were.
“Picture time.” Marin twirled me around and took several steps back.
I looked behind me. “Is that the bridge from Home Alone 2?”
“Yup. It’s The Gapstow Bridge. Pose.” I held his phone up.
He didn’t tell me to smile, knowing that I looked mysterious and sexy in selfies, but this time, I was grinning from ear to ear.
We continued walking, contemplating which movie we should watch when we’d be back to his apartment and concluding it wouldn’t matter as we’d probably just fuck anyway. I told him about the exhibit I’d attended in Berlin a few months back, and he shared gossip from his circle of friends that I’d met at the gallery opening.
We reached a large plaza with a huge fountain in the middle covered in a dusting of snow with several pigeons sitting on it.
“That’s Bethesda Fountain. Want a pic?” Marin loosened his hold on me and I shivered instantly. Without a word, he pulled me straight back next to him.
“Yup. But with you.” I pointed my phone in selfie mode and touched my head to his shoulder. He squatted so we were the same height, and I snapped a pic when we both laughed.
We ventured under arch walkways of the Bethesda Terrace, admiring the ornamental ceiling, then further, along a path with Victorian lamp posts. The inside of the park was such a huge contrast to the city landscape in the background. There, in the leafy surrounds, we were completely isolated from the urban environment bordering us on all sides.
We passed a plaque that said we had entered Strawberry Fields, then walked past a half-frozen lake until Marin pointed to a set of benches nobody was sitting on.
“My first summer in New York, I used to sell my art on tiny canvases on that corner. I thought if I could find my way in Berlin, I could do the same in New York.” He shook his head. “But I refused to rely on any help from my family. The rent in any tiny place was insane. It took me a few weeks to score a job that paid well enough to stop the urge to call my parents and beg for a return ticket home.”
I squeezed his hand. “I’m sure they wouldn’t have minded.”
