Vítor
I heardthe key in the door and moments later Tiago stood by the archway entrance of the kitchen.
"Hey, I hope you like risotto because I'm sure there's enough here for us and the neighbors."
Tiago's face lit up like it was Christmas morning. He also looked exhausted.
"Hey, are you okay?"
"Yes, just tired. You made enough food for me?" he said, coming closer and looking at the pot.
"Of course. It would be silly to go to all this trouble just for me." I'd been doing it for the last three years and hated it every single time. "Not to mention you left enough coffee for me this morning and that made my day."
He snorted. "That's as much as I can do in the kitchen without needing to call the fire service."
"I'll happily wake up to a fresh cup of coffee every day, even if I do have to make my own toast." I winked.
Tiago chuckled. He was so close to me the hairs on my arms were standing up. I could smell the remnants of his aftershave together with his natural scent. I looked at his lips and my mind went straight back to the night at the bar and the way his body had molded to mine, how pliable he'd been in my arms.
"I should take a shower before dinner," he said, stepping back, his voice deeper than earlier.
I turned my attention to the food, not daring to look into his eyes in case I saw something I didn't want to see, or even worse, something I did want to see.
"Yes, of course, there's enough time until dinner is ready."
He walked out of the kitchen but came back seconds later with a small box.
"I have dessert," he said, placing the box on the table before leaving again.
It was only when I heard the shower going in his en suite that I took a deep breath and gave myself a pep talk. I'd never been attracted to younger men before. Why was I struggling so much with this particular young man? For goodness sakes, I was pretty sure I could be his dad.
I stirred the risotto and then got working on setting the table.
When Tiago came back into the kitchen, he was wearing some old jogging bottoms and a University of Lisbon T-shirt and looked a lot more relaxed. His hair was still wet from the shower, and it appeared as if he'd only run his hands through it.
He took two beers from the fridge and joined me as I served our dinner.
"Oh my god, this is really good," he said with a mouthful of risotto. "Sorry, I'm behaving like a pig, but man, where did you learn how to cook like this?"
"I always enjoyed cooking, so I guess it's the many years of practice from doing it at home for us and when friends come over for our usual Sunday lunch. It wasn't always this good, though. One time we'd gone out to a party on a Saturday night and we overslept. Dri had the worst hangover and couldn't even help me with the preparation. Since our friends had all been drunk the night before, they weren't very discerning with the food, so no one realized I hadn't cooked something properly until two of the guys were sick."
Tiago was staring at me with a big smile.
"What?"
"You got so animated talking about your friends. Was Dri your husband?"
I stared back at him.
"Your face lit up when you said his name," he said as if he could tell what I was thinking.
"Yeah, he was. His name was Rodrigo."
"Well, I'm glad you practiced your cooking skills on them. I expect only top-quality food in this establishment."
I couldn't be more relieved that he'd lightened the mood with a joke instead of asking me questions about Dri. As it was, my mind and my body were already confused whenever in Tiago's presence.
"You got it," I said. "Just make sure there's always coffee in the morning for me."
