His face went beet red, and he lay back on the bed.
"Fred is taking me to the beach to teach me how to surf tomorrow."
I knew Afonso worshiped the ground Fred walked on, so I wasn't surprised I'd get ditched so easily.
"Can I come watch?"
"No," he said quickly. "Er, what I mean is that it's going to be embarrassing, and I'll probably fall a lot. You should go to work."
"Okay," I said, ruffling his hair again and then laughed when he groaned. It would take me a while to remember he was twenty-one now. My grown-up little brother.
Since Fred had picked Afonso up from the apartment at the crack of dawn for their surf lesson, I decided to get up and go to work. Maybe I could finish early today and see if Fred and Afonso were up for a movie and dinner.
When I arrived at the center, I was surprised to see the fairy lights in the garden were on. I didn't remember leaving them on, so I hoped it had been one of the resident kids that had forgotten to turn them off last night rather than them being on all weekend. I made a mental note to remind the kids of the fire hazard of leaving the lights on, not to mention the electric bill.
I filled the water container in the coffee machine, added the ground coffee, and turned it on. I knew I'd easily go through the whole pot before lunchtime.
I turned the lights off at the main switch, but they turned back on again.What the hell?
When I turned them off again, they turned back on.
"Fuck me if I have to add finding an electrician to today's list," I muttered to myself.
As I stepped out into the garden, a lot more lights came on. It was early summer. The sun was already rising at this time, so the lights didn't have the same effect that they did at night, but it was still stunning. There were also a lot more lights than usual.
I looked around and didn't see anyone until my eyes zeroed in on the wall next to the sofa.
Someone had painted what looked like the plans for a house. The whole thing was black and white, but it was done with such detail I could already imagine what the house would look like if it was actually built.
The house was shaped like an L. At the bottom of the plan, which was the front of the house, there were four bedrooms, and at the back of the house there was a big lounge that was as wide as the whole house. On the other side, I could see there was a kitchen. People living in the house would always see each other whether they were in the kitchen, lounge, or office area, and everything led to the landscaped garden at the back. The front of the house looked plain; there was no garden or much outdoor space. The front didn't matter because no one would spend time…
"Do you like it?"
I spun around so quickly that I lost my footing and nearly fell on my ass. I didn't only because Vítor took a step forward and put his arms around me to stop me from falling.
When I regained my balance, Vítor released me but only took a half step back.
"What… what are you doing here?" I asked.
"I owe you an apology, an explanation, and I have a proposal."
I was confused. He was standing too close for my brain to register what he was saying.
"You don't owe me anything. I'm the one that owes you an apology. I'm so sor—"
He put a finger on my lips to shut me up. It worked, but it also had the annoying side effect of making my dick hard. Why was the man so irresistible? I could only hope he would say whatever he had to say fast so he could leave.
"I know why you did what you did. I get it, and I don't hold it against you."
I narrowed my eyes in confusion.
"Will you let me speak without interrupting or apologizing?" he asked.
He still hadn't removed his finger from my lips, so I nodded.
"Since I moved to Lisbon, I've been wondering about my family. I never expected to see my brother again, but then again, I never expected to be back in Lisbon, either, so seeing him was a shock. I won't deny that.
"There is something I haven't told you that explains my reaction. It's no excuse, because I should have listened to you."
