Vítor
"I didn't knowyou'd been to Porto at first, if that's what you're wondering. I thought it was strange that Dri had two bouquets of daisies, but I thought Mateus had stopped by and left them."
"How do you know then?"
"My son told me."
"Mateus?"
"David."
Tiago's eyebrows shot up in confusion.
"David came to see me in Porto, and we had a long conversation. That's when I realized he was my son. Trust me, it took me by surprise as much as it did him. But we can get to that later. I want to know why you went to Porto."
He looked down, almost defeated, so I angled his head up so his eyes met mine, and I kept my hands where they were.
"I went to fight for us and for your family. I realized there were a lot of things about them you didn't know, so while I did lie to you, I didn't want you to live the rest of your life without knowing how they felt."
"And us?"
He tried to look away again, but he was unable to, so he closed his eyes instead. A small tear escaped his eyes.
I placed my lips on his gently, and he let out a cry but thankfully didn't try to stop me. I deepened the kiss when his hands came around my waist and gripped my shirt. He tasted like warmth and sunshine, and it was just what I wanted to wake up to every day for the rest of my life, so I reluctantly stopped the kiss so I could tell him.
His cheeks were flushed and the fear he had in his eyes was now replaced with lust. Good.
"Baby, I am tired of living in the past. There are many wonderful things in the past I want to remember, cherish even, but I don't want to dwell on the sad times or the missed opportunities."
I took the small bouquet of dried flowers from my jacket pocket and placed it back in Tiago's hands. He looked at me inquisitively.
"This bouquet was given to me by an old Gypsy woman. When she stopped me on the street, I thought she wanted some money, but all she did was give me these dried flowers and an insight into my future, which at the time I chose to ignore. She told me that I can have more than one great love in my lifetime. Later that day, I met you. I don't know if there is more significance to the bouquet or if we were always meant to meet, but I don't care. I love you, and all I want is to spend the rest of my life loving you and letting you love me, if you feel the same way."
"But the kiss… I saw you with a guy. You two looked so comfortable with each other like you belonged together."
"Luís has seen me drunk more times than I care to remember, he babysat Mateus whenever we needed some time off, he's been there through my grief more than any of my friends, and even when I was determined that what me and you had wasn't that strong, he still told me I needed to see you. He's my best friend and a brother. What you saw was a comforting kiss. We've done it so many times I don't even think anything of it, but I can stop it and ask him to not do it anymore."
"No, don't do that." Tiago's hands rested on my chest, and he got on his tiptoes to match my height.
"He can kiss you like this." He placed a small kiss on my lips. "But he can't kiss you like this because I love you, and you're mine."
His arms came around my neck and the rest of the world disappeared when his lips touched mine again. This time, he had a different intention. I opened my mouth to let his tongue in so I could taste him again. Our tongues dueled for dominance, danced together, and spoke louder than any words we could have exchanged.
"Okay, okay, that's enough tongue. One of you is going to get pregnant at this rate if you don't stop."
I stopped the kiss reluctantly to face David who was standing by the door holding a box.
"How long have you been standing there?" I asked.
"Oh, you know, a minute or ten. Enough to need to bleach my ears when I get home or ask Joel to replace the mental image with a better one." He winked.
Tiago buried his face on my chest, and I could see the reddened tips of his ears. David ignored my subtle sign to leave us and came even closer.
He put his arms around both of us and said, "This is great, my dad and one of my best friends. Can I be a page boy at your wedding?"
"Aren't you a little old to be a page boy?"
"Fine, I'll make the cake then. I guess Luís beat me for the best man spot already," he said.
