Isabella bit her lower lip and shook her head.
“Not tonight. I think you’d get mad. Or maybe not so much mad, but disappointed in me. All I want are good feelings tonight.”
Again, I wanted to reach out to her. To tell her that nothing she did could ever disappoint me, but it was clear physical distance was not the only thing we needed. If we wandered into the depths of our emotions, it would be just as dangerous. We needed the night to remain light and fun.
So, that was what we did. Luckily, Isabella’s whole family was at the festival. We drifted from family member to family member as we made our way around the streets. Not only did I just get myself a remarkable girlfriend, but a whole family as well. Family was something I truly hadn’t appreciated before. I might never be able to fix my own family, but I knew I could become a part of Isabella’s.
“Are you okay? You look… sad.”
Turning to face her, I shook my head.
“No, not sad. Just… I feel so incredibly lucky right now. It’s a bit overwhelming.”
Isabella smiled and slipped her hand into mine.
“Me too. All I really want is to be in your bed kissing you. I feel like we’ve waited so long for this to happen, and now that it’s here, we are in the worst possible place.”
I laughed and reached out to gently glide my finger down her cheek before withdrawing it. Even just that tiny caress seemed to set us both on edge.
“Do you think we can just spend the whole day together tomorrow? Like… I pick you up first thing and don’t drop you back home until curfew. Now that you’re finally my girlfriend, I just want one full day of nothing but you.”
A soft smile came to her face.
“Girlfriend?”
Blushing, I looked at my feet and whispered, “Oh, um… I just assumed with the spark and all…”
She started to laugh. I looked back up.
“It was just cute how you said it. Oh, and yes, by the way, about tomorrow. I want a full day alone with my boyfriend too.”
Giovanni and Rosalina joined us.
“Come on, you lovebirds. It’s time.”
Isabella looked confused.
“Time for what?”
Her cousin looked at me and winked.
“Liam’s surprise.”
Isabella
I looked at him in surprise. He must have planned this even before our spark. Liam really was just so perfect.
My boyfriend leaned in and whispered,“You had one more thing on your list, Bella. Did you forget?”
We ended up at the end of the block where the DJ had set up. I watched as my cousin ran up to him, and then suddenly, a slow song started to play and Liam offered me his hand. I slipped mine inside of it. He smiled shyly.
“I finally found our song.”
“Fall Into Me” by Forest Black started playing. Liam pulled me into his arms and it was like my whole body came on fire. We were never going to survive this dance, I knew. There were more sparks between us than on the Fourth of July. As we danced, I just let the world drift away. Liam really was an amazing dancer. I made a mental note to find out why he ever stopped dancing.
He twirled me away at one point, and then, after I twirled back toward him, Liam held us still as his hand reached out and lifted my chin so that our gazes locked. All my breath left my body as his love for me shone clearly in his eyes. Liam didn’t need to say it for me to know he loved me. I only hoped he could see my own love shining back at him.
“Liam.”
