“That surprises you?”
“Most men are too cool to cuddle.”
“Oh.” Maybe I’m doing it wrong. Maybe that’s a move I shouldn’t make. Maybe I’ve been watching too many romcoms. I should know that my boyfriend doesn’t like to cuddle. That should have been something that came up.
“Sorry,” I say, and I start to sit up.
“It’s okay,” he says quickly. “You should lie down. I-I meant… Forget it, it’s not important.”
“I do not want to make you uncomfortable.”
“That is very sweet of you. I like that you like that.”
“Well, to be fair, I only think I like it.”
He stares at me.
His eyes are so beautiful. My throat dries, and I wet my lips. I want to kiss him, but he’s right that we shouldn’t do ituntil I regain my memory. My heart would probably explode from happiness if I were to kiss him now. And then what would Mateo tell my parents?
I won’t put him in that position. He already had to wait by my hospital bed in that fluorescent room with all those beeping machines that seemed to go way too fast at times.
“I think so. I haven’t tried it. That I can remember.”
“Did you have a boyfriend before? Before, uh, me?”
I shake my head. “No. You’re my first boyfriend.”
“You’re twenty-four.”
I shift uncomfortably. “I know. I never told you that I never was with a man before?”
Mateo’s cheeks redden. “We, uh, didn’t talk about that.”
My lips spread into a smile, and my chest is warm. “That makes sense.”
“It does?”
“Of course. We must have had a very sexual relationship.”
“Oh, yeah?” Mateo laughs.
“I wouldn’t have been able to resist you. I would have seen you and?—”
For some reason, Mateo’s eyes turn sad. “Let’s listen to the hockey game.”
He presses play and a sports reporter’s voice fills the room. Mateo tucks himself beside me, and my body warms. Our legs tangle together.
This is what I’ve been waiting my whole life for.
CHAPTER
FOURTEEN
Mateo
I’m drinking coffee when Florian comes into the living room.
“I can’t find the enema kit or condoms,” Florian says.
