His beautiful dark eyes widen, and his beautiful black lashes slide up. He looks surprised, then he smiles.
“How was the restaurant last night?” Annika asks, and I grin at her gratefully until I remember that that is the sort of behavior that might make her suspicious.
“It was wonderful,” Mateo says. “Like the first time.”
We exchange smiles.
Itwaswonderful.
Mateo is right.
“Well,” Mama says, “that is not as much detail as I would have liked, but I’ve learned not to expect it from Florian. I shouldn’t be surprised he found a man who doesn’t pay attention to details either.”
“It is not my strength,” I tell her.
“I have my imagination,”she says.
“We could go there tomorrow night,” Mateo suggests.
Then Mateo does some sort of gasping thing, and he looks at me apologetically.
I smile. “That is a wonderful idea, Mateo.”
I am glad that I will see Mateo tomorrow. I used to see Mateo every day, but we usually never spoke, and when we did, my heart was beating too quickly to make the conversation pleasant.
“Perfect!” Mama exclaims.
Papa gets the check, and Mateo takes out his wallet.
Papa looks alarmed, and I laugh and slide Mateo’s wallet back into his pocket.
“You are Florian’s boyfriend,” Papa says.
“He is,” I lie, and I shoot Mateo a look that says ‘you know you can’t contradict me’ and he smiles and looks down.
My family walks me back to my apartment since their hotel is nearby, and there is no way for Mateo to slip away.
There is still no way for him to slip away when my family decide to come back to my apartment with me, and when I suggest that he leave after my family says goodnight and we are alone in my apartment, he shakes his head and says that I am in pain and they will ask why he did not massage me.
That’s how we find ourselves in my bedroom.
Mateo
“You do not need to give me a massage,” Florian says sternly.
“You need a massage. You’re in pain.”
“I am a hockey player. I am always in pain.”
I stop and stare at him. “That’s terrible, Florian.”
He looks down. “Maybe I exaggerated. Yes, I exaggerated. I am fine.”
I frown. I’m pretty sure that Florian was telling me the truth.
I go to the bed and remove the comforters and put them on the armchair in the corner.
“What are you doing?”
