24. Chapter 24
Chapter 24
Jake
Coming back home and to sleeping apart from Vi hurt more than I imagined. After so long being used to gazing at her from the sidelines, the weekend together had spoiled me rotten. Only two nights later, I hated how empty my bed felt, and how little I had been able to see her. Hold her. Kiss her. Distance felt like a limb had been torn and hidden from me.
Rather than keeping Vi close, we hadn't had a chance to do more than a quick wave in passing at the office. Going to her parents' now for dinner was our first chance to spend a few minutes side-by-side.
Judging by the way her leg entwined with mine under the table, she had missed me, too. The patch of skin where we touched felt good enough that I didn't mind taking the risk. No one would see under the table, anyway.
"Your trip—" Tío Raúl mentioned in Gabe's direction. "It's this weekend, right?"
"Yes. Mexico City first, then Bogotá. I'll be gone all of next week."
We had a casual family dinner at the kitchen breakfast nook, the four Sotomayors plus Lina and I. The meal consisted of a batch of humitas that Tía Sonia had defrosted for the evening, plus a simple tomato salad to go with it. The Chilean version of tamales and the red fruit were a traditional combination.
"Let's not talk about work." Tía Sonia took her empty wine glass. "We ran out of wine."
"It's not all work," Gabe said. "I'm leaving on Friday to make the most out of the weekend. That is for fun."
I got up. "I'll go get more wine from downstairs. You want more red, Tía?"
"Yes, please. Thank you."
I nodded at her, exchanged a quick, innocent look with Vi, and made my way to the basement.
The house didn't have as big a wine cellar as the family could afford; the small room was tucked under the stairs in a structure of black metal and glass. The built-ins were made of dark wood, warming up the space. Two thirds of the nooks and specialty shelves were packed with bottles, and I perused among them to find one Tía Sonia might like.
Steps down the stairs alerted me I wasn't alone. Seeing legs I had had on my shoulders a few days earlier put an instant smile on my face.
Vi came into the room with a grin wide enough to dim every other source of light. My insides weakened just like my knees at the sight, but I had to firm up. Vi strode to me with arms open and clear signs that she planned to jump me.
I opened my arms and received her in them, offering my body as a harbor.
The kiss she gave me erased the wine cellar from my mind, the entire foundations of the house we were in. The family on the floor above, and the distance we'd endured over the past couple of days. Her mouth on me was everything. Even my arms around her, they existed only as an extension of our mouths together.
It wasn't a conscious decision to turn us and press her to the only flat wall in the room. Pushing my body into hers and savoring the contact was nothing more than an effort to gain territory in her body— our lips, my arms around her, the softness of her breasts and belly and legs against mine. A shifting map of the lands we shared.
"I don't think I can go a full day without kissing you." I put my lips to her cheek, her cheekbone, her eyebrow. "And it's been two."
"That's why I found an excuse to come downstairs. I needed to be alone with you, even if only for three minutes."
I kissed her again. "We probably need to stop soon. They'll start wondering what's taking us so long."
"Only one more." She sucked on my bottom lip, then nipped on it. "One more."
We kissed one last time before we disentangled. I took a few steps back, sorely missing her already. My hand ended on a random red wine bottle, and I stared at it in confusion.
"I guess we can't risk being caught." I took the bottle out of its wooden diamond holder. "If someone saw us— that's when they might react the worst, I think."
"They might… mostly because we hid it from them."
"Did you give them a reason why you came downstairs?"
She picked a bottle of white wine. "I told them I didn't want red wine. Then I pretended to hesitate, for old-time's sake. Like I was unsure of having this alone time with you."
I tried to read the label on the bottle but I couldn't make sense of the words.
Vi sighed. "I also wanted to say, you missed the moment when Lina explained she's going to Mexico with Gabe."
Her words sharpened my focus. I gazed at her. She watched me and waited for me to connect the dots.
An amused smirk took over my lips. "Do you want to come stay with me at my condo?"
"I would love that." She grinned.
"I may not be able to take you out on proper dates, or have an excuse to scurry away with you to private moments everyone knows about… but we can have something special this weekend, too."
"Looking forward to it, but we should probably go up now if you don't want to fess up to everyone here tonight."
She made toward the glass door behind me. I didn't move, the expectation for the weekend and the dreams for a freer future where dates and weekends together were a common occurrence— it had gone away, replaced by cement in my shoes.
"I can't tell them yet," I admitted.
Vi stilled, gazing at me with an open face and understanding eyes. Sudden palpitations reminded me that her patience wouldn't last forever, and I needed to catch up. And that the people I didn't want to disappoint or make angry at me were upstairs waiting for wine.
"It's okay for now," she said. "I came up with this idea. I said we need an argument. We have more to talk about and figure out."
I nodded. She took my hand and led me out the wine cellar. Going up the stairs, she still held my hand, and squeezed it hard before letting go. When we sat at the table with everyone, she made up a quick excuse about not finding the wine she had wanted. No one seemed to question it.
The conversation went around us as usual, but I had a hard time talking after that. I remained quiet for most of the evening; all I could do was study her lips and wonder if anyone else could see they were still slightly swollen, and if they would wonder why. If they would reach the right— worst— conclusions.
When it was time for me to go home, I went without a kiss goodbye, but with a million thoughts about finding the right way to tell everyone that I wanted to be with Vi, but didn't want anything else to change.
Even though being with Vi changed everything.