Romance One Shots

Trip to Spain {3}

"So do you." My smile got wider, and my heart fluttered at the compliment.

"Selfie?" I asked. He nodded and I turned so we were both facing the window. I held my phone out and Jay stood behind me, bent over slightly so he could set his chin on my shoulder. His hands rested on my waist while I snapped the picture and I tried my hardest to not stiffen when he touched me even though it felt like bolts of electricity were coming from each of his fingertips. Jay stayed behind me as I flicked through the couple photos we took.

"You are a beautiful couple," a frail older woman said to us. She spoke slowly, enunciating each of her words and I could tell she wasn't used to speaking English. I smiled and tried to not laugh out of awkwardness. I felt Jay get ready to speak, his hands coming off my waist and I quickly grabbed them, pulling them around me.

"Thank you! I'm Madison and this is Jay. What is your name?" Jay was stiff for a couple seconds before relaxing and pulling me tighter against him.

The woman smiled and said, "My name is Francisca. Nice to meet you."

"Where are you from?" I asked.

"Small town nearby," she named a town I hadn't heard of. "My husband and I came here often together. He is gone now so I visit to remember him." My heart broke, hearing how much she missed her husband in her voice.

"I can tell you love him very much. I'm sorry for your loss." She took my hand in hers and thanked me.  She asked where we were from and we said northern Utah in the Midwest of the United States.  Jay asked her if she knew any spots around that most tourists aren't aware of and had to repeat the question in Spanish. She immediately brightened up when he spoke Spanish and launched into a conversation about surrounding sights. I caught bits and pieces but mostly just caught myself thinking of how nice Jay's arms felt around me and how much I liked leaning back into him.

"It was lovely to meet you, Francisca."

"You as well," she turned and headed the opposite direction.

I sighed as Jay's arms dropped from around me and I turned to him trying my best to act normal.

"So did you get and cool places from Francisca?" I asked.

"Yeah, she actually suggested quite a few. Half of them were spots on the beaches where we could have more privacy, but she mentioned other places as well."

"Oh, my goodness," I laughed, quickly turning towards the way I remember the gift shop being. "We should check out the gift shop-"

"What was the reason behind pretending we were a couple for Francisca?" Jay asked, gently pulling me back to face him.

"I don't know," I spoke hesitantly.  "I think at first I thought it would be funny and then she got talking about her husband and I kind of got swept up in the moment." I paused and looked at him, not being able to read him making me more nervous. "Sorry?" I smiled at him like a little kid caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

Jay slowly smiled back and wrapped his arm around my neck like I was his little brother, pulling me towards the exit that led to the gift shop.

"You're a dork, you know that?"  

"Hey, hands off the merchandise, buddy!" I pushed on his side and he dropped his arm from my neck to my shoulders so I could stand up.  I let my arm go around his waist and we walked to the gift shop.  I looked around for a pin or a snow globe, the two things I had collected over the years while Jay looked at other trinkets nearby.  

You need to be a bit more careful, Mads.  He is going to see right through you and figure out you like him and it will ruin the whole trip.