"Okay," Mom catches our attention as we stand in the lobby of our hotel. "We are trusting each couple to share a room." Alison and I look at each other in shock. Our Mom's are being very lenient on this trip, I mean we aren't complaining, we just find it weird. "But if we find out one of you is doing something bad, you will be sleeping in our room." She smiles and hands Alison and I the room keys.
I look up at Mateo and see his cheeks are red. "We've slept in the same room before," I chuckle and elbow his stomach lightly.
"I know," he chuckles and rubs the back of his neck. "But this feels different. I don't know, maybe it's more intimate." He smiles shyly at me and I raise my brows.
"Well," I grab his hand and pull him towards the elevator. "Let's see where the night takes us."
When we walk into the elevator, he kisses the top of my head. The rest of the group walks into the elevator and we go up to the third floor.
"Mom, what are we gonna do today?" I ask her as she texts someone on her phone.
"I was thinking we can rest for a little bit and then go walk around and get something to eat. Does that sound good with everyone?" Everyone agrees with her and the elevator door opens.
I look down at the key card and read the number. Room 1012. I turn to the right since our room is that way. Everyone else's room's are on down to the left. Kind of good, a little more privacy you know.
My eyes scan each room that we pass until we get to ours. I put in the key card and opened the door. It's a fairly small room but it could still be considered spacious. There's a queen size bed in the middle, two nights stands on each side, a TV on the wall, and my favorite part is the window. It shows some of the New York buildings and I am amazed once again at the view.
Mateo walks in behind me and shuts the door once he places our bags down.
"Aren't you excited?" I turn to look at him with a huge smile. He walks up to me and wraps his arms around me. My body relaxes against him and I try to get as close as possible to him.
"I'm very excited. I'm just tired from the plane ride," he tells me and I nod my head.
"Do you wanna take a nap before we start getting ready?" He moves back to look down at me but still has his arms around me.
"Yes please." He answers. I get up on my tip toes and peck him on the lips.
"Okay well let's take a nap then." I pull away from him and walk to the right side of the bed. He does the same but just walks to the left side. We both climb into the bed and get situated under the covers. I open my arms for him and he immediately falls into my embrace. He lays his head on my chest, his arms are around my waist holding me tight, and our legs are tangled together.
I look down and see his eyes are already closed. His face is relaxed and I can tell sleep is going to consume him any second. I kiss his forehead lightly and whisper into his ear.
"I love you Mateo."
"I love you Veronica," he mumbles softly.
My eyes close after he responds to me. Without fighting sleep, I let it take over me.
~
My phone vibrates on the nightstand and wakes me up. I open my eyes slowly and take a deep breath. Mateo is still in my arms, sound asleep so I try to grab my phone with the least amount of movements. I pick up the phone and read the message.
Mom: You guys can start getting ready now. We'll leave in an hour.
I sent her a quick 'ok' and set the phone back down. As if my eyes were trained already, I looked back down at the boy in my arms. I've noticed that whenever he sleeps, his eyebrows furrow a bit. I'm not sure whether it's because he's dreaming, or if it's just natural. His cheeks are a little pink and his lashes cast a shadow on his cheeks. He looks peaceful.
After a few minutes of looking at my love, I carefully remove his arms from around my waist and stand up from the bed. I take longer to get ready so he should sleep a little more. He was tired.
Grabbing all my stuff quietly, I walk into the bathroom and set my things down. It's the same basic routine I do everyday. Hair and makeup and that's it.
After taking twenty minutes on my hair, I start on my eyebrows. I take out my eyebrow pencil and start to fill them in. As I finish filling in my right brow, a sleepy Mateo walks into the bathroom.
"Good morning," I smile and look at him through the mirror. He runs a hand through his hair and sends me a sleepy smile.
"Good morning," He yawns and stretches his arms up. His shirt rises a bit and I'm able to see his lower stomach. My eyes stay trained at his toned stomach and I look away until his shirt moves back down. I looked up at him through the mirror once again and saw a smirk on his face.
"Mmm stop sneaking glances Veronica," He wraps his arms around my waist from behind and my cheeks heat up.
"Did you sleep good?" I ask hoping he changes the subject. He nods his head and kisses my cheek. "Oh we're leaving in like," I looked around for my phone but remembered I left it on the nightstand. "I'm guessing like forty minutes."
"Okay I'll get changed," he walks out of the bathroom and I continue doing my makeup. A few minutes later, he comes back wearing a dark grey long sleeve, blue jeans, and his usual Nikes. Handsome as ever.
"I told you V," he walks up to me and turns me around to look at him. He places his hands on my hips and pushes me back until my lower back hits the sink. "Stop sneaking glances."
I lick my lips and look up at him. His eyes are darker than usual. He leans down and kisses my neck. My thoughts start to go all over the place and I say the first thing that comes to mind. "Umm I'm already done getting ready," I push his chest and he releases me. "We should meet up with the others." I scratch the back of my neck and look down at my socks.
He looks at me with soft eyes and is about to say something, but I walk out of the bathroom before he does. God I don't know why I got so nervous. We've made out before, and have done a bit more which should be normal. But why did I get nervous?
"Take a jacket, it's cold," I say as I hear him walk out of the bathroom. He mutters a quick 'okay' and grabs a jacket. I slip on my Nikes and grab my jacket just as he did. "Ready?" I look up at him and he nods.
I walk to the door and feel his presence behind me. Jesus Christ I don't understand why I'm nervous all of a sudden. My hands shake a bit but I manage to open the door quickly. We both walk out to the hallway and see everyone else walking out of their rooms.
Well maybe my nerves will go away once we leave the hotel.
~
I was wrong.
The whole time we have been walking around, my nerves are off the roof. Maybe I should tell Alison.
"Alison," I go up to her and smile at her and Alejandro. "Sorry, I need to talk to Alison real quick." Alejandro nods and I pull her to the side.
"What's wrong?" She raises a brow at me and I bite my lip.
"I'm nervous," I state.
"O-Okay?" She says confused. "About what?"
I rub the palms of my hands on my thighs. "That's the thing. I don't know. It started when Mateo was kissing me and I just got nervous out of nowhere."
She starts to laugh. I look at her with a confused look. "So you're starting to get nervous around him. Especially when he kisses you. Okay Vero be honest with me. Are you ready to have sex with him?"
I'm taken by surprise by her question. I mean I have been thinking about it recently. And it would make sense why I'm nervous all of sudden. "Yes," I look down at our shoes. "Is that why I'm nervous?" I look back up at her and see her with a sincere facial expression. She nods her head and I close my eyes.
"It's nothing to be scared of," she rubs my arm lightly. "Just talk to him and let him know. You don't want him thinking about something else." She tilts her head towards Mateo and Alejandro. My eyes avert from hers and meet Mateo's. He has a concerned look, and once he realizes I'm looking at him he looks away. Gosh, I did make it seem like something was wrong.
"Thanks Ali," I turned back to face her and smiled. She nods and starts to walk back to the guys. I follow behind her and look around me. When I'm next to Mateo, I grab his hand and stroke his knuckles lightly with my thumb. I'm still looking around not wanting to look at him yet.
But I fail, he grabs my chin lightly and turns my head. I look up at him and stare into his eyes. His concerned expression he had just a few moments ago has disappeared.
"You okay?" He asks and I nod my head.
"Yeah," I smile. "Sorry if I made it seem like something was wrong. I didn't mean to."
"No it's okay. I shouldn't have assumed either way without talking to you. But I'm happy nothing is wrong." Just hearing those words flow out of his mouth makes my nerves settle just a bit.
Sometimes I just need to hear the right words.
And I did.
~
After telling Mateo everything was okay, we had such a great time walking around. He brought his camera so he was taking pictures of the buildings and of me in front of them. We ate some pizza and got ice cream after. Everyone was having a great time. It was nice seeing everyone laughing and smiling.
Just having the opportunity to be here is one I will be forever grateful for. There's no one else I'd rather spend my time in New York with.
Once everyone says they're tired, we make our way back to the hotel. The whole way back, everyone is mostly quiet, taking in the new city in our eyes. Breathing in a different type of air than from back home. It's great.
"I'm gonna shower," Mateo kisses my cheek and gets up from the bed. I just got out of the shower so it's his turn.
When I hear him lock the door, I lay back on the bed and think. I should tell him what I told Alison. There's no reason why I should keep it inside of my mind. He needs to know. He tells me everything, so I should tell him what I feel.
For the next fifteen minutes, I second them tossing and turning on the bed trying to figure out the best way to tell him. I know, I'm probably stressing over something that can be said in just two seconds. But I just over think.
The bathroom door opens and I tense up. Okay maybe I should just wait a little longer. Ugh, but I'm just gonna continue being nervous.
I don't hear Mateo calling my name due to all the thoughts I have swirling around my mind. He shakes me a bit and I look at him.
His hair is damp, he's not wearing a shirt. His tattoos are on display, and I can't stop my eyes from looking.
"What's wrong?" I look back up at him and bite my lip.
"Mmm," I told him and sat up on the bed. I scratch the back of my neck and look down at my pajama shorts.
"I'm ready Mateo." I blurt out and close my eyes.
It's quiet and I internally groan. I shouldn't have said it like that. There's many ways to take what I just said. I'm sure I just confused him even more which is not great. Good job Veronica.
"Are you sure?" My eyes open at the sound of his voice. My head moves up and I look at his eyes. His eyes move all around as he stares at every part of my face. "There's no ru-"
"No," I grabbed his hand quickly. "I've been thinking about it for a while, Mateo. I'm ready." I nod my head.
He turns to look at the TV and then turns back to me. His bottom lip is between his teeth and his brows are furrowed. He releases his lip and takes a deep breath.
"Okay." He replies.
I let out a sigh and closed my eyes. While they're closed, I feel Mateo's hand on my cheek. His thumb strokes small circles on my cheekbone. The movement makes me relax, I open my eyes and see that he is just an inch away from me. He places his forehead and on mine and closes his eyes.
"I love you." Is all he says and attaches his lips on mine.
That night, he showed me that he would keep me safe.